‘Rolling Brownout’ Plan to Reduce Fire Staffing Up to 50% : Budget: The busiest stations will lose four to six people, including paramedics, for nine-day periods on a rotating basis in an effort to cut overtime costs.

The San Fernando Valley’s busiest fire stations will face on-and-off staff reductions as high as 50% when the Fire Department’s 10% budget cut takes effect July 1.

Thirteen task forces--all but one of the Valley’s stations with two or more firefighter companies--will face cutbacks of four to six people on a rotating basis under the department’s “rolling brownout” plan. A company is four or five firefighters assigned to a fire truck or engine.

The firefighters will be removed from each station for nine-day periods and will fill in elsewhere in the city to save the costs of paying overtime, officials said. No more than three stations in the Valley will face reductions in staffing at a given time. One of the Valley’s 13 paramedic ambulance units will be out of service part of each day, also on a rotating basis.

Battalion Chief John D. Badgett said the cutbacks have been spread evenly across the region to minimize the impact.

“You can’t predict where your major emergencies are going to be,” Badgett said. “You have to spread your resources.”

Still, some familiar with the plan remain concerned that Valley firefighters could be caught shorthanded.

“We are getting into the season where there is dry brush and the fire hazard risk is greater,” Los Angeles City Councilman Ernani Bernardi said.

Bernardi said fire officials must be careful to keep firefighters available to react quickly to brush fires. He said he favored reopening the city’s budget to seek alternatives to scaling back staffing.

Bernardi’s district includes Task Force 98 on Van Nuys Boulevard in Pacoima, the busiest one in the Valley last year with 4,635 calls.

Under the brownout plan, for example, Task Force 98 will lose four firefighters out of 12 from July 1 through 10. It will then be back to full staffing until July 28, when it will lose six firefighters for another nine days. A continuing rotation will follow through the year. While those firefighters are not on duty, up to two firetrucks, including a ladder truck, will be idle.

The plan does not affect 21 single-company stations in the Valley. The lone task force that is unaffected is at Van Nuys Airport.

Badgett said the task forces were targeted for cutbacks because they will still be able to function while staffing is scaled back.

Under the plan, firefighters from nearby stations will be called in to supplement staffing in the event of a large emergency. Fire officials have expressed concern that the system could be stretched thin if there are numerous calls for service at the same time in the same area.

In the Valley, there are about 245 firefighters and 26 paramedics on duty each day. Under the brownout plan, those numbers will be trimmed by 14 to 16 firefighters daily and two paramedics during evening and early morning hours.

“This is not something we want to do,” Badgett said. “It is hard on the community.”

He said that in formulating the cutback plan for the Valley, officials paid careful attention to the area’s key concerns.

“We tried to factor in all of the known problems and tried to spread the impact,” Badgett said. “Every area has its own unique problems. In the Valley, most notably, it is brush--also areas where hazardous materials are produced or used.”

He said the plan will still allow the department to respond to such problems.

“You keep your prior planning intact,” he said. “But there is almost no way that we could do this and say we are not going to pick busy fire stations.”

Firefighter Cutbacks

The 13 Los Angeles fire stations that will face cuts in firefighters and equipment availability on a rotating basis under the Fire Department’s “rolling brownout” plan are:

Chatsworth--Task Force 96, Marilla Street east of Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

Mission Hills--Task Force 75, San Fernando Mission Road east of Sepulveda Boulevard.

North Hollywood--Task Force 60, Tujunga Avenue and Chandler Boulevard, and Task Force 89, Laurel Canyon Boulevard south of Sherman Way.

Northridge--Task Force 70, Reseda Boulevard and Lassen Street.

Pacoima--Task Force 98, Van Nuys Boulevard south of Glenoaks Boulevard.

Reseda--Task Force 73, Reseda Boulevard north of Sherman Way.

Sherman Oaks--Task Force 88, Sepulveda Boulevard at Magnolia Street.

Sunland-Tujunga--Task Force 74; Foothill Boulevard and Mt. Gleason Avenue.

Tarzana--Task Force 93, Ventura Boulevard at Wilbur Avenue.

Van Nuys--Task Force 39, Van Nuys Governmental Center, and Task Force 102, Riverside Drive and Fulton Avenue.

West Hills--Task Force 105, Fallbrook Avenue at Victory Boulevard.