Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Fire agency reorganization draft underway

Although a draft micro report on the first phase of reorganizing fire protection and emergency medical services in unincorporated San Diego County will undergo public review before being adopted by the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) board, LAFCO expects the draft to be ready for review in January 2007.

The current schedule has the draft micro report before the LAFCO board in April 2007. “We don’t feel we should short-change the public review, the outreach component,” said LAFCO executive officer Mike Ott during a November 6 LAFCO board meeting which included an update of the micro report status.

The draft micro report itself will not be compiled until two subregional stakeholders meetings have been held. A North County meeting was held November 14 in Elfin Forest and an East County meeting will take place November 28 at the Alpine Fire Protection District facility. Following release of the draft micro report, additional subregional public workshops are anticipated to be held in February 2007 and March 2007.

“The consultant research has wound down,” Ott said.

At LAFCO’s December 2005 meeting the board received a macro report which presented a range of options for providing structural fire protection and emergency medical service in the unincorporated areas. Seven options were presented, and the LAFCO board selected a two-phased approach with preference toward the three options which would provide paid personnel at every station. The micro report addresses specifics of the reorganization and covers governance, transition and implementation strategy, operations, fiscal management, capital assets, and miscellaneous issues. It also identifies which tasks will be performed by the consultant, LAFCO staff, County of San Diego staff, legal counsel, or a combination of those four.

The phased approach would initially consolidate 17 of the 28 fire protection agencies and seven volunteer fire departments (including the De Luz Volunteer Fire Department), providing service to the unserved and most underserved areas. That regional department would include approximately 945,000 acres of unincorporated territory without structural fire protection or emergency medical services. The remaining agencies, including the North County Fire Protection District and the Vista Fire Protection District, would be evaluated in Phase II to determine whether or not consolidation is the most beneficial option.

The three original models are based on a minimum of three on-duty personnel at basic life support level, three on-duty firefighter/paramedics at advanced life support level, and four on-duty staff at advanced life support level. Since each of those three models would eliminate volunteer personnel, LAFCO has also requested that hybrid models be developed utilizing a combination of paid and volunteer personnel.

“The macro report needs to be expanded to include further levels,” said Shirley Anderson, LAFCO’s chief of policy.

The macro report will also be expanded to incorporate models of a recent County of San Diego program to subsidize structural fire protection services through California Department of Forestry contracts. The program, which is intended to improve the Insurance Services Office (ISO) ratings for the most underserved areas, covers 19 of the agencies and volunteer departments targeted for inclusion in Phase I. The County of San Diego has spent $8.5 million on the enhancement program, not including Community Projects funds. Each supervisor has a discretionary Community Projects budget which may be used for schools and non-profit organizations which provide services to county citizens and can also be used to supplement other county funding for specific county projects (allocation of the funds requires approval of the Board of Supervisors), and Supervisors Bill Horn and Dianne Jacob have recently exceeded a combined $1 million annually in Community Projects grants to volunteer fire departments.

The Warner Springs Volunteer Fire Department, which had been included in Phase I, was dissolved during summer 2006. “This speaks to the vulnerability of volunteer organizations,” said LAFCO consultant John Traylor, who is also the executive director of the Task Force on Fire Protection and Emergency Medical Services.

The Warner Springs CDF station was covered by one of the county contracts. The Sunshine Summit Volunteer Fire Department, which is 12 miles away, has taken over coverage of Warner Springs, and the Warner Springs Ranch Resort has a private fire brigade which serves the resort exclusively.

The Phase I agencies have a combined total of approximately 400 volunteer firefighters. “It’s really a community effort to provide fire service,” said consultant John Goss.

Goss noted that a consolidated department would help the volunteers with training and other coordinated items. Goss’ consultant duties include review of regional fire agencies in other California counties, and he noted that the property tax revenue in other regions is greater than what would be the combined total in the Phase I region. “An aggressive and comprehensive volunteer program is absolutely necessary,” Goss said.

The total population in the Phase I areas is approximately 110,000.

Two other issues in addition to the Warner Springs Volunteer Fire Department dissolution will also affect the micro report. The consolidation includes six of the seven County Service Areas (CSA) which provide fire and emergency medical service. (The exception is CSA No. 115, which is located in the Pepper Grove area outside the City of Santee and was part of the Santee Fire Department until the city took over fire services after Santee’s incorporation. The county contracts with the City of Santee to provide service to CSA No. 115, although the automatic aid agreement also brings coverage from other agencies to that area.)

The inclusion of County Service Area No. 107, covering Elfin Forest and Harmony Grove, would create an area geographically isolated from the rest of the Phase I regional fire department which could result in service and coordination issues. Two planned large developments within CSA No. 107 would create approximately 950 new dwelling units and 2,500 new residents, and it is possible that CSA No. 107 might become a member of a joint powers authority with the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District (which is not included in Phase I) and the cities of Del Mar and Solana Beach.

The other issue involves the East County Fire Protection District, which was created in 1994 by the merger of the non-contiguous Bostonia and Crest fire districts. The East County Fire Protection District has been operating at a deficit for the past seven years; over the past six years the deficit has totaled $1.2 million. “Right now as far as I’m concerned East County Fire District would be too much of a liability unless these problems are corrected,” Ott said.

The concept of a regional consolidated fire district includes a promise that the service of better-financed existing districts won’t be sacrificed to increase service elsewhere.

Jacob, whose supervisorial district includes Crest and Bostonia, notes that Phase I focuses on the underfunded districts as well as unserved areas. “You can’t bring down these other districts in Phase I much more than they already are,” she said. “I would hate to see East County be left out.”

Ott fears that inclusion of the East County district will entice other Phase I agencies to operate at a deficit rather than adopting a balanced budget.

LAFCO board chair Andy Vanderlaan, who spent 32 years in the fire service including 19 as chief of what is now the North County Fire Protection District, sees the East County financial situation as a problem Phase I could resolve when appropriate financing is obtained. “This is an opportunity for us to hone in on the need and the urgency for moving forward,” he said.

The proposed fire district reorganization is contingent on a stable funding source. Since the ISO rating for Crest and Bostonia met standards, the East County agency was one of four Phase I organizations which have not been subsidized by the county program.

“It also has some really regional impacts,” Lakeside Fire Protection District fire chief Mark Baker said of the East County situation. “I would like to encourage you not to forget the neighbors.”

When County Service Area No. 69 was formed to provide paramedic service, the CSA covered the Lakeside, Santee, and Bostonia fire districts. Closure of the Bostonia fire station would impact CSA No. 69 service to other areas as well as automatic aid agreements. The Lakeside Fire Protection District also plans to replace Station No. 1 in the near future (Fiscal Year 2008-09 according to a five-year plan), and consideration of a regional aspect could play a part in the site of the new station. “It’s more than just an East County issue,” Baker said.

The Lakeside Fire Protection District is not included in Phase I, nor is the San Miguel Consolidated Fire Protection District which is also providing service to the Crest portion of the East County district.

Another matter to be determined prior to the release of the draft micro report is the status of ambulance transport contracts, since the boundaries of many Phase I agencies are also those of exclusive ambulance transport contract areas. An opinion from state emergency medical service officials will be obtained before the preliminary determination of county emergency medical service officials that reorganization would not invalidate existing contracts is incorporated into the draft report.

 

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