Plan to End ‘Brownouts’ by Fire Department OKd

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a plan to halt citywide cutbacks in fire and emergency medical services by transferring a portion of a $40-million surplus found in city reserve funds to the Fire Department.

The cutbacks, which went into effect July 8, eliminated 13 engine and truck companies and six paramedic ambulances daily from some of the department’s 104 stations on a rotating basis for nine-day periods.

The “rolling brownouts” were required to help balance the city’s $3.9-billion budget in the face of a projected citywide deficit of more than $177 million. Under a proposal by Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, $11 million in unspent department allocations will be transferred from city reserve funds to the Fire Department by Oct. 1.