Reminder tonight: Memorial Services for Los Angeles Firefighter Brent Lovrien

Memorial Services for Los Angeles Firefighter Brent Lovrien

Please review LAFD Blog for last minute details of all arrangements, memorials, color guards, uniforms, apparatus, processions, funeral parking, etc
Also official information at LAFD.org

Memorial services for fallen Los Angeles Firefighter Brent Lovrien will include two public events:

Candlelight Vigil...

Thursday, April 3, 2008
5:00 PM - Assembly
6:00 PM - Vigil Begins
Fire Station 5
8900 Emerson Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90045

All members of our community are welcome at this family-themed public gathering at Fire Station 5, a neighboring station to the one where Brent worked. LAFD members are asked to wear their work uniform with badge or comfortable attire to this event. Parking is plentiful but carpooling is encouraged. Candles will be provided.

Memorial Service...

Friday, April 4, 2008
9:30 AM
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
555 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

All members of our community are warmly welcomed to attend this public tribute to our fallen Brother.

Parking and Transportation:

Firefighters and guests attending the service without fire apparatus are encouraged to utilize free parking and a complimentary shuttle service. To take advantage of the shuttle service, please park at the:

Los Angeles Fire Department
Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center
1700 Stadium Way
Los Angeles, CA 90012

We are pleased to provide an interactive map with driving directions. Please arrive early. The shuttle service begins at 7:00 AM. At the conclusion of the Memorial Service, shuttles will pick up passengers just east of the Cathedral.

...those arriving with Fire Apparatus:

Those bringing fire apparatus should complete and return an RSVP form as soon as possible. Fire apparatus staging will begin at 7:00 AM Friday morning at the intersection of Fourth Street and Main Street in downtown Los Angeles. Apparatus should approach this initial staging location from the south and be guided by uniformed LAFD personnel.

Fire apparatus and emergency vehicles will be directed from the above location to park along the route of the Walking Procession and in the vicinity of the Cathedral.

There are special instructions for Color Guards from allied agencies.

LACFD: Prescribed burn - Descanso Gardens/Glendale Freeway

Prescribed burn relieves risk
By Mary O’Keefe

La Cañada residents may have seen some smoke rising over the hill behind Verdugo Hills Hospital on Tuesday but there was no reason for alarm. The Los Angeles County Fire Department was starting fires to protect the area from future, potentially devastating fires.

The prescribed burn began on the northwest area of Descanso Gardens, just south of the hospital and east of the Glendale (2) Freeway.

The department had spaced prepared areas of crushed brush and piles of dead vegetation on the hillside. The purpose was to clear some of the “ladder fuel,” the vegetation that provides a path for fire to travel.

The prescribed burn had been almost two years in the making.

“We will not do the burn if the conditions are not perfect,” said Stephanie English, fire department spokeswoman. The right conditions taken into consideration were wind, weather and even cloud cover. Tuesday, with its cool temperature, low winds and minimum cloud cover was deemed perfect.

“This is very important for the residents,” said Chief Steve Martin of station 82.

Martin added that recent rains may have made the surrounding vegetation look green but cautions locals that the dry conditions of the past have not been washed away.

“[Residents] shouldn’t be fooled; dead brush is still dead,” Martin said. “The [new] grass will act as kindling.”

Martin added that because society no longer allows nature to clear the fire areas this type of burn is necessary.

Before the army of firefighters and camp crews took their first steps onto the hillside Tuesday there was a briefing covering everything from weather conditions to emergency preparation.

English said notification had gone out throughout the neighboring businesses like Verdugo Hills Hospital.

A fire crew was stationed at the hospital to monitor the smoke created by the fire and to answer any questions from concerned residents.

The fires were set by 9:30 a.m. with drip torches, a mixture of four parts diesel fuel and one part gasoline and were out shortly after noon.

The camp crews then began their job spreading the burnt brush to allow it to continue to smolder, and then finally burn out.

“Someone will stay here until dark,” said Battalion Chief Jim Crawford.

Crawford added that this burn was successful but they still had more to do in the area.

The entire project covers nearly 34 acres.

Tags: Camp Crews, drip torches, prescribed burn, Los Angeles County Fire Department, VMP
Source: Article

CHRIS DABIS' OPINION: CDF SRA Fire Tax

Editor: Found this great CAL FIRE Tax opinion article at the Nevada County tax collector's website, If I lived in her county she would always have my vote!

CDF Fire Tax - It's back for the THIRD TIME !!!

Senate Bill 1617, carried by State Senator Christine Kehoe of San Diego, brings the CalFIRE tax directly to your tax bill. This bill is expected to be signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in his attempt to bring balance to the State's 2008 budget. CHRIS DABIS' OPINION: This attempt to levy a State parcel charge onto local (county) tax bills has been thwarted twice in the last few years. In my opinion, once the State finds a way to place fees and parcel charges onto your tax bills, they will never cease doing it. Until now, the State income tax and sales tax, and gasoline tax, etc... has been their source of revenue. They left the county taxes to be spent on county related services for county residents. Eventually, they carved out a huge chunk of money to fund the schools, leaving 14¢ out of each tax dollar for remaining services. There's just nothing left for them to steal, so now they're looking to get the money from the property owners, indirectly, through the local tax bill. My biggest fear is that I will have no ability to help any of you, other than all of us grumble about it. You will have to direct your concerns to the State. Look at the links placed below this area: The information and contact links might help you stop this action before it becomes law. HISTORY: In 2004, and again in 2005, the State considered using their power as YOUR representatives, to approve a tax that would be added to your local county tax bill. This action is unpresedented, but the state maintains that they ARE your legal representatives and as such they have YOUR authority to appove the tax. Both times the proposal died. Now, with State budget deficiencies, the Governor is expected to approve this CalFIRE tax and levy it on to your 2009/10 tax bills. DETAILS: Still being defined. They may exempt the tax on all properties inside of city limits (incorporated cities). They may exempt the tax on all properties that have fire protection standards approved by the State Fire Board. No one has been selected to receive questions from the property owners. The county tax collector and the county auditor will not have any ability to intercede on behalf of the property owners. MORE INFORMATION: CalFire News about their Fire Tax - Jan. 11, 2008 CalFire News editorial: CA Budget and CALFIRE - Feb. 23, 2008 You might want to contact your legislators. Previously, the California Farm Bureau Federation opposed the fire tax. They have a contact link on their webpage. CalTax usually opposes new taxes, too.

E. Christina Dabis
Treasurer & Tax Collector - Website
950 Maidu Ave., Nevada City, CA. 95959 - (530) 265-1285

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Documents associated with SB 1617 in the Session:

Status

- 04/02/2008 1398 bytes

History

- 04/01/2008 1495 bytes

Bill Text

In order to view the PDF version of the bill text documents, you may need a free viewer from Adobe.

Amended

- 04/01/2008

HTML

- 18618 bytes

PDF

- 167407 bytes

Amended

- 03/24/2008

HTML

- 23606 bytes

PDF

- 269396 bytes

Introduced

- 02/22/2008

HTML

- 33620 bytes

PDF

- 255845 bytes

Santa Barbara: VMP - Painted Cave area

Possible Wednesday Project Burn, Smoke Visible from Entire South Coast

On Wednesday, April 2, 2008, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department is planning to perform a Vegetation Management Program project burn of several large vegetation burn piles in the area of Painted Cave on the South Coast. County firefighters, our Hand Crew and firefighting equipment will be on scene to manage the burn. It will be performed if weather conditions permit. Once completed, a portion of the unburned and hazardous dead vegetation in this area will have been removed and will lessen the threat of an uncontrolled wildfire. Smoke could be visible from the entire south coast for most of the day. Conditions could dictate delaying the burn for another day.

Source: Santa Barbara County Fire Department

Jobs: City of San Diego hiring for three pilot positions

US/California: City of San Diego hiring as Fire-Rescue Dept expands

The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD) is now advertising for three pilot positions in advance of taking delivery of a new Bell 412EP medium lift helicopter in August, 2008. This aircraft will join the existing SDFD Bell 212HP helicopter to enhance public safety emergency services to the citizens and visitors of the San Diego region on a continuing seven days a week, twenty four hours a day schedule.

Some of the minimum pilot experience requirements to apply include: 4,000 logged hours of flying time in turbine-engine helicopters, with a minimum of 100 hours logged within the last 12 months; at least 1,500 hours flying time as pilot-in-command in mountainous terrain. Highly desirable qualifications include: 500 hours vertical reference (in excess of 100 feet of long-line) flying time; experience in night flying with night-vision-goggle (NVG) equipment; experience in aerial wildland firefighting, hoist and/or short-haul rescue operations, EMS operations; experience in the operation of Bell 205/212/412 helicopters and more.

The aircrews work from designated helibases as a first-responder resource for emergency responses day and also by night as an FAA approved public safety service NVG operator. Among the responsibilities of the job are piloting the aircraft in response to emergency and non-emergency alarms; transporting fire personnel to fires; transporting medical personnel to medical emergencies; effecting rescue and transportation of injured people or patients to hospitals; aerial surveillance of fire activities, and dropping retardant chemicals or water in assigned fire suppression target areas.

The position is a sworn and uniformed position within the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. The complete job listing and an explanation of the application process is online at: http://apps.sandiego.gov/pjaol8/bulletins/3791.pdf

Not included in the job announcement are the 10% salary increase for “special duty” pay and an 8.5% salary increase for Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) “special pay”

U.S. Forest Service report: Forest Service retention

Entry-level federal firefighters in Southern California leave the force at nearly twice the level as in the Forest Service as a whole, according to a new report Tuesday.

Report downplays vacancy issues with SoCal federal firefighters

By ERICA WERNER
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Entry-level federal firefighters in Southern California leave the force at nearly twice the level as in the Forest Service as a whole, according to a new report Tuesday.

But the U.S. Forest Service report also said that recruitment levels statewide in California are higher than attrition levels and downplayed concerns from lawmakers about vacancies in Southern California's federal firefighting force.

"Perceptions around recruitment and retention in Southern California are hard to substantiate based on data," said the report, which was ordered up by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and released at a hearing Tuesday.

For that reason, the report said, making salary or personnel management changes that might attract more federal firefighters in Southern California would be "unwarranted."

Lawmakers have been concerned that U.S. Forest Service firefighters in Southern California's four national forests are leaving for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and county and city agencies where they can make much more money and get better benefits. In December, Feinstein included language in a year-end spending bill telling the Forest Service to come up with a proposal to address the problem. Instead, Tuesday's report focused on suggesting that perceptions that a problem existed "cannot be objectively sustained."

The report said that among entry-level firefighters in Southern California, the attrition rate was 46.6 percent in 2007, compared with 23.6 percent in the Forest Service as a whole.

But the report said that when higher-level and management employees were accounted for, the attrition rate in Southern California was just 9.4 percent, close to the 6.3 percent level nationally. The Southern California region includes the Los Padres, Cleveland, San Bernardino and Angeles national forests.

Statewide, the Forest Service lost 370 employees of its fire staff in 2007, but through recruitment experienced a net gain of 68, the report said.

The report did not break out numbers for Southern California specifically.

The study "found the situation not to be what people thought it was, but nevertheless found one issue that we want to try to focus on and that's seeing if we can retain a higher level of these entry-level folks," said Rey. He had no immediate suggestions for how to do that but said officials were working on that.

The report contained no details on current vacancy rates at the Southern California national forests, and Forest Service officials were unable to provide that. According to February figures provided by California GOP Rep. Jerry Lewis' office, the San Bernardino National Forest lost 60 of 210 firefighters over the last two years.

The agency said that in California as a whole, which has 18 federal forests, there are currently 2,721 Forest Service firefighters and 312 vacancies. Rey promised Feinstein that by the start of fire season the agency would be fully staffed.

After the hearing Feinstein said she'd have to look more closely at the report before deciding whether she was satisfied with it. "The thing I'm most interested in is getting those positions filled as we go into the fire season, and Mr. Rey committed to getting them filled so it will be 100 percent staffed," she said.

The report's conclusions were rejected outright by an official with the Federal Wildland Fire Service Association, an advocacy group. The group's business manager, Casey Judd, called the report a "crock" and a "whitewash," contending that among other problems it didn't take into its calculations temporary firefighters, who he said can constitute nearly half a fire team. Judd said staffing levels at Angeles National Forest were at half what they should have been during the last fire season.

The dispute comes in the wake of devastating wildfires that raced across Southern California last fall, destroying nearly 2,200 homes. The fires scorched areas totaling 800 square miles from Malibu to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Tags: Federal Wildland Fire Service Association, wildfires, Southern California, firefighters, Angeles National Forest, Wildland Fire, California, news, report, Northern California, national forests,

News: Deputy Chief Dave Austin Retires

Riverside Fire department blog: Deputy Chief Dave Austin Retires

Deputy Chief Dave Austin Retires
Photo credit: RFD Hotspots blog

For friends of Dave, the Chief retired last week and we threw together a slideshow for him. Here is how the show went.
Editor: This slide show is a kick even if you did not know Dave you will now...

CLICK HERE

Forest Service firefighter readiness is cut 12 percent

Editor: This press release from U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) office was released April 1st. Published for the record including her prepared remarks for the hearings...

Senator Feinstein Chairs Hearing on FY 2009 Budget Request for Forest Service

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today chaired a hearing on the Fiscal Year 2009 budget request for the Forest Service. Senator Feinstein chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies.

During her opening remarks, Senator Feinstein touched on the following topics: the Administration’s inadequate budget request for the Forest Service; California firefighting retention issues; drug eradication on National Forest lands; the restoration of Lake Tahoe; and Quincy Library Group’s timber management plan.

Following is the prepared text of Senator Feinstein’s opening remarks:

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Interior Subcommittee's oversight hearing on the Administration’s fiscal year 2009 budget request for the Forest Service.

I’d like to welcome Mark Rey, the Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell. They are accompanied by Lenise Lago, the budget director for the Forest Service. Thank you for joining us, and we look forward to hearing your testimony.

Because the Forest Service manages 20 percent of the land in California, this agency and its budget are incredibly important to my state from an environmental protection, recreation and public safety perspective. Therefore, any budget proposal that is less than adequate is a real problem for California.

Keeping that in mind, I'd just like to note that overall, the Administration’s request totals $4.109 billion. That’s a cut of $379 million — a full 8 percent — from the 2008 level.

In reality, though, the cuts are much deeper. Factor in the $77 million needed to fund fixed cost increases and the $148 million increase needed to cover the 10-year fire suppression average, and the Forest Service budget is $600 million less than what is needed just to break even.

Bottom line here is that under the Administration’s proposal, the Forest Service is being cut nearly 15 percent.

• Specifically, firefighter readiness is cut 12 percent.
• Hazardous fuels reduction work is cut 4 percent.
• Law enforcement programs are cut 13 percent.
• Construction and maintenance programs are cut 15 percent.
• Recreation programs are cut 10 percent.
• Research programs are cut 8 percent.

And on, and on, and on.

Frankly, I just don't see how anyone could consider this a serious budget proposal.

So rather than take time here today to go through the budget line by line, let me just say for the record that I plan to work with Senator Allard and the other Members of our subcommittee to undo these proposed cuts and restore the Forest Service budget to a reasonable level.

What I hope to focus on in the question and answer period then are particular issues that face my State.

I'd like to talk about what progress the agency is making on Lake Tahoe restoration, what’s happening with respect to firefighter retention, particularly in California, what can be done to overcome the challenges of implementing the Quincy Library Group pilot project, and what the agency is doing with the additional funds I provided this year to eradicate the epidemic of marijuana gardens on national forest lands.

Before all that, though, I will first turn to our distinguished Ranking Member, Senator Allard, for any opening remarks he may wish to make.”

Source: Page

Tags: Washington, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, Calif, Fiscal Year, 2009, budget, Forest Service, Interior, Environment, California, firefighting

Helitack 408 crew assists in off road rescue

By: Kern County Fire Department

CALIFORNIA CITY - CA. Sunday, March 30, 2008 at approximately 4:20 p.m., the Kern County Fire Department received a call from the California City Police Department requesting assistance to rescue the victim of an off highway vehicle accident, the exact location was unknown at the time of call.

Helicopter 408 was dispatched and was directed to a sand wash southwest of Twenty Mule Team Road, approximately 4 miles from California City. The crew of helicopter 408 was able to land close to the incident, and assisted California City Fire Department with patient stabilization. Both fire and police had now arrived on scene.

Once on scene helicopter crew members were able to relay the correct co-ordinates to a medi-vac helicopter that landed and then transported the victim to Kern Medical Center.

Source: tehachapinews.com

BIA: Disbanding Hot Shot crews

Penny wise pound foolish - Feds continue wildland firefighting cuts - Budget reductions - Reduction in force (RIF) at BIA/NIFC.

Here is the decision that the BIA has made on the Reduction of Interagency Hotshot Crews within the Bureau of Indian affairs.

Effective immediately -March 19 - The following IHC's will be disbanded. All equipment to be returned regional headquarters office.
$100,000 dollars appropriated for this reduction in force.

Southwest area - Mescalero interagency hotshots -Mescalero Apache tribe
Rocky Mountain Region - Bear Paw interagency hotshots - Chippewa Cree tribe

CAL FIRE NEWS recognizes the American Indian wildland firefighters in the Southwest United States and their important contributions to firefighting nationwide.
Although the risks are high, and the pay is low, the work demanding and dangerous, most American Indian men and women battle fires as a matter of pride.
We thank these disbanded crews for their service to the Country.

"As long as I can remember, Indian firefighters have taken pride in
fighting fires. They didn’t want to be second best, they wanted to
be number one in this field. Not only does firefighting bring pres-
tige and pride, but it also...creates employment for men and women.
It helps our economic situation by bringing money home to pay
rent and buy clothes for the families.... The Tribe stands 100 per-
cent behind us and expects us to act as tribal emissaries."
Blackfeet firefighter Joe Bear 1987

The Mescalero Hotshots began trainee status in 1986.
After the Mescalero crew had fulfilled its probationary period, it was transitioned into Type 1 Inter-agency Hotshot Crew in 1987.
The Mescalero Hotshots are an elite BIA-funded IHC Native American federal fire-fighting crew based on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation, Mescalero, New Mexico.
Startup of the Mescalero crew was strongly supported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Mescalero Apache Tribe

The Bear Paw Fire Crew re-organized and re-structured the entire chain of command in the spring of 2007. The Bear Paw Fire Program is now under the direct authority of the Chippewa-Cree Natural Resources Forest Manager.
The re-structuring provides better control, monitoring and management of the Bear Paw Fire Program by the CCTNatural Resources Department, and also the ability to make the necessary changes and revisions to the program to meet compliance requirements of BIA-NIFC.

How did this save money?

The newly-formed Bear Paw Hotshots received their entire funding from the Chippewa-Cree Business Committee to maintain and train the crew as required in the National Interagency Hotshot Standards Guide.

The Bear Paw crew was recognized as a Type I IHC in training status in 2004 and received full funding from the BIA NIFC office.
The ‘Bear Paw’ crew was named after the Bear Paw Mountains on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation.

CONTACT INFORMATION - NATIVE AMERICAN FIREFIGHTERS:

MESCALERO HOTSHOTS IHC - Mescalero Apache Tribe.
Mescalero Agency
PO Box 189
Mescalero, NM 88340

BASE CAMP:
Telephone: 505.464.0314
Fax: 505.464.4899



BEAR PAW HOTSHOTS BIA IHC - Chippewa Cree Indian Nations.
Rocky Boy Tribe
RR1 Box 542Box Elder, MT 59521

BASE CAMP:
Telephone: 406.395.4207 / 4083
Fax: 406.395.4382


Source documents:
Wildlandfire.com - Original BIA Document File
Wildfires Today - United States Wildland Fire News today: (1)"
Fire warriors - .PDF