Placer County approved a contract for #Fire and #EMS with #CAL FIRE

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Placer County approved a contract for #Fire and #EMS with #CAL FIRE

Placer County BOS Approves Contract with Cal Fire for Firefighting Services

May 6, 2011 - The Placer County Board of Supervisors this week approved a contract for fire protection and other emergency services between the County and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). The Cooperative Fire Protection Agreement is for Fiscal Year 2011-2012 in the amount of $8.63 million. The contract for the upcoming fiscal year represents an increase of just under one-third of one percent over the previous year's contract, while providing the same levels of service.

However, to attain that level of service, two of the County's seven financially independent fire protection zones (Dry Creek and North Auburn/Ophir Fire) will experience revenue shortfalls and will have to use reserve funds to balance their FY 11/12 budgets. Dry Creek's shortfall is projected to be $193,279; North Auburn/Ophir has a projected shortfall of $521,350. These shortages are primarily due to the reduction of property values in both areas, which has reduced tax revenues. Dry Creek and North Aubur/Ophir Fire are expected to have ongoing structural fiscal deficits. These will require cutting expenditures through a reduction in service levels, or by getting additional fiscal support from property owners that will then be used to backfill property tax losses. Using reserves that have been set aside over several years for contingencies, facilities, apparatus and equipment replacement is not sustainable. This is likely to cause long-term harm to community fire departments. The use of the reserves means that equipment will not be replaced as scheduled.

County staff is preparing two operational and financial studies that will analyze fire service in Dry Creek and North Auburn/Ophir. The studies will look at the levels of service and the necessary revenues to support those levels. In addition, staff will visit local groups and work on outreach efforts to inform each community that service level decisions need to be made locally. Analysis from the studies and community feedback will be presented during the Board's final budget workshops in August. Staff will then implement the Board's direction.

Service through the County's CAL FIRE contract is for year-round, all-hazard fire and emergency services over about 475 square miles, which is nearly one-third of the County. The service population is approximately 45,000 and is provided through a combination of full-time and volunteer fire fighters. The contract approved by the Supervisors pays for 62 full-time firefighters operating from eight fully-staffed, 24-hour fire stations in Alta, Colfax, Bowman, North Auburn, Ophir, Lincoln, the Sunset Industrial Area and Dry Creek.

About 100 volunteer firefighters operate out of the paid stations, in addition to six community volunteer stations in Dutch Flat, Fowler, Paige, Thermalands, Dry Creek and Sheridan.

Source: 5-3-11 Placer County Public Information Office - Link

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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

Saturday, May 7, 2011