Riverside County an Unhappy Fire Client

When wildfires burned toward neighborhoods in Temecula and Corona last May, firefighters from the state’s forestry agency were called in to help contain the flames, just as they have done in Riverside County for more than half a century.

But some county supervisors are considering scrapping their contract with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and creating their own firefighting force because, they say, the state has ignored the county’s needs.

The rift centers on a plan to transfer firefighting air tankers from Hemet to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, and the state agency’s recent removal of its fire chief for the region, actions taken largely without input from county officials.

“The bottom line is that we are no longer a small, insignificant county in the state of California,” said Supervisor Jeff Stone. “We are exerting our dominance at this time. If we cannot find our local control ... we will break away and have the control we have been striving for.”

State forestry officials said they were working to better collaborate with the county, but that ultimately their priorities were set by needs statewide.

“We have to take into consideration their concerns,” said Jim Wright, the agency’s deputy chief director of fire protection. “The amount of money they pay the state to provide their fire protection -- they are a customer, and we have to do the very best we can.”

But, Wright said, “I’m also representing the parent company.”

If the state agency’s Riverside County operation were a local fire department, it would be the third largest in the state, and the operation is the agency’s most lucrative contract. The county -- with the 16 cities and one special district that also depend on state firefighters -- paid the agency $85 million for firefighting services last year, which was about half the agency’s total contract business.

Of the 35 California counties that contract with the state for fire protection, at least two others also are reevaluating their agreements because of a significant increase in overtime pay for firefighters, won in recent union negotiations. That has led to a jump in costs of about one-third for contract counties and cities.

Tuolumne, Tulare and other counties are now straining to pay their tab to the agency for fire protection. Tulare County scaled back on full-time firefighters at five stations because of a $1.8-million cost increase the state passed on to it.

“With CDF, the bargaining is done in Sacramento, and you get the bill. That is a major problem for counties,” said Steven Worthley, vice chairman of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors, in Central California. “It’s possible [the agency has] priced themselves off the market in this part of California.”

In Riverside County, frustration with the agency’s top-down decision-making and skyrocketing overtime costs prompted an outside audit late last year to determine whether the county could support its own fire department. The county-commissioned audit found that the arrangement with the agency was more efficient and cost-effective than establishing a homegrown firefighting force, but it recommended that the agency be more accountable to the county and streamline its force.

A recent report by the state Legislative Analyst’s Office suggested that the agency make its local contracts uniform statewide and analyze the rapid rise in overtime costs.

Given the rift with Riverside County, its leaders are “going to be looking at whether the county needs to separate ourselves” from the agency, said Supervisor John F. Tavaglione.

Some board members are balking at the state agency’s proposal to move a four-aircraft fire attack fleet from Hemet-Ryan Airport to March Air Reserve Base, which is 17 miles northwest -- the latest wrinkle in the relationship between Riverside County and the state agency.

Last year, the agency replaced regional Fire Chief Tom Tisdale without informing the Board of Supervisors until afterward, something agency officials acknowledge should have been handled differently.

With 1,100 employees staffing 94 fire stations that cover 730,000 acres, the agency’s work in Riverside County is a mammoth operation.

The audit showed that an independent fire department would cost the county $450 million over 20 years, and that fragmented regional departments wouldn’t be able to communicate and respond to emergencies as quickly as the state agency.

Although local leaders may grumble about climbing costs, the state agency is “still much, much less expensive than having your own fire department -- and the quality of care and the education of firefighters is greater,” said Terry McHale, policy director for CDF Firefighters, the 4,000-member state firefighters union.

Still, with Riverside County accounting for half of the agency’s contract funding and one-fifth of its personnel, a decision by Riverside County officials to start their own firefighting force would be a big blow.

“Because of the size of the contract, there’d be no way the state would be able to absorb that many employees in their own system,” said Riverside County Fire Chief Craig Anthony.

According to Supervisor Stone, the county’s renewal of the agency contract, which is up in June, will hinge on the agency’s Hemet-Ryan decision.

“If we are going to continue our contract with the state of California, we want a seat at the table when major policy decisions are being considered,” Stone said.

The state has already spent roughly half a million dollars on the move to March, as part of its payment on a 51-year lease.

Although the transfer has been in the works since 1997, the agency was waiting for lease terms to be settled and for about $8 million in funding from the state.

Stone, who took office in January, wanted to revisit the plan after constituents questioned the wisdom of the move. Four of the five board members, including Stone, and local fire pilots argue that the move to March would add critical minutes to the flight time of air tankers dumping fire retardant on the fire-prone southwest edges of the county.

After a heated board meeting last month, supervisors Tavaglione and Stone visited Sacramento to meet with agency officials and form a task force to evaluate the planned relocation.

Supervisor Bob Buster, the only member of the board who supports the move to March outright, says that March’s larger facilities, including longer and stronger runways, will accommodate a growing, modern air fleet. Also, encroaching development at Hemet-Ryan -- the busiest fire attack air base in the nation last year -- is a growing concern, fire officials said.

“CDF had made their decision,” Buster said. “Now, at the penultimate moment to have the board interject themselves into it without independent criteria, I think puts us in a real flaky position.”

Lloyd Cliff of Hemet, an air tanker pilot for 17 years and owner of Hemet-Ryan Aviation, said highly vulnerable fire areas were to the south, east and north of the airport in a 30-mile radius that included Temecula and Murrieta, plus the towns of Idyllwild, Anza and Sage.

“It’s critical fire areas that will be most impacted by this move,” he said.

The transfer was originally proposed by former board member Jim Venable, but the majority of the current board wants to reevaluate the plan.

Tisdale, the former regional fire chief and current chief of regional operations for the state fire agency’s southern region, covering Sacramento to Mexico, de-emphasizes the importance of the base’s location.

“That one air base is not the only tool in our tool chest for fighting fires in our county,” Tisdale said. It’s “just a piece of a major puzzle when we break a fire.”

The task force should complete its assessment of the benefits and disadvantages of the move in the next few weeks, Supervisor Marion Ashley said.

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Firefighting costs

Riverside County, including 16 cities and one special district, spent a combined $85 million in the last fiscal year on services provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Total paid to the state by Riverside County and cities last fiscal year: $85 million

Riverside County: $45 million

Riverside County cities and special district: $40 million

Source: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

Los Angeles Times