Fire Protection Is Not Proving a Hot Issue in Secession Debate

Fifth in a series of stories on Los Angeles city services.

*

Secessionists generally tout the advantages of smaller government, but they too acknowledge that bigger sometimes can be better.

When it comes to a fire department, for instance, they want more firefighters, more paramedics and more stations in the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood. The best way to achieve this, many breakup advocates say, is to keep what they already have -- the Los Angeles Fire Department -- and then build on it.

If the Valley and Hollywood secede, the LAFD would be required to serve the new cities for one year after they begin operations next July. But the cities would have the option of launching their own departments or contracting with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, instead of the LAFD.

Most secession leaders say they favor a contract with the LAFD, at least for the foreseeable future, because they fear that cutting the department loose would be disruptive and could put the public at risk.

“The LAFD is one of the best in the world,” Valley secession leader Richard Katz said. “I would hope the Valley would stay with the department .... It’s as good or better than starting over.”

Hollywood secessionist Gene La Pietra agreed.

“It’s a great department, it’s competitive with other departments and it’s staying,” he said. “You’re not going to get a better deal starting over.”

But the breakup proponents also see problems in the 3,577-employee department, and they blame them on City Hall. They say an independent Valley and Hollywood would improve the LAFD, primarily by pressing Los Angeles to increase spending for more firefighters, paramedics and equipment to the two regions.

In one sense, secession advocates have an ally in the LAFD’s rank and file. Although the union representing city firefighters opposes breaking up the city, it agrees that the department has its shortcomings, in part because, the union says, the LAFD suffered during Mayor Richard Riordan’s years as mayor, when firefighters felt neglected by his push to expand the police force. Riordan, who was elected in the wake of the 1992 riots, spent millions of dollars to hire and train new police officers, but he devoted comparatively little attention to the Fire Department.

The department’s staff-to-population ratio -- 0.84 firefighters per 1,000 residents -- is about half the national average for big-city fire agencies, according to the Washington, D.C.-based International Assn. of Fire Fighters.

“The overall crux of the problem in L.A. is staffing,” said George Burke, a spokesman for the association, which has 255,000 members.

LAFD officials say the firefighter shortage helps explain why the department ranks below many large agencies in response times to emergencies. Also, the department’s 650 paramedics have been stretched thin by the closure of local trauma centers -- which means longer trips to hospital emergency rooms -- and the growing number of people without medical insurance who rely on the LAFD for emergency medical services, said secessionists and department officials.

More than 80% of 911 calls to the LAFD are for paramedics.

As part of a long-term plan to expand the LAFD, Mayor James K. Hahn increased its budget by 5% this year, adding 72 firefighters and paramedics. The department also wants to add 100 paramedics annually for the next three years.

Ambulances are another concern. Some of the busier fire stations have two ambulances at the ready, but 21 stations -- including eight in the Valley and one in Hollywood -- have none. The department says it will buy nine more ambulances by June, expanding its fleet to 115.

After the transitional year in which the new Valley and Hollywood cities would continue to receive services from the LAFD, their city councils would decide whether to sign a contract with the department or the county, or start their own departments.

The Valley accounts for nearly half the LAFD’s 470-square-mile coverage area (the proposed Hollywood city is just 15 square miles). The department’s response times in the Valley are slightly longer than the citywide average -- 5.6 minutes compared with 5.1 minutes.

Average response times for paramedics are 6.9 minutes citywide and 7.1 minutes for the Valley.

Residents have complained about response times for years, particularly in hillside areas prone to brush fires.

Glenridge Homeowners Assn. President Harold Tennen, who lives in the hills south of Mulholland Drive near Beverly Glen Boulevard, said the city has ignored the Fire Department’s staffing and equipment needs. A few years ago, the neighborhood raised $80,000 to renovate its fire station and buy equipment.

“We had to do it, because the city wasn’t,” Tennen said.

Still, he plans to vote against secession, in part because he doesn’t want to see the LAFD broken up. “The firefighters do a good job,” despite a lack of resources, he said. “[Secession] would not be beneficial in any way.”

Mel Wilson, a Valley mayoral candidate on the secession ballot, said phasing out the Valley’s relationship with the LAFD would improve service.

The former city fire commissioner is one of the few high-profile secessionists who wants the Valley to create its own fire department.

A new, locally controlled department, Wilson said, would be better able to set spending priorities for hiring and upgrading.

“I’m not saying the LAFD doesn’t do a good job.... But it’s important to have control of your own destiny,” Wilson said.

Although Los Angeles firefighters argue that their department needs upgrading, they have steadfastly opposed secession as the way to achieve it. Their union has contributed $200,000 to Hahn’s anti-secession campaign.

Los Angeles United Firefighters says a breakup would bring too many uncertainties, and in the end could cut into staffing and leave parts of the region underprotected. An LAFD report on secession warned of similar circumstances.

At Fire Station 88 in Sherman Oaks, Battalion Chief Greg West has spent the last few months studying secession for the LAFD’s report. He paints a mostly grim picture for an independent Valley department.

West said a smaller Valley agency would not have the deployment flexibility of the LAFD. A Valley agency could call on the LAFD for help under a “mutual aid” agreement, but that would invariably involve delays in deployment, West said.

“In an emergency,” he said, “every second counts.”

*

About This Series

Today, The Times continues its series on Los Angeles city services with a look at firefighting and paramedic units.

Tomorrow’s story, which concludes the series, will examine police services in Los Angeles.

Additional stories from this series are available online at The Times’ Web site. Visit www.latimes.com/ secede.