Villaraigosa wants 6 more Fire Department ambulances activated
Seeking to bolster public confidence in the beleaguered Los Angeles Fire Department, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa late Thursday called on the City Council to dip into budget reserves to activate six more ambulances and ordered the appointment of a recognized public safety analyst to take charge of the agency’s accounting of its performance.
In a letter to the council, Villaraigosa characterized as “untenable” recent confusion over how fast fire units respond to emergencies. “We must take immediate steps to rectify it,” he said.
Controversy over response times erupted two weeks ago after fire officials admitted that for years they had been putting out performance data that made it appear that they were getting to medical emergencies faster than they actually were.
To help quell growing concerns among the public and lawmakers, Villaraigosa directed Fire Chief Brian Cummings to create a new staff position to oversee the department’s statistical analysis.
Jeff Godown, former director of the Los Angeles Police Department’s high-tech, crime-tracking Compstat Bureau, most recently served as interim chief of the San Francisco Police Department. His initial assessment of the department’s performance data is expected within 30 days.
Villaraigosa’s call for six additional ambulances marks a reversal from his directives in recent years that the department trim spending.
He and council members have cut more than 15% from the Fire Department’s budget since 2009, causing firetrucks and ambulances to be removed from service at more than one-fifth of the city’s 106 stations. In the most recent round of budget cuts, which took effect in July, four ambulances were shut down.
The reductions have been unpopular among firefighters and some community members, who say response times have gone up as a result. It wasn’t immediately clear where the new ambulances would be deployed, but firefighters in the field have said cutbacks have created gaps in coverage and longer response times in the San Fernando Valley.
In a presentation to the Fire Commission in December, fire officials acknowledged that response times had increased in some parts of the city in the wake of the cutbacks. In Porter Ranch, for example, the average response time for rescuers was more than seven minutes, according to officials.
Adding to the scrutiny of the department in recent weeks were reports that its dispatch system has been malfunctioning since late February. The problems led to delayed responses in at least several calls across the city, The Times found.
Villaraigosa also directed Eileen Decker, his deputy mayor of homeland security and public safety, to procure money to replace aging equipment.
In addition, the mayor filled an empty spot on the Fire Commission. Alan Skobin, an attorney and the vice president of Galpin Ford, has served on the Police Commission for nine years. He was also on a panel that presented recommendations to Villaraigosa during his search last year for a new fire chief. Cummings was named to the post in July.
Villaraigosa’s actions came the evening before the council’s Public Safety Committee planned to take up the recent Fire Department controversies.
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