Santa Cruz County Grand Jury • 2008-2009

Fire Protection in County Service Area 48

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Findings 37 findings

F1
“County Fire” is a generic term used to describe fire protection services provided in the rural parts of the county but has two different meanings depending upon the agency using it: • Includes both CSA 48 and CSA 4 6, 7 • Includes only CSA 48 8, 9, 10
F2
The County Fire contract provides fire and rescue services for two separate county service areas: CSA 48 (286 sq. mi.) and CSA 4 (Pajaro Dunes, 0.2 sq. mi.). Pajaro Dunes is a beachfront development located on the southern tip of the county.
F3
All of CSA 48 is a State Responsibility Area except for the farmlands on the county’s North Coast and the farmlands that surround Pajaro Dunes. Cal Fire is, therefore, responsible for preventing and suppressing fires in this CSA.
F4
County Fire does not include all the state responsibility areas in Santa Cruz County. Notably excluded is the area within the Pajaro Valley Fire Protection District.
F5
CSA 4 is a Local Responsibility Area. The County is required to provide fire protection services in this CSA.
F6
By county ordinance, the Fire Department Advisory Commission (FDAC) was established to advise the Board of Supervisors and County Fire Chief on budgeting, personnel, and other concerns relating to CSA 48 fire protection, rescue and emergency services.
F7
The County Fire contract consists of three different cooperative agreements. Two are related to CSA 48, and a separate agreement is for CSA 4. • The two agreements for CSA 48 are (cid:190) Amador Plan, wherein the county government pays Cal Fire for fire and rescue service during the winter/non-fire season. There are four Cal Fire stations in this agreement. Coastal Incident Response Plan, August 2005 http://sccounty01.co.santa- cruz.ca.us/oes/Coastal%20Incident%20Response%20Plan%202005v1.5.pdf ( ). County Fire Contract for FY 2007-2008 as signed by the Director of General Services, http://sccounty01.co.santa- cruz.ca.us/bds/Govstream/BDSvData/non_legacy/Minutes/2008/20080212/PDF/069.pdf 8 County Service Area (CSA) 48 contains all areas served by the County Fire Department, except the Pajaro Dunes development, which constitutes County Service Area 4” – . Santa Cruz County Volunteer Firefighter Handbook [Revised: November 2003]. LAFCO – Countywide Service Review 2005: CSA 48 is County Fire and CSA 4 is Pajaro Dunes. 10 2007-2008 Secured Property Tax Bill special assessments for parcels in CSA 48 labeled County Fire and CSA 4 labeled Pajaro Dunes. County Fire 103 (cid:190) Schedule A, which provides a year-round Fire Marshal,11 ECC, volunteer training, vehicle maintenance and administrative support services. • CSA 4 consists of a single Schedule A agreement, which provides Pajaro Dunes with year-round two-operator engine staffing.
F8
In CSA 48, Cal Fire retains full control of state resources (personnel, vehicles, equipment) and can reassign these to meet emergency needs elsewhere in the state. In contrast, the Pajaro Dunes Schedule A year-round agreement requires Cal Fire to always staff and maintain a fire station in CSA 4.
F9
There are four Cal Fire Amador Plan stations and five volunteer companies in CSA 48: Cal Fire Amador Stations Volunteer Company Stations Big Creek Bonny Doon – Martin Rd. Burrell Bonny Doon – McDermott Corralitos* Corralitos* Saratoga Summit Davenport Las Cumbres Loma Prieta *Cal Fire and volunteers co-located (See Map, Appendix A, and Sources/Websites: Santa Cruz County Fire Interactive Map12.)
F10
Cal Fire prepares the annual operating budget for County Fire. In 2007-2008 this budget is $2,870,629 including $2,030,354 for CSA 48 and $840,275 for CSA 4.
F11
The primary funding sources for County Fire are property taxes and special assessments. The majority of CSA 48 property owners in 2007-2008 were assessed $117 per parcel and CSA 4 property owners $669.80. Secondary funding sources come from Proposition 172 funds and grants.
F12
A special election was held in fall 2007 that would have nearly doubled the CSA 48 special assessment in order to offset the increasing cost of the Amador Plan staffing and equipment replacement. This ballot measure failed and, as a result, budget reductions were required.
F13
The County Fire contract prepared by Cal Fire has been inconsistent from year to year: • The 2007-2008 Amador agreement showed three stations, but the 2006-2007 agreement showed four stations. • The 2007-2008 Amador agreement totaled $53,267, but the 2005-2006 agreement totaled $711,590. The much lower cost in 2007-2008 was due to firefighter 11 The Fire Marshal duties include fire code enforcement, plan review, inspection and addressing services. 12 http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=105229572859786697499.00044308a6fb925404fc3&hl=e n&ie=UTF8&z=10 104 County Fire personnel, the most significant cost component, being listed on the Schedule A agreement instead of on the Amador agreement.
F14
Santa Cruz County Office of Emergency Services (OES) under the General Services Department administers the County Fire contract and Cal Fire manages County Fire on a day-to-day basis.
F15
The cost of the Amador Plan is dependent on the length of the state-declared fire season. The longer the fire season, the longer the state rather than the county is obligated to fund staffing for state-run fire stations.
F16
The final 2007-2008 Amador Plan included 29 Cal Fire firefighters. Of these, 12 officers were paid by the state, and 17 seasonal firefighters were fully funded by the county. The majority of firefighters were not paid, with approximately 74 active volunteers in CSA 48.
F17
During the last four months of the 2007-2008 Amador Plan, firefighter staffing was reduced. On a rotating schedule, instead of assigning three engine operators to all four stations, one station was reduced to two engine operators each week. Cal Fire assigned other state-paid personnel to the fire stations based on anticipated need.
F18
A significant portion of the Pajaro Valley Fire Protection District is classified as State Responsibility Area but in contrast to CSA 48 has a single fire station with a year- round Cal Fire contract for two engine operators.
F19
Only 0.4 percent of approximately $16 million in Proposition 172 funds are designated to the 2007-2008 County Fire budget with the remainder going to county law enforcement.
F20
The average age of fire engines ready to respond is 15 years, but County Fire recommends maintaining an average age of less than ten years. The replacement cost of an engine is approximately $350,000.13
F21
The community of Paradise Park is located within the boundaries of CSA 48. (See Map, Appendix A.) Because of the distance to the nearest County Fire station, it is impractical for them to service this community, so Paradise Park’s fire protection services are contracted out to the City of Santa Cruz.
F22
Fees collected for fire marshal services do not cover the cost of operations. FDAC recommended recently that fire marshal staffing be reduced in an effort to match spending with revenues.14
F23
CSA 48 fully funds the position of addressing clerk in the General Services Department. The addressing clerk updates and maintains the database of street names and locations. All emergency personnel in the county have access to this updated information to accurately locate addresses. FDAC recommended recently that the County Office of Emergency Services assume the funding for this position.12 13 California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection/Santa Cruz County Fire Department. Five-Year Mobile Equipment Replacement Plan for Fiscal Years 2006-2011. County of Santa Cruz Fire Department Advisory Commission, draft minutes for the March 19, 2008, meeting. County Fire 105
F24
Cal Fire enters dispatch information into and draws statistics from the California All Incident Response System (CAIRS) database. CAIRS data was used to prepare the County Fire call reports presented to the Board of Supervisors.
F25
A type of CAIRS report, Resources Activity, shows dispatch data for four different time points: dispatch, enroute, on-scene, return to quarter. Each incident is identified using the following fields: incident type, location, area and unit.
F26
The majority of emergency incidents are not fire related yet fire personnel and heavy equipment are dispatched routinely. (See Appendix B.)
F27
The Emergency Medical Services Integration Authority (EMSIA) was established to administer a program to integrate fire agency emergency medical services into a countywide system.
F28
In the rural areas of the county, firefighters are normally the first medically trained responders to arrive on the scene of an emergency.
F29
Cal Fire and volunteer firefighters are trained and certified to provide basic life support services.
F30
The County contracts with American Medical Response to provide medically necessary ambulance transport staffed with advanced life support paramedics.
F31
The Board of Supervisors asked County Fire management to provide monthly incident reports to evaluate the effects of reduced staffing approved in February 2008. Matching a 10-day period of ECC audio dispatches 15 to corresponding CAIRS Resource Activity reports revealed • A single incident can have multiple responses. • Every dispatch is reported as an incident response regardless of actual on-scene arrival. Volunteer company responses are not included. • Adjoining fire district responses are not included. • Ambulance responses are not included.
F32
Emergency calls from County Fire are first routed to the Santa Cruz Consolidated Emergency Communications Center (Netcom). Since the State requires Cal Fire to command its resources, Netcom must relay the initial call and pass control of the dispatch to the Cal Fire ECC.
F33
County Fire responds to medical emergency calls but is not a member of the Emergency Medical Services Integration Authority (EMSIA).16 The Cal Fire Chief is on the EMSIA Board of Directors only on behalf of the Pajaro Valley Fire Protection District.
F34
The Cal Fire Unit Chief for both San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties is designated as the Chief of County Fire and the Santa Cruz County Fire Department. Approximately 20 percent of his time is spent on Santa Cruz County support. Firescan.net, http://www.firescan.net/ 16 “Surviving Sudden Cardiac Arrest: Improving the Odds with Automated External Defibrillators, -5. County Fire
F35
The FDAC represents CSA 48 and its role is to advise the County Fire Chief and the County Board of Supervisors. FDAC does not represent CSA 4.
F36
The county code for FDAC membership was amended in 2005 to reduce membership from 13 seats to 10 seats, eliminating two representatives from the Health Services Agency (one each from Emergency Medical Services and Environmental Health) and one from Public Works, due to their poor attendance records.
F37
Although several volunteer fire companies and Cal Fire maintain websites, there is no County Fire website. Conclusions 1. “County Fire” is a confusing term, implying the existence of a single department responsible for fire protection in the rural areas of the county.

Recommendations 13