CA FFs Only Responding to Emergencies at University

Oct. 21—At a meeting on Oct. 10, the Arcata Fire District discussed Cal Poly Humboldt's decision to end its contract with the district for a range of benefits such as flood and storm response, smoke removals, fire drills and other non-emergency services.

The district will still respond to emergencies, but according to a letter to the university from Chief Justin McDonald, the decision came after the district invoiced a $100 fee for a false fire alarm, a practice they instituted in July.

"I must, however, express my disappointment as to the circumstances under which this decision to terminate our partnership was seemingly made and the message it sends to my board about Cal Poly's desire to work productively with the district," McDonald's letter said.

"From what I understand, the decision to terminate the agreement is Cal Poly's reaction to being invoiced $100 for the district's response to a false alarm on campus. The false alarm fee was recently added to the district's fee schedule to reimburse the district for the resources used to respond to false alarms," McDonald continued, "This false alarm fee is not Cal Poly specific; it applies throughout our response area. As you might imagine, false alarms occur frequently throughout the district, including on campus, and charging a small fee is the only way we can preserve our limited resources that are diverted unnecessarily."

Declining to answer specific questions, Cal Poly Humboldt spokespeople sent a statement noting that based on the "restructured fees" the university would have to pay an extra tens of thousands of dollars per year. The university is working toward another agreement with the fire district that is more "fiscally appropriate," the statement said.

"After reviewing the AFD agreement, the university determined that most of those services had not been provided to the campus for years. Historically, the agreement in place had made sense due to the large number of calls generated by our campus, specifically the false alarms related to our residence halls." the statement said.

However, McDonald said that in August, per the contract, AFD conducted the annual resident's hall disaster drill with ResLife Staff and University Police, where they simulated a fire in campus apartments.

"Prior to that in April, we hosted a firefighter day for the sorority Delta Phi Epsilon where they conducted team building exercises while learning different firefighter skills," McDonald said.

Over the past two fiscal years, the university has paid the district $74,000 for the services noted in the contract. The district will reimburse the university for the remaining time in the contract, as it expires on June 30, 2024.

The university and district, alongside the city of Arcata, are working on finding funds for a study that would determine how much money the district needs to provide baseline services as the university expands. Cal Poly Humboldt aims to double the student body by 2028, with a target fall class that year of 11,000 students. Fall 2023 saw 5,976 enrolled students, a 2% increase from the previous year.

The fire district, at previous meetings, asserted that given current staffing levels, they would be unable to appropriately respond to emergencies in four- to eight-story residential buildings.

The university is currently building a large dormitory on the Craftsman Mall site — the first housing project in 15 years to come to fruition — that can house 964 students. Both wings of the building are expected to be complete by the winter of 2025.

The day the Mad River Union's Jack Durham broke the story about the end of the contract with Arcata Fire District, the university's College Creek Apartments caught fire.

" Cal Poly Humboldt deeply values the work of the Arcata Fire District and our partnership with them, and we look forward to working with all our partners to ensure that the university appropriately supports our fire district and our surrounding community," the university statement said.

___

(c)2023 Times-Standard, Eureka, Calif.

Visit Times-Standard, Eureka, Calif. at https://www.times-standard.com/

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.