Fire Chief Says Some Emergency Services Will Be Restored : Budgets: Because of $1 million in additional state funds, he vows that no county station will be closed this year.

Ventura County Fire Chief George Lund said Friday that his department, reeling from a $3.6-million budget cut, will restore some emergency services with about $1 million it expects to receive soon from two state sources.

Because of this additional funding, Lund vowed that the Ventura County Fire Department will close none of its 31 fire stations this year and will reunite a six-member hazardous materials team that had been split between two stations.

Lund said the extra money will come from a state special fund, which aids agencies that have lost property tax revenues, and from the California Department of Forestry, which pays for fire protection in the county’s wilderness areas.

“Both of those sources have indicated there will be some additional revenues,” Lund said during a briefing at Supervisor Vicky Howard’s Simi Valley office. “We’re hoping that we’ll be looking at a good, hard million dollars out of both sources.”

The department has 31 fire stations protecting about 400,000 people who live in an 865-square-mile area.

The 365-member firefighting force protects unincorporated county land and all but four of the county’s 10 cities. Ventura and Oxnard operate their own fire departments, Fillmore and Santa Paula rely mainly on volunteer crews.

To make up for a loss in funds during the state’s budget crisis, Lund on Aug. 30 transferred personnel and reduced services. Although no one was laid off, the department began operating with eight fewer firefighters on duty each day.

Because of the additional funding, Lund said he will be able to restore three daily positions.

The department also will reassign all six members of the hazardous material response team to a station in Moorpark. Since Aug. 30, half the team was based in Moorpark, while the others reported to work at the Wood Ranch Fire Station in Simi Valley.

Another three-member engine company will be reactivated to staff the Wood Ranch station.

“We can make it happen probably as soon as Sunday morning,” Lund said.

Howard said she was relieved to hear the news, especially after receiving calls from residents who were worried that the Wood Ranch station would be closed. She said she initially asked Lund to restore the station to full capacity on Saturday.

“I’ll settle for Sunday,” she said.

Lund said the new funds will not be sufficient to restore other cuts, such as the removal of a four-person ladder-truck company from Camarillo and a two-member rescue truck crew from Oak View, near Ojai.

The Aug. 30 cuts angered many firefighters, who asserted that stations were being left unattended more frequently, resulting in longer emergency response times.

They criticized the breakup of the hazardous materials team because it left two stations unattended whenever a dangerous spill occurred anywhere in the county.

“It was totally inefficient,” said Ken Maffei, president of the Ventura County Professional Firefighters’ Assn.

Maffei learned Friday of the additional funding and the restoration of some positions.

“Certainly, we’re pleased about it,” he said.

But he added, “We’re going to continue to do whatever we have to in order to put the other companies back in service in Oak View and Camarillo.”