Fire Issue Involves Similar Hurdles, Different Dynamics

Overshadowed by the question of how secession would affect law enforcement in Los Angeles--but nearly as vital to the region’s future--is the impact a breakup would have on protecting residents from flood and fire.

Like the dismantling of the Los Angeles Police Department being explored by San Fernando Valley secessionists, dividing the city Fire Department carries major consequences for the future of public services and raises complex questions about how to equitably divide buildings, equipment and personnel on a historically unprecedented scale.

But unlike LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks, who has sounded loud warnings about the potential impact of secession, Los Angeles Fire Chief William Bamattre has chosen to remain neutral on the potential schism--advocating instead that his department be kept intact, whether it serves two cities or one.

Bamattre even suggested its name could be changed, perhaps to the Los Angeles Fire Authority, if voters opted to break the city in two.

“We feel we can provide fire services better than any competing agency, and that is what we will emphasize,” Bamattre said. “I think it would be a natural. From all my preliminary discussions with the [secession] leaders out there, they would consider it.

“The Valley will always have earthquakes, brush fires and floods, and they will always need access to resources,” he added. “Right now, if there is a problem in the Valley, we can draw on more than 100 stations, most of them across the hill. I don’t think they would want to give that up.”

Of the Fire Department’s 102 fire stations, 35 are in the Valley, and those could be handed over to a new city to form the basis for a new firefighting agency. Fire response times are slightly longer in the sprawling Valley than the rest of the city, and some secession advocates believe they could improve on those numbers.

But, as is the case with most Los Angeles city functions, the bulk of the department’s specialized units are based downtown or elsewhere in the city, complicating any division based on geography. Just as important, certain critical Fire Department assets--the helicopter fleet, which flies out of Van Nuys Airport, and the new recruit training center--are located in the Valley.

Fire Commission Chairman David Fleming, a civic leader and supporter of studying secession, said a division of the Fire Department would surely raise difficult issues over splitting assets. But he believes that not all integrated functions would need to be dismantled, advocating shared control of specialized services, at least initially. The division of human resources--firefighters and administrators--would also pose difficult questions for the department, he said, but that, too, may not be as problematic as some believe.

“The helicopter fleet is in Van Nuys, and it should remain in Van Nuys, whether there is a secession or not,” Fleming said. “I would think that the 911 system would stay in place, and if there was a Valley call, it would be directed to the Valley. I see no reason why we could not come to an agreement on sharing certain services, at least in the beginning.”

But secession is fundamentally an issue of local control and equity, and some new cities have found that sharing or contracting for fire services does not always give them the results they sought from independence.

Experience With Contracting

Though West Hollywood’s experience contracting for police service has been very positive, the results of contracting with the county for fire service has been decidedly mixed, Mayor Steve Martin said.

Part of the reason, Martin said, is that the wishes of West Hollywood, which has a population of just 37,000, have sometimes been lost in the far larger county political process.

Nevertheless, Bamattre said he understands from personal experience that such relationships can also pan out. He served as councilman and mayor of Dana Point after it incorporated in 1989, helping to set up new city departments and contract agreements for services--including one with the Orange County Fire Authority.

“I’ve got good insight into what the Valley will have to go through,” Bamattre said. “A lot of my people tell me, ‘This will never happen, chief. There are too many problems.’ But I know if there is a political will, there is a way. I think we have proven that we provide an excellent service.”