De Luz VFD gets keys to new firefighting additions

DE LUZ — The community of De Luz Heights held their annual potluck picnic at Ross Daily’s ranch on Saturday, July 2, at which time County District Five Supervisor Bill Horn presented the keys to two brand new fire apparatus (a Type II Urban Interface engine and a firefighting Water Tender) to the De Luz Volunteer Fire Department.

The engines were purchased through the newly formed County Fire Enhancement Program, established in November 2005 to help the unincorporated area’s 14 volunteer fire departments directly with new equipment and funding for operating costs. Through this program, 17 new fire engines and water tenders were purchased and delivered to ten of the county’s volunteer departments. De Luz VFD received two of them.

This program is not associated with the proposed County Fire Regionalization Plan that De Luz Volunteer Fire Department “opted out” from participating in. The Fire Enhancement Program operates on a fraction of the costs that the Regionalization Plan has proposed. It gives direct support to the agencies that need it and is funded annually through the General Fund of the County Board of Supervisors.

The De Luz Volunteer Fire Department effectively staffs and operates 12 fire engines with its 36 volunteer firefighters on a budget of $23,000 per year for its 60-square-mile response area. They are dispatched by CALFIRE to all 9-1-1 calls in the De Luz area.

The new engines are expected to be dispatched to out-of-De-Luz mutual aid assignments in the coming months.