CAL FIRE SUBMITS PROPOSAL TO TAKEOVER SAN MIGUEL FIRE DISTRICT

Monday, March 26, 2012

CAL FIRE SUBMITS PROPOSAL TO TAKEOVER SAN MIGUEL FIRE DISTRICT

CAL FIRE SUBMITS PROPOSAL TO TAKEOVER FIRE SERVICES FOR SAN MIGUEL FIRE DISTRICT

March 26, 2012 (Spring Valley) –Cal Fire has submitted a request for proposal (RFP)to San Miguel Fire Protection District, the only agency to do so by yesterday’s deadline.

A committee appointed by the District will begin reviewing the proposal March 26 to assure that it meets minimum standards, or metrics, previously determined. The review committee will present its findings to the San Miguel Fire District Board at a March 28 meeting.

“At this point, the Board will begin the discussion process and determine what is in the best interest of the communities and the District,” public information officer Leonard Villareal indicated in a press release issued yesterday. “It is likely parts of the proposal may generate questions.” Any questions will be researched by staff and reported back to the Board at an April 11 meeting.

Both meetings will be held at district headquarters at 2850 Via Orange Way in Spring Valley.

The district is facing its fourth year of declining revenues vs. expenditures and has lost about 20 percent ($2.5 million) of its property tax revenues. Property taxes account for 97% of the district’s revenues.

For the next fiscal year starting July 1, 2012, the district anticipates another budget shortfall of up to $1.6 million. The dire budget shortfall has already led the district to cut fire service from its Dehesa station, which is currently manned only by a two-man paramedic crew.

According to the district, the RFP was issued “in an attempt to eliminate the structural budget deficit, return Fire Station 23 on Dehesa Road back to full staffing/full service, and potentially improve direct emergency service to our customers.”

For additional details or to learn more about upcoming Board meetings, visit www.smgfire.org.
Source: http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/9144

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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.

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Monday, March 26, 2012