Calif. Fire District Ponders Future Without Parcel Tax

How firefighters in far East County respond to calls could change significantly if a proposed parcel tax fails in next month's election.

Directors of the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District on Monday pondered two ways of reducing the number of stations and staffing levels to keep the cash-strapped agency afloat assuming Measure S does not receive the requisite two-thirds approval.

One option -- and the one Chief Hugh Henderson recommended -- is to close half the district's six stations and lay off 16 firefighters, leaving 27 to staff the remaining sites at three per shift. Bethel Island, Knightsen and Brentwood each would lose a station.

The second scenario involves shutting down the Bethel Island and Knightsen stations and staffing the remaining four with 24 firefighters, or two per shift. This configuration would mean laying off 19 firefighters.

Director Joel Bryant called the choices "two flavors of sickening," and others on the nine-member board were not any happier about the decision they must make if voters reject the notion of paying $197 per year and up over the next decade.

Hard hit as property values have plummeted in recent years, East Contra Costa Fire District is projecting just over $8 million in revenue for 2012-13 but $11.8 million in expenses, leaving it $3.7 million in the hole unless the parcel tax passes.

Moreover, district reserves are dwindling and Henderson projects there will be roughly $500,000

left by the time the fiscal year ends June 30.

The proposed station closures and personnel cuts are intended to return the district to operating on a balanced budget.

The reductions promise to change how the district will handle non-emergency calls, Henderson said. Instead of burdening other agencies by having them provide a presence while his firefighters handle lower-priority calls such as reports of smoke or flooding, the district only would respond to these situations when one of its own engines is available.

East Contra Costa Fire only would use the automatic and mutual aid that other agencies provide in an emergency, Henderson said.

He advised board members to adopt the three-station model because he said having three firefighters on an engine is safer both for them and those they rescue.

If someone is trapped in a burning building, for example, two men can go inside while the third stays outside to ensure the equipment is working properly and call for backup if his partners become disabled, Henderson said before the meeting.

And in a medical emergency, a three-person crew can tend to more patients right away or lift a heavy person without having to wait for a second engine, he added.

Copyright 2012 - Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service