Court deals blow to coastside firefighters

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Court deals blow to coastside firefighters

Board of directors had right to contract with Cal Fire, judge rules

HALF MOON BAY — An appellate court has rejected a lawsuit challenging the Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District's decision to contract with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco upheld Thursday a San Mateo County Superior Court judge's ruling in favor of the fire protection district's board of directors, which refused in 2007 to hold a public referendum on its approval of the contract.

"I was very pleased to hear it," former district board member Jerry Donovan said of the decision. "I think that the board's decision was correct."

Donovan and fellow board member Bert Silva were ousted from the board in November in a political battle over the Cal Fire contract. Members of the local firefighters union argued that their working conditions under Cal Fire would be unfair.

Board member Doug MacKintosh, who was elected in November as part of the campaign against the contract, said he will respect the court's decision.

"My job as elected official is to carry on the business of the district, which will mean to come up with the best contract we can," MacKintosh said.

The firefighters union presented the board in 2007 with a petition containing 1,541 signatures asking for a public vote on the contract, which the board had pitched as a way to cut costs.

Lawyers for the board rejected the petition on technical grounds because the signature gatherers had not included the full text of the measure approving the contract on the petition.

Source: Article at insidebayarea.com

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Sunday, April 13, 2008