Officials Address Station 69 Brownouts

Los Angeles Fire Department Deputy Chief Mario Rueda and Battalion Nine Chief Glenn Miyagishima fielded questions about the reduction in staffing at Station 69 during last Thursday’s Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting. ‘We don’t close the fire station, we close the resources,’ Rueda said, explaining that in an effort to balance the city’s budget, brownout days were imposed in August on stations with a task force, which have a pump truck, a hook and ladder truck, an engine company (a truck with four firefighters) and a rescue unit (ambulance). The total manpower needed to operate a task force is 12, but on brownout days (which occur about half of the month) the staff is cut to eight, closing the engine company. Station 23 only has an engine and a rescue unit with a staff of six, and is not affected by the brownouts. Station 69 firefighters were absent from the meeting. Their union president, Patrick McOsker, told the audience that the firefighters were told they could not attend. Council member Harry Sondheim asked why, and Miyagishima responded, ‘It was my decision. I apologize that they’re not here.’ Miyagishima is one of three rotating Battalion Nine chiefs in charge of Stations 19, 23, 37, 59, 69 and 71. McOsker told the Palisadian-Post, ‘If the firefighters were asked if the brownout would lead to a delayed response, they’d say ‘Yes.” Before rolling brownouts, the force consisted of 1,100 firefighters. On a daily basis, the LAFD operates with 87 fewer personnel than last year. Community Council Chairman Richard G. Cohen asked Rueda if Station 69 could have full coverage on red-flag days (high fire danger). ‘I will strongly suggest to the chief to bring back staff on those days,’ Rueda said. Officials told audience members that four days after the Station Fire started on August 26, all city stations were fully staffed for two days. That fire, which burned 160,557 acres, was fully contained on October 16. ‘They only sent two strike teams [11 firefighters per team] to help fight the largest fire in L.A. County history,’ said McOsker, who noted that this response was low compared to previous fires. He suspects it was due to budget cuts. At last Thursday’s meeting, Pacific Palisades resident Taunie Moreland asked if the three-year-old who drowned at a pool in Bel Air on August 31 could have been saved if there had not been a brownout that day at Station 37, which is on Veteran Avenue and covers Bel Air. Two calls came in at the same time, and the station responded to the first call. The second call reporting that a boy was drowning went to a station that was three-tenths of a mile further away from the incident. ‘The station reported that the traffic, hills and road curves were a factor,’ Rueda said, commenting that an investigation took place after the incident. ‘The department’s goal is to respond within five minutes of a call.’ In this case, the response time was almost 11 minutes. ‘I didn’t provide a quote at the meeting because I thought it was a terrible tragedy, and I was reluctant to comment on the loss of someone’s child,’ Rueda said. The Post received a copy of the Modified Coverage Plan for Budget Reductions written by Fire Chief Douglas Barry, which predicted: ‘ Overall increase in response times with 10 percent fewer resources available, ‘ Increased workload at the affected and adjacent fire stations. ‘ Decreased number of resources available for pre-deployment and move-up coverage. ‘ Decreased number of resources available for Mutual Aid Strike Teams. ‘ Decreased number of resources for mandatory company training. Audience members expressed other concerns to LAFD officials. Brentwood Community Council Chairman Richard Klein asked if the firefighters had considered taking a 10-percent pay cut instead of the brownout days. ‘We’re at an impasse in negotiations,’ McOsker said. ‘They want us to do both, take a 10-percent pay cut and continue brownouts.’ ‘Why are you cutting the people who are saving us?’ Moreland asked. ‘We pay for it with high taxes, and we don’t get anything for it.’ More cuts may be coming as some experts predict the city government’s budget shortfall may rise to $1 billion within two years. ‘I’m not pleased with the cuts,’ said L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who is a member of the budget committee. ‘Realistically speaking, our City faces an unprecedented fiscal crisis. We just have to make sure that our fire stations always remain fully staffed on days when there are red flag warnings.’