Neighborhood Alarmed by Plan to Shift Emergency Calls

Norine Williams still remembers that day more than 20 years ago when her neighbor died of a heart attack on his front lawn--a victim, she said, of slow response by Los Angeles County paramedics.

Since then, nearby Brea police and fire departments have served her Midbury Street neighborhood, which lies in Los Angeles County just north of the Brea city limit.

But Williams’ peace of mind has been shattered by plans to have Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in Walnut handle their calls--a move that will more than triple the emergency response time.

“I’m more than casually interested in 911,” said resident Almay Bertulli. “I’ve had a heart abrasion, a double bypass and I have a pacemaker, and I see my doctor all the time about my heart.”

Williams, Bertulli and others have vowed to fight Los Angeles County’s decision to terminate its $2,000-a-year contract with Brea.

The 42 homes in the Midbury Street area fall into a law enforcement no man’s land. Residents live in Los Angeles County but are only a few steps away from Brea and Orange County.

Residents are concerned that their lives will be placed in danger while they wait for Los Angeles County emergency workers, who may have difficulty finding their tiny area on a map, Williams said.

“They just don’t even know where we are,” she said. “We are all up in arms.”

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Bob Shearer said he is baffled as to why the area was deemed to be Los Angeles County rather than Orange County. He stressed that his department will do its best to respond promptly to the area.

“We can respond fairly quickly. We are not that far away,” Shearer said.

He conceded, however, that it will be nearly impossible to respond to emergencies within two minutes, as Brea authorities do. The goal will be to make it within seven minutes, Shearer said.

Neighbors find this unacceptable. Options at this point include paying for the service themselves or becoming part of Orange County. Either move would be costly.

Los Angeles County officials hope to resolve the issue at a neighborhood meeting Tuesday night. Officials plan to stress that the Sheriff’s Department has grown extensively since it last patrolled the area in the 1970s and will be more responsive today.

The neighborhood’s opposition caught many off guard, said Mishal Montgomery, deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, who represents the area.

“This is one of those things we were surprised to hear about,” Montgomery said. “I think there is a lot of misunderstanding about response time.”

The discussion over contracting out services for this neighborhood was initiated when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors began reviewing costs in the face of a budget crisis, Montgomery said. Private contracts were among the first expenses to be scrutinized, he said.

Midbury Street is directly north of the Orange County line, over the hill from La Habra Heights.

Residents recalled that they tried unsuccessfully 26 years ago to become part of Orange County. Now, they’re considering that choice again.

“We have real deep concerns about this,” resident Kathleen Marasco said. “We do have options, so I hope that possibly on Tuesday night we can resolve this.”

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Service Switch

Los Angeles County has decided it will no longer pay Brea to provide police, fire and paramedic service to a small neighborhood just steps outside Orange County. Residents of the 42 homes say emergency responses from farther away in Los Angeles County may pose a danger.