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Politics & Government

Some Residents Fear Fire Department Plan Will Leave Them in Jeopardy

Chatsworth, Porter Ranch and Northridge areas losing firefighters, paramedics and trucks.

Area residents fear that a new fire department plan which eliminates fire trucks and personnel will cut emergency services and increase LAFD response times. It's a plan set to go into effect July 5.

In a Tuesday Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council prelude to a Fire Department Town Hall, questions came fast and furious.

The Town Hall will be 6 p.m., May 11 at Shepherd of the Hills Church,  19700 Rinaldi St., Porter Ranch.

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If the Deployment Plan wins City Council approval on July 1,  Chatsworth Fire Station 96 will lose one fire engine, and Porter Ranch Fire Stations 8 and 28 will  lose an ambulance with two firefighters/EMTs and an engine and truck, commonly known as a hook-and-ladder.

At the Neighborhood Council meeting, Porter Ranch resident Mary Griffey asked a dozen top ranking on- and off-duty firefighters to explain the impact of the plan.

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She wanted to know why residents’ safety is being put at risk.

“I want you to know that it’s our security that’s at stake here. I want (deployment) to be like it was before. Don’t take away our (hook-and-ladder),” she said.

The new deployment plan comes because Los Angeles is facing a deficit like no other before.

Under the plan no firefighters/paramedics/EMTs will lose their jobs, which some see as a positive aspect. Instead, they will be transferred to other stations.

Asst. Chief Pat Butler said in the past, fire stations were typically built within a three-mile radius of each other. But the city’s population is forever changing.

“This is a financial issue. What’s the best model given the financial impact we’ve seen,” Butler asked. Butler said the fire department has suffered under an $80-million budget reduction the last four years, including 2011-2012.

At Tuesday’s meeting at Shephard of the Hills Church, fire officials replied to some of out-going Councilman Greig Smith’s recent comments in a Chatsworth Patch story, saying they were inflammatory and inaccurate.

Smith could not be reached late Tuesday evening.

Smith earlier maintained that there will not be any lag in response times under the proposed plan.

Fire officials disagree.

Smith, who heads the city’s Public Safety Committee, said hook-and-ladder trucks weren’t needed in the Chatsworth/Porter Ranch area because there weren’t any buildings taller than two stories. He also said in cases of major alarm fires, dispatchers automatically send numerous fire companies under the current plan as well as the proposed plan.

Fire officials on Tuesday rattled off the names of several taller buildings in the area in response, including the Ramada Hotel and a nearby apartment complex on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, both in Chatsworth.

“For Greig Smith to say we don’t have buildings over two stories tall is 100 percent wrong,” said Capt. Fred Lopez.

Fire officials were adamant about the importance of hook-and-ladder trucks.

They are used in structure fires no matter how tall the building, they said.

Newer housing developments and businesses in the foothill communities, where most do not have fire sprinkler systems, are prime targets for aerials ladders.  

Lopez said the ladders are used for more than structural fires, such as hillside rescues.

Capt. Christopher Cooper said the aerial ladders on hook-and-ladder trucks are necessary to cut a hole in rooftops and are used to stretch over buildings to extinguish fires.

“Without the aerial ladder (we) won’t go onto the roof and that means it will take longer to (extinguish the fire),” Cooper said.

Cooper said there are 15 critical factors firefighters engage in upon arriving to every structural fire.

“The (proposed) deployment plan limits the department’s ability to perform those tasks in an efficient and effective way,” he said.

The closest hook-and-ladder truck could be stationed in Chatsworth and Granada Hills, eliminating Northridge and Porter Ranch, according to the proposed plan.

The hook-and-ladder truck carries the Jaws-of-Life, sometimes necessary to rescue victims in major traffic collisions, further jeopardizing life-saving operations, they said.

Saws, tools, ladders and other heavy equipment are used in earthquake rescues and to rescue people from upper floors, are also aboard.

Cooper took issue with Smith’s comment about the firefighters’ union fighting
the proposed deployment plan because of overtime pay under the old system. He said it was the City Council that approved the “fairness” concept of overtime.

Currently, a voluntary rotation system exists. The next employee up on the rotation list is called before a firefighter who hasn’t reached an overtime status is summoned, or one closer in proximity to the call.

Fire officials also rejected Smith’s comment that Station 70 at Reseda Boulevard and Lassen Street would delay response time to Chatsworth and Porter Ranch emergencies by only one additional minute, and on larger commercial fires that extra minute would have little, if any, impact.

“There isn’t any hook-and-ladder at Fire Station 70. It’s not a minute away,” Cooper said. “It’s physically impossible.”

The 2011 Deployment Plan is designed to maximize service delivery under a reduced budget. It will end the current Modified Coverage Plan and provide the ability to augment coverage when needed.

The Plan will begin in increments in June, with the major implementation occurring on July 5. Some additional limited changes will take place later as apparatus and equipment become available.

Chatsworth Station 96 could lose one engine truck carrying four firefighters. What could remain is one hook-and-ladder.

Porter Ranch Station 8 will be losing an ambulance with a dedicated driver and paramedic assigned to it. It will be replaced with an unmanned unit with no team to take it out on calls. As a result the station will be down two employees.

Station 28 is losing an assessment light force, which in lay terms means a fire truck, an engine and a paramedic. Instead, Fire Station 28 will have an assessment engine, which includes a paramedic. That translates to the net loss of two firefighters.

Fire officials explained that a station left with only one fire truck or engine endangers the community.

If it is on a call, a backup fire truck or engine will have to travel a greater distance and sometimes up steep inclines, slowing down the response time.

They also talked about the reduction in ambulance services in the proposed plan.

Capt. Fred Lopez said potential heart-attack calls are given first priority, but non-life-threatening calls will be delayed under the proposed deployment plan.

Lopez also said the brush patrol unit in Porter Ranch will sit idle with no one to operate it after July 15.

The Northwest San Fernando Valley is taking a big hit compared to the rest of the city, he said.

“To say that the overall (reductions in services) are equal throughout the city is blatantly false (as is) to say there will be no delays in our response times,” Lopez said.

Porter Ranch resident Irwin Cohen said the proposed deployment plan is not just a Valley issue but a citywide issue.

“It’s the responsibility and duty of the city to protect its citizens,” Cohen said.

He said Los Angeles has standout fire and police departments and should receive whatever they ask for.

“The rest of the (money) should be divided among other city services,” Cohen said.

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