The 1st phase of the permanent staffing of all frontline CAL FIRE engines is beginning.
Phase 1 is the 3 Southern Units (BDU-RRU-SDU). 42 engines between the 3 units begin the process with approx 200 LT-FF2 offers beginning Tuesday 2/17. It is anticipated these engines will be staffed with FC-FAE-FF2 before May 1, depending on how the job offers, acceptance, and paperwork processing takes.
Phase 2 begins July 1 moving north with FKU-SLU-TUU, etc.
Ultimately, every CAL-FIRE Sch B Station in the state will be staffed year round with permanent staff.
Any idea why theyâre starting with Southern Region? Huge disadvantage to the northern units who will lose the top candidates including all of their own FF1âs who are on the 2 list and will take the first job.
FFâs working/living in the north will end up being swooped for jobs down south.
latitude - The south doesnât deal with the âwhite fluffy stuffâ the way the north does. The 3 CSR units can & have had active seasons from April - Dec and even Jan â Mar as experiencd in 2025.
According to the letter the candidates recieved, there are less than 600 currently on the FF2 list. There will be a new test by summer. So the list will be refreshed.
All candidates were given the opportunity to update their work location list 2 weeks ago and the rule of 3 still applys.
My recommendation would be only accept a job your willing to work/drive too. These will all be LT offers. So taking a job now will still allow the candidates to accept a permanent offer somewher else. However, when SB 581 becomes law, the LT positions will convert and those employees already an LT will.convert in place upon completion of FFA.
What will this mean for the Amador program? I assume the State will no longer have to charge local governments for keeping engines staffed in the off-season, since the State will staff them year round. Will State funded engines be available for local 911 service? Will LG have to move to Schedule A? I can see this presenting both challenges and opportunities for the cooperative agreements.
During the Cooperative Fire Workshop both Amador & Dispatch agreements were discussed. As the State OPA auditors found issues with existing agreements. The phrase âgifting of state fundsâ was mentioned more than once during this Workshop. Also mentioned was âmutual benifitsâ to the State (SRA) specifically with cooperative agreements and specifically Amador & Dispatch agreements.
I would imagine an approah similar to the SCH A contracts that were still staffed at 1/0 a few yearâs ago will be taken. Meaning, costs and staffing will increase compensate with âactual costsâ or those Amador agreements wonât be renewed.
Maybe time for a new type of agreement where LG is billed for time on task rather than for scheduled personnel hours. It seems reasonable that the State should be able to recover the cost of the time the engine isnât available for the state mission due to being on a local incident. Cost out a 3-person engine; charge a one-hour minimum per dispatch. Lots of local agencies have contracts between themselves with all kinds of different reimbursement formulas.
Think this would be a tough sell to those entities. In our area of the state, it would be bad press to bill per call since this should be provided free through mutual/auto aid.
Auto & Mutual Aid are specifically met for LRA/LG type calls. As those departments get local property taxes to provide basic services (EMS, Fire, & Law Enforcement).
The states mission is still 02350 and focused on the Wildland/Watershed. While many units have local agreements. There isnât an ALS engine outside of SCU in the state. So those LG agreements only apply to âLike for Likeâ BLS for BLS. With the new LG1 language requirements of BLS level being EMT. That isnât the case in a large portion of the state. As PSFA soon to be N-EMR is the standard.
Remember, CF does not have access to Local Property taxes as part of the 02350 mission. Only through Cooperative Fire Protection (Amador & SCH-A).
I know of TOO MANY to count Local Agreements that the 02350 funded equipment runs calls, wear & tear, etc. While the Local Government entity, through mostly volunteers keeps the local property taxes. Some countries in the state are so poor, they donât even have a ALS coverage only BLS.
Finally, the single largest county in the United States is San Bernardino, it is the single poorest on a per capita bases.
That SCU engine is gone. Many areas in the state are uncovered from any fire agency or even volunteers. In some places, Calfire is the only fire station for hours. Those areas would normally Amador an engine for winter or just leave those areas uncovered completely. With year round staffing, and those areas having a proper (at least BLS) fire engine now for free, I wonder if there will be any need for them to make any kind of agreement or pay any money at all. The state seems to be doing more for less and not putting any of the burden on these entities that rely on us for coverage of these (sometimes sparsely populated) areas.
Schedule A generally subsidies 02350, 02350 often subsidies LG including paid and volunteer. We have 02350 engines in leased stations that run that agencies calls. Basically paying another department to run there calls. Some areas are very mutually beneficial, others are extremely lopsided. The guys on the floor are just trying to do the right thing for the public they serve. CF has painted itself into a corner, we are an all risk full service agency that really isnât there for that mission. The public just wants a fire engine, they donât care who paid for the tires. Kingdoms want to protect themselves, any chief with a brain wants unreimbursed help that doesnât threaten them.
I think CF could come up with some creative ways to benefit the state and the LG. Maybe lease a unused facility for a dollar plus utilities because DGS sucks so much. State saves a ton of money because they donât have to overpay for a poor quality station. Maybe instead of amador the district fills the diesel tanks in the winter and reimburses EMS supplies.
These are some GREAT ideas. Unfortunately, the law gets involved.
What you mention is âBalance of Acresâ under a different scenario. You are correct in that the dept is ALL RISK yet doesnât always perform the All-Risk mission unless requested by the AHJ that is responsible for the local EMS, Fire, L.E. responsibility.
There arw too many areas in the state where a city has âpopped upâ to take.control from the county due to poor planning (Eastvale, Jurupa Valley, Menifee) in Riverside County come to mind as positives. Canyon Lake comes to mind as a negative.
Youâre statement about âKingdomsâ is spot on. Put another way âeveryone wants to be a gangster until its time to do gangster @*&#â. Politics can be ugly and cut throat (See Santa Clara County).
Finally, Chief Tyler has been in record since the beginning of 66hr that not all Cooperative Agreements would remain. But employees would not lose their jobs, just wouldnât remain in the same position(facility) they currently worked in. The most recent version was the closing/consolidation of 5 CDCR Camps.
Short of the AHJ using some of their local property tax revenues to support the EMS/Fire protection they provide to the citizens. I donât see how tblhis works financially.
At the end of the day, nobody at CF works for free.
Letâs take a hypothetical:
CF station sitting many miles from the nearest LG station. County has been paying CF $500k per year to CF to staff the station in the off season. Starting today, CF is staffing the station year-round on the state dime. 911 calls come in, the engine responds; nothing has changed in the real world.
Should the County continue to send CF a $500k check each year? The Amador contract says the money is for staffing the station in the off season; what will CF do with the money now?
By rights, the Amador contract is void. There needs to be a new contract. But what is the County paying for, and what is a reasonable price for whatever that is?
Iâm pretty sure this hasnât been thought all the way through, and eventually it will be figured out. It might take a change to the law- expanding the CF mission to include all-risk response to 911 calls (where vegetation isnât on fire), at least where no other resource is present, as part of the mission.
See this FB post to further muddy the waters Redirecting...
That area of Santa Clara county was not an Amador agreement. That sparsely populated community there has seemingly gone completely uncovered for medical and fire response through the winters. The county has gotten a handout for many years by having Calfire there to run all risk calls during the fire season. In a situation like that, I think it would highly benefit the county to support the all risk mission and âkeep the engine on the hillâ via some funding. Otherwise, that engine is virtually funded year round for fuels work.
So with the ânewâ model of staffing, will the out stations continue to be open or will the staffing be pulled back to (like my unit) the battalion hq for the winter to facilitate centralized staffing to support the unit/region winter mission?
My 3 cents..
Local gov is paying for engine and crew in district 24/7 for their calls, emergency or public service. With CF only, the engine and crew are unit resources. Engine could be at fuel reduction project for 5 days in neighboring battalion and not there for district. If they want that engine they will have to pay state. How much is above our pay grade
This post by Fire Sail is a little closer to the target. State funded CF engines have better things to do than run bullsh*t 911 calls. But, for a price, some CF engines can remain focused on local response. Whatâs that price? Remains to be seen, but I think itâs pretty clear that the Amador plan is a relic that maybe is taking its last dying gasps. Someone will come up with a new method of charging LG for the use of State resources, in a way thatâs fair to both parties and allows the State to accomplish its mission while providing critical emergency services to taxpayers (who pay State taxes by the way).
We were told going forward the only FF1 positions remaining once the rollout is completed
FF Hand Crews
2nd engine at two engine stations 9mo per year
Helitak crews.
Everything else would be FC-FAE-FF2. I donât know what that number looks like statewide. But in CSR, thats 107 engines during base out of a total of 154 Bluebook.
The crews and helitack would benefit from FFII, helitack would be an overwhelming benefit. FFI could be used when the governor does an EO for 4th body, which I know hasnât been done in quite a long time.
The hiring of FF2 in CSR is going slow at best.
With the way the dept is growing, the number of new hires and the limited capacity at the five training centers.
This will take a few years to fully hire and staff. No different than 66hr is being rolled out over 5 fiscal years.
correct in that the dept is ALL RISK yet doesnât always perform the All-Risk mission unless requested by the AHJ that is responsible for the local EMS, Fire, L.E. responsibility.