2 Years After Cedar Fire – Still No Countywide Fire Department

Two years ago the Cedar Fire caused over $819 million in property damage. Ramona Home JOurnal Archive Photo

By E.A. Barrera

The County Board of Supervisors recently voted to strengthen fire protection services in the county by providing $5 million annually to fire agencies and districts in underserved rural communities. In a September 21, 2005 press statement released by County Department of Planning and Land Use spokesman Ivan Holler, county officials boasted that the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to “authorize contract negotiations with various fire districts and agencies to improve fire protection services” in their areas.

“The contract will provide $5 million a year, for three years. It will allow the agencies to enhance maintenance of their facilities, conduct additional training, pay for dispatching and buy fire engines,” said Holler.

He was joined by East County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who said fire services had been severely lacking in the rural areas of the county.

“By taking this step, the County of San Diego is moving aggressively to protect these communities from wildfires,” said Jacob.

The areas that will be served range from Mount Laguna, Palomar Mountain, and Warner Springs, to Ocotillo Wells, and Shelter Valley. Agencies serving those areas will also receive radios to remain in touch with the County communications system. The County will negotiate contracts with certain Rural Fire Protection District and water districts to improve fire protection services, as well as contract with the California Department of Forestry to provide year-round coverage in such locations as Warner Springs, Julian, and Dulzura.

“The County is also adding seven staff members to the Department of Planning and Land Use to help the fire agencies and districts provide the improved services. The department will review fire protection plans in the communities and provide additional training and enforcement of clearing and weed abatement ordinances,” noted Holler.

But in the wake of such events as hurricanes Katrina and Rita, plus recent fires this year in Julian and northern San Diego, serious questions remain as to what significant steps have been taken to prepare the county for another major disaster.

In the last ten years more than half a dozen significant fires have hit the county, with thousands of homes destroyed and millions of dollars in damage reported. The Cedar Fire alone was responsible for 15 deaths and $819 million in property damages. Yet despite two full years of debate and lamentation about the county’s inability to stop the Cedar fire in October 2003, a plan to consolidate the counties 64 fire districts into one entity languishes in the planning stages and fire officials complain that their areas are still not prepared to deal with a blaze the size of 2003’s firestorms.

Last August, a plan put forward by the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) was approved that would begin the process of reorganizing the region’s fire protection. This after LAFCO issued a scathing report in February that called the county’s emergency preparedness organization “bewildering” and “short-sighted” in its ability to serve the residents of San Diego County.

“In the absence of compelling cooperative agreements or inclusive organizational structure, the region’s 28 autonomous agencies exist in an environment that results in isolated policy decisions impacting the effectiveness of region-wide service stated the LAFCO report.

LAFCO said the region’s agencies had not developed a universal response criterion; had not provided a unified command or employed unified standards for training safety personnel; and were not able to “engage in strategic regional planning that could eliminate redundancies” and engender more effective use of resources.

“Because emergency services are divided among so many agencies — no single authority is accountable for creating and implementing a comprehensive vision for the region,” stated the LAFCO report. “The determinations in this report underscore the fact that the region’s bewildering organization of unserved areas and redundant, under-funded public agencies did not evolve spontaneously; it was encouraged and given shape by short-sighted public policy choices that were adopted without a vision of how such decisions would impact public safety.”

Last November, county voters overwhelmingly approved a plan to consolidate the region’s fire districts into one fire department. Jacob supported the concept and has advocated consolidation for years. But in a statement issued last June, the Supervisor acknowledged that funding for LAFCO’s consolidation proposal was still in the planning stages and would not be ready till at least this coming December.

“This report, which is expected to be completed in December, should let us know exactly how much additional funding is needed in order for a consolidation to take place.

This action seeks approval in concept to reapportion the school districts’ share of property tax dollars collected in San Diego County by no more than 3 cents, and allocate that funding to a newly formed regional fire agency,” said Jacob.

According to Jacob, basic aid school districts and community college districts would be exempt and revenue limited school districts would be made whole. The cost to California taxpayers could range from approximately $32 million to $103.9 million. According to Jacob, consolidation would include 28 fire protection agencies and 7 volunteer departments that serve 3,572 square miles. The Supervisor said approximately $49.4 million of the $57.9 million annual budget for unincorporated fire agencies is from property tax revenue, with the remaining funding coming from $8.3 million in special assessments and $200,000 in fundraising by volunteer departments.

“Local property tax revenue is the most appropriate source for the long-term stable funding that is needed to establish a fully functioning fire agency for the entire unincorporated area. San Diego County taxpayers currently pay more of their local property tax dollars to schools in comparison to the majority of other counties and the statewide average. This discrepancy is unfair and at the expense of fire and emergency medical services,” said Jacob. “If approved by the State, the reallocation would be phased over 3 years and would not begin until fiscal year 2006/2007 at the earliest. Taking into account the current property tax revenue of fire protection agencies in the unincorporated area and an annual 8% growth in property tax revenue, a reallocation of 1 to 3 cents would result in a total of approximately $89.5 million to $178.9 million in funding for a regional fire protection agency.”

During a meeting of the LAFCO Board in August (which includes among others, Jacob, Supervisor Bill Horn, and San Diego Mayoral candidate and city councilwoman Donna Frye), San Marcos Fire Department Chief Larry Kinnard said the problem for county fire fighters was one of funding. He was joined by Lakeside Fire Chief Mark Baker, who also called for an increase in property tax revenues to pay for local fire services.

Both men echoed blistering statements made by San Diego Fire Chiefs Association president Kevin Crawford last October. One year after the fire, Crawford told the County Board of Supervisors that one of the many problems rural districts faced in the years prior to the Cedar Fire was an atmosphere of inattention on the part of the county towards the volunteer and smaller fire departments in San Diego’s backcountry. “Fire protection in San Diego County is like a large jigsaw puzzle. One of the missing pieces in this fire protection jigsaw puzzle has been the county’s lack of participation in the business of fire protection in the unincorporated areas,” said Crawford. “It has been the opinion of the fire chiefs that this county believes fire protection in the rural areas is the responsibility of those who live in those areas and not the responsibility of the county,” said Crawford. “In those areas, we’d like the Board of Supervisors to hear the sense of lack of support (and) of being isolated.” Crawford said the main solution to the problem was a consolidation of fire protection in the county. “There is no simple improvement that will solve all of the county’s fire protection issues,” said Crawford. “A regional approach will create a more cost efficient and effective system.”