CAL FIRE NEWS: SoCal Budget cuts and winter staffing

Will the BC be pulling a hose line soon? Crusty old guys working a Pulaski again? Just remember that total state civil service time determines seniority, not the years with the Department.

Crusty Old Guy's
Credit: California Fire News file photo

Cal Fire is preparing to cut about $1.2 million in funding for operations in San Diego County, it was reported Thursday.

And all Southern Region Units will have to collaboratively assume spending reductions to meet a $10 million current fiscal year shortfall. Roughly $6.3 million of that shortfall still remains.

Most of this reduction target will be accomplished through delayed hires and vacancies that create salary savings. But staffing cuts and station closings are unavoidable.

Two spokesmen for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire, said it's still unclear which stations would be affected and how many personnel would be laid off.

In a letter written Tuesday, however, the agency's San Diego unit chief said "the reductions will result in eight (CalFire) stations not being staffed during the winter period."

"Regrettably, reductions must be made," wrote Howard Windsor, the San Diego CalFire chief, in a letter to San Diego County's top administrator.

Since 2005, firefighters have staffed the county's rural fire stations during winter months. Traditionally, staffing levels were reduced during winter, but destructive winter fires, including the Viejas fire in January 2001 and Gavilan fire in February 2002, changed that policy.

Staffing for one of the two helicopters used to battle county fires could also be cut, Windsor said in his letter.
The scoop:
Layoffs for all seasonal Firefighters: All CAL FIRE Schedule B FF1 effective Monday 12-15-08
All non Schedule A or Schedule C funded State engines will go unstaffed starting on the 15th.

All permanent employees (FFII, FAE, and FC) would be placed into a manpower pool and used as needed to staff type 3 engines, or to provide backfill of Sched A or Sched C to alleviate winter overtime costs being generated.

CAL FIRE Stations closing:
Previous winter staffing levels will get reduced from 20 staffed fire engines in the Southern units of BDU, RRU, and MVU to a total of 5 staffed fire engines, 1-BDU, 2-RRU, and 2-MVU respectively.
Fortunately, the cooperative agreement with San Diego County for staffing Amador fire engines during this winter time period will allow CAL FIRE to maintain an additional 14 fire engines covered at 2.0 staffing levels. With the two 3.0 staffed State funded fire engines
CAL FIRE will staff a total of 16 fire engines Countywide while still staying with in the County budget allocation.

Minimal staffing:
RRU - There will be 2 type 3 engines in RRU available for the regional strike team, but all other RRU stations and engines are closing.
MVU - Three Type 3 engines staffed, Amador stations with 2.0 staffing - A series of "Amador contracts" signed in recent years should keep staffing at rural stations "adequate," though not enough to battle a large blaze. Under those contracts, the county pays $5 million annually for CalFire to staff seven stations in North and East County.
BDU - One type 3 engine with 3.0 staffing this winter. BDU is going to have Highland and Bishop staffed 3.0

All permanent employees (FFII, FAE, and FC) will be placed into a manpower pool and used as needed to staff type 3 engines, or to provide backfill of Sched A or Sched C to alleviate winter overtime costs being generated.

IOU's for State vendors's as soon as March possibly...
California is on track to run out of cash in February or March and faces a $15 billion cash shortage by the end of its fiscal year in June unless officials plug an $11.2 billion budget gap, according to the state's budget director.
Additionally, if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers fail to close the current fiscal year's budget shortfall soon, California, the most populous U.S. state, may in March delay payments to its vendors or hand them notes promising payment, according to a Dec. 1 letter to top lawmakers from the director of the Department of Finance, Michael Genest.
The last time California, the world's eighth biggest economy and the largest issuer of U.S. public debt, issued payment promises to vendors was in the early 1990s.

Cal Fire is preparing to cut about $1.2 million in funding for operations in San Diego County, it was reported Thursday.

Howard Windsor, chief of Cal Fire's San Diego unit, told the Union-Tribune that the cuts won't cause any of the county's 18 Cal Fire stations to close, but some will have to operate on minimal staffing.
The drop-off in staffing levels expected to begin Monday will be the first since the state started funding 10 three-person fire engines year-round in San Diego County following the 2003 wildfires.
Beginning Monday, the agency will drop staff for eight fire engines and one helicopter until at least May 1, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Cal Fire serves the county's unincorporated areas, often the most wildfire-prone, including Ramona, Valley Center and parts of the East County.

Some info from: 10news.com, nctimes.com