Idyllwild Fire Protection District

On October 10, 2006, an incident occurred regarding a sick child at the Idyllwild School (K-8). After calling ‘911’, the school could not produce the current school year parental consent form. The school requested the sick child be transported to a hospital by Idyllwild Fire Department ambulance and paramedics. 2

Idyllwild Fire Department paramedics responded to a ‘911’ call concerning the sick child at the Idyllwild School. Paramedics refused to transport the child to the hospital, as requested by the school principal who was in contact with the Hemet Unified School District nurse. The decision not to transport was made by paramedics without contacting an approved base or receiving hospital. Riverside County EMS Policy 5500 requires contact with a hospital base station before field personnel can clear a call. A written memorandum from EMS dated July 17, 2007, to paramedic provider agencies and hospitals regarding ‘medical clearance’ of patients in the field, further enforces this policy.

A scheduled meeting between the principal of the Idyllwild School, members of the Hemet Unified School District, and the Fire Chief for the Idyllwild Fire Department concerning the transporting of a sick child has not yet taken place. Several meetings were scheduled, however, for various reasons these meetings were cancelled by the Fire Chief, and not rescheduled by him.

The Grand Jury has determined, through a series of interviews, that members of the fire department and commission have attempted various forms of intimidation. The attempted intimidation occurred against individuals who spoke out against the department, department policy, or certain members of the fire department. The following examples were obtained during sworn testimony: • Members of the public have expressed that they felt intimidated at the Fire Commission Meetings due to the number of uniformed fire department personnel in attendance at a given meeting. Fire department personnel also made intimidating statements to attendees during and after the meeting. • Members of the public have stated they felt intimidated by fire department vehicles repeatedly parking in front or near their homes or businesses for long periods of time and for no apparent reason. • A business owner has testified that he felt threatened regarding actions taken over an on-going easement issue with the fire department, concerning access by fire apparatus.

The Idyllwild Fire Department has conducted practice burns without first obtaining a ‘burn control number’ from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD). This constitutes a violation of AQMD Rule 444, amended December 21, 2001. They also burned a vehicle in the spring of 2007, which is also a violation of AQMD policy. AQMD does not authorize a practice burn of any vehicle. 3

At the October 23, 2007 Board Meeting, the IFPD Board violated the Brown Act, Section 54957(b)(i), by discussing the Fire Chief’s contract relating to compensation in closed session. The Brown Act only allows discussion in closed session of “the appointment, employment, evaluation of performance, discipline, or dismissal of a public employee”.

The Grand Jury learned, from testimony given by several expert witnesses, that due to the size of the department and the low volume of medical calls, it is difficult for the paramedics at the Idyllwild Fire Department to maintain their clinical assessment skills.

The Idyllwild Fire Department does not have a skilled grant writer, making it difficult to apply for the various grants available.

The fire department has been remiss in their security and validation of documents and records, as evidenced by the following examples: • A former member of the fire department was accused of having falsified certifications, which were signed by the chief, but were dated prior to the chief’s employment by the fire department. • Another member of the fire department was accused of removing documents from the department and releasing them to a third party. A police report was filed on this incident.

The fire department currently exists as an individual entity in a high fire risk area otherwise serviced by several county, state, and federal fire resources. This results in the need for numerous mutual aide incidents, both fire and medical, which can lead to a more complex response effort. This complexity adds a further element of risk for the residents of the mountain communities when a major emergency occurs. 4