NEWS - CDF - Handing-off ceremony - Tulare County

Visalia Times-Delta - www.visaliatimesdelta.com -:

It lasted for just a moment, but it was momentous.

At 8 a.m. Sunday, the Tulare County Fire Department officially took charge of fire protection for the unincorporated areas of the county.

"The service will be seamless," said Tulare County Fire Chief Steve Sunderland, who participated in a symbolic handing-off ceremony with CAL FIRE Chief Ed Wristen at the CAL FIRE Tulare Unit headquarters on Lovers Lane.

The two men stood silently between two fire engines — one from CAL FIRE and the other from the Tulare County Fire Department — as the radio signal from the CAL FIRE command center officially relinquished its fire protection responsibilities to the county department.

After about a minute of silence, to the sound of blaring beepers the Tulare County Fire Department officially took command while also thanking the CAL FIRE administration for its 80 years of service to the county.

"It's kind of anticlimactic," Wristen said. "It's been 18 months of extremely hard work by all of us, and I'm very proud of the employees of CAL FIRE that have put some hurt, some pain and some frustration aside and performed at the highest standards in the fire service."

Sunday morning's handover was bittersweet for Wristen and CAL FIRE, which has seen this day coming since the county canceled its contract in December 2005. The state agency had been responsible for providing fire protection for unincorporated areas for 80 years.

County supervisors made the decision to sever ties with CAL FIRE in an attempt to gain greater control of money it spends on fire protection.

Tulare County Fire Department officers point out that the new administration has made some positive changes in the county, including:

The reopening Sunday of the Lemoncove fire station, which the county closed in 2005 because of budget cuts.

Full staffing and funding of the Doyle Colony station in Porterville and the staffing by resident county fire engineers for stations in Posey, California Hot Springs and Camp Nelson.

The transition has not resulted in any jobs lost by CAL FIRE firefighters. Wristen said that firefighters have either retired, transferred to other CAL FIRE posts or taken positions with the county fire department.

Though the Tulare County Fire Department will function with greater autonomy in the coming years, CAL FIRE is not going anywhere, Wristen said. CAL FIRE will remain at its headquarters on Lovers Lane and in other county locations to fulfill its state-mandated fire-protection responsibilities in areas between the foothills and the boundaries of national parks and forests.

"If there's a structure fire, we'll deal with it," Wristen said. "If there's a vehicle accident, we will help."