RIVERSIDE -- The Riverside County Board of Supervisors today approved two ordinances that will phase out the county's volunteer firefighting brigade and fold it into a reserve force with stricter standards. Really? How so? Oh, you mean by asking the volunteer firefighters to do what they already do, which is EXCEED State standards. 

``This fits into the picture of where the fire department is today,'' said county fire Chief John Hawkins. ``We want to have a combination of career and volunteer reserve firefighters to handle the depth of catastrophic emergency this county's going to face.'' Well THAT really worked out huh? Lets count how many "volunteers" have resigned, or been asked to leave and see how this worked out....but lets also take into account all the NEW layoffs due to budget concerns.....this plan REALLY was a winner!
 

The California Department of Forestry -- Cal Fire -- sought the ordinances out of concern that volunteer units were too often operating independently of full-time crews, (volunteer crews cannot self dispatch, so kind of hard to believe this one) creating confusion and potentially exposing the county to liability. (Let's count how many lawsuits have been filed on behalf of Cal Fire employees against either the State or County vs. how many were filed by volunteer firefighters, oh let's also count how much the settlements out of court were too....maybe then the truth will be told) The county has contracted with Cal Fire for public safety services since 1946. (volunteer firefighters have been serving residents of Riverside County since, well, since people began living here!) 

More than 350 (the VFA was a little off on this number, or someone deflated the number) volunteer firefighters serve in unincorporated communities and cities throughout the county, donating their time to battle wildfires and respond to other emergencies, according to the Riverside County Volunteer Firefighters' Association.

Cal Fire proposed a ``Volunteer Reserve Firefighter Program'' (Correction, Cal Fire actually proposed a "Reserve Volunteer Firefighter Program" and it wasn't PROPOSED, that would mean the Volunteer Firefighters of the County actually had a say so in creating and presenting the program, not just having it shoved across the table to them) over the summer and drafted two ordinances -- 903 and 904.
 

The first ordinance empowers the Board of Supervisors to decide whether volunteer fire companies are needed and, if so, which ones. If an existing unit is found to be unnecessary, it will be phased out in six months. No new volunteer units will be formed without the express consent of the board.

The second measure formally establishes a reserve firefighter program, similar to Orange County's. (Which paid dividends to the unions! Of course we can always go back to the Yorba Linda fire where Orange County had sent out its fire engines and staffing to assist LA County on a vegetation fire only to have it's own fire take off and well, the rest is history. The Fire Chief, as well as many others asked why there was not any staffing to help suppress the fire, but many forgot that they had just eliminated the volunteer firefighters and so many engines, water tenders etc sat unmanned....great plan, lets do what Orange County did!) Under the new framework, volunteers will be required to undergo background checks, routine medical exams and standardized training. (This is nothing new, Volunteers in the county already did this, but seemingly everyone only wanted to hear what was being "fed" to them. OH YEAH, did anyone ask if Cal Fire performs background checks on its firefighters? Or was that not supposed be brought up?) 

``Given the increased level of service provided by the fire department, the need for volunteer fire companies has been substantially diminished,'' Cal Fire stated in an introduction to the ordinances. (first of all Cal Fire did not write the ordinances, so why its being said they did makes one wonder. County Legal actually drafted the ordinances. Also, let's talk about the increased level of service...how is that going to play out now that there are budget short falls in just about every city, and Cal Fire still has yet to close its county budget gap, where is that "increased level of service" now?) 

``In addition, it has become highly problematic that over 60 volunteer fire companies are operating outside the organizational structure of the fire department.'' (This is probably one of the BIGGEST LIES of them all !! If anyone would bother to read the bylaws of the VFC's they will clearly read that OPERATIONAL items fall under the County Fire Chief, ADMINISTRATIVE actions fall under the Board of Directors for the VFC who operates under the Secretary of State, just like any other corporation would in the State of California. This simply came down to the fact that Cal Fire wanted FULL AND TOTAL control over the VFC's. When confronted to provide facts of these "problems" no evidence was ever provided to anyone! Funny how that worked out huh? If one wants to see problems, google the Riverside County Grand Jury report from 2009 or just download it off of this site) 

In September, Tim Young, vice chairman of the volunteer association, called the dissolution plan ``fiscally irresponsible,'' arguing that volunteers supplemented active-duty personnel, received similar training, bought and maintained most of their own equipment and deferred to Cal Fire at emergencies. (Fiscally Irresponsible! Tim could not have said it better! And now that the County Fire Department is facing a multi-million dollar budget shortfall, cities are contemplating laying of staff, reducing services, and reviewing the actual costs, Cal Fire is still moving forward on this volunteer firefighter transition, which is going to cost around $1 million dollars! AND as reported by several VFC's, Cal Fire is actively requesting the VFC's donate their equipment to the County, so they can incur MORE costs to maintain, transition, insure, and staff those once Volunteer owned pieces of equipment.....truly amazing)  

According to Cal Fire officials, since the ordinances were first proposed, the agency and volunteers have come to an understanding.(REALLY?? Who did they talk too?? The only understanding achieved was that Cal Fire created this program WITHOUT the assistance of any of the Volunteers, and once it was "leaked" to the volunteers they were forced to hold meetings across the county to sell snake oil to everyone! 
 

At their Nov. 9 meeting, the supervisors all expressed appreciation for the volunteers but agreed with Hawkins that to ensure uniformity, a reserve program was necessary. (There was no "appreciation"... it was a 4-1 vote behind closed doors, and the Volunteers were told "all good things come to an end".....no one wanted to do their homework and find out what was the REAL motive behind this effort by Cal Fire to eliminate the Volunteers.) 

During today's board meeting, Hawkins acknowledged that planned personnel cuts and possible station closures would make the volunteer reserve force all the more vital.

(Such kinda words from our Cal Fire contractor....a position that has full benefits, retirement/pension, union representation, overtime, county vehicle (with gas), ability to make their own schedule, and many more.... 

How about we level the playing field here.... How about the fire contractors give up the following...

- pay / benefits / overtime
- right to representation
- county vehicles
- ability to come and go as emergencies arise
- right to attend training classes around work/family schedules
- the right to work several shifts when time permits
- pay for your own uniform without being reimbursed
- undergo a criminal background check
- be told that you can no longer volunteer/work in your own community
- work a regular 40 hour a week career during the week

AND most importantly....do all of the above while placing your life on the line! One would wonder how many stations/fire engines would be staffed then....interesting concept. There is a big difference when someone VOLUNTEERS to fight fire and assist the community they live in and when one is PAID to do it.



Hawkins said many of the existing volunteer units will be absorbed into the reserve program. (ahh...finally, the one thing we can agree upon!)