CYPRESS : Fire Protection Flaws Reported

Residents of the northwest and southeast corners of the city are not getting adequate fire protection, according to the report of a task force set up to study fire service in Cypress.

The survey, made public Monday night at the City Council meeting, gives the Orange County Fire Department an overall vote of confidence, but concludes that holes exist in its ability to provide paramedic and fire protection to all residents.

The final report states that the city is not getting adequate service because of “a disparity in response times to the southeast and northwest portions of the city.” However, it adds, “the negative vote does not reflect badly on the (Fire Department) personnel that serve Cypress.”

To help fill the gap, the council unanimously supported a proposal to add a paramedic assessment engine at Station 13 in La Palma, which covers the northeastern zone of Cypress. Whether the city or the Fire Department will pay for the engine is yet to be determined, although Fire Department officials said they were considering adding it as part of a pilot program later this year.

In response to the committee’s request, the council also agreed to continue the task force to monitor the Fire Department’s coverage. However, blaming the budget crisis, they turned down a recommendation to add a paramedic van unit.

“I think this has been a valuable process,” said Councilwoman Gail H. Kerry of the task force’s conclusions. “I think this has brought (problems) to our attention.”

The study was the culmination of five months of work by the 15-member task force, which was created by the council in February after Craig Campbell, a Westminster firefighter and a Cypress resident, came forward to complain that the County Fire Department was not doing its job adequately.

The bulk of Campbell’s concerns centered on Station 12, the city’s only all-volunteer station. He argued that the volunteers were not as well trained as paid firefighters and frequently did not get to their calls in time to administer possibly lifesaving care to critically ill or injured patients.

After Campbell voiced his concerns, the County Fire Department began automatically dispatching another unit when Station 12 was called out. That practice, which was eventually expanded to all county volunteer stations, will continue in Cypress, county fire officials said Monday.

County Battalion Chief Kevin Brame told the council that the department agreed with the committee’s concerns over inadequate service to the southeastern section of the city, but didn’t agree with some of the other conclusions.

“The problem is getting basic life support there,” Brame said, adding that the area is covered by a special agreement with the Garden Grove Fire Department.

Brame said that the County Fire Department has started automatically dispatching a unit to the area covered by Garden Grove each time a call comes in to help make up for the lagging response times.

A few committee members spoke Monday to add their support to the recommendations. Raymond Wozniak said he felt comfortable with the Fire Department’s service.