Restore Fire Funds, Commission Asks

The Los Angeles City Fire Commission, citing the recent near-death of a Hollywood woman attributed to “rolling brownouts” at city fire stations, called on city officials Thursday to find the money to restore adequate service or face responsibility for what one commissioner called “inevitable tragedy.”

In a letter to the mayor and City Council, the commission urged “an immediate end to the brownout program and to the ever-increasing probability that (the cutbacks) will result in a loss of life, property or a major emergency catastrophe.”

Said Fire Commission President James E. Blancarte: “This level of (emergency) response is unacceptable.”

The brownouts began July 8 in response to across-the-board city cutbacks that reduced the Fire Department’s budget by about $23 million. The rolling brownouts, which eliminate 13 fire companies and six ambulances from service on a rotating basis, were proposed by Los Angeles Fire Chief Donald O. Manning as the optimum means of reducing costs without closing stations.

The commission action came after reports that Ruth Tiede, 64, a Hollywood woman suffering from congestive heart failure, nearly died after the brownout delayed response by four minutes.

Commissioner Ann Reiss Lane said she believed that it would be “negligent” of the commission not to “speak out.”

“This is not a shift of liability,” Blancarte said. “It is a shift of responsibility--to where it belongs. From the time the (alarm) bell rings, this department is responsible. Up until the time the bell rings, the City Council is responsible.”

Mayor Tom Bradley, who has proposed a hike in ambulance fees as a means of restoring $4.4 million to the Fire Department budget, declined comment Thursday. In its letter Thursday, the commission specifically asked the council to review other methods of restoring funds.

Two councilmen reached for comment late Thursday, Zev Yaroslavsky and Ernani Bernardi, did not embrace an immediate restoration of the funding.

“This recommendation (for the brownouts) came from the Fire Department, and they said they could live with it,” said Bernardi. Asked if he would vote to restore funds to the department, he said: “Not without a thorough and complete audit.”

Yaroslavsky stressed that the Fire Department has “No. 1 priority” if the city revenues increase enough to permit restoration of funding. He said there are not enough votes to impose new taxes or fees that would eliminate the Fire Department’s service cuts.

Blancarte said he feels that the department has done its best to cope with the cuts but that loss of life or a major disaster is “on its way” if brownouts continue. “The post-tragedy news conference is not when I want to call for an end to the brownout,” he said, adding that after a disaster, the “politicians would magically find the money.”

Asked to review other alternatives in case the City Council turns down the commissions request, Manning told the Fire Commission that he still believes the brownouts are the best answer to budgetary cutbacks.

Manning said his own operation was “stressed” before the cutbacks. However, he stopped short of agreeing that the brownout spells disaster. In the past, Manning has referred to the cutbacks as “cutting into muscle,” and added that he hoped they were not “cutting into bone.”

On a related issue, Manning said Bernardi’s proposal for volunteer Fire Department reserves was “not an answer to the brownout” because such a force would cost as much to train as professional firefighters.

A report analyzing the first nine-day cycle of the brownout is scheduled to be completed by the department today. Fire officials say they expect the report to indicate that response times to 911 calls have increased since the cutbacks were initiated.