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City explores options of fire and other service coverage
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Posted by editor Fri Apr 28, 2006 20:22:09 PDT
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Cost and level of emergency services are at the heart of the controversy swirling around the city’s consideration to possibly make the Tehachapi Fire Department the  first responder to emergencies within city limits.

For more than 50 years, the county as provided emergency services for the city, working with the city as a back-up partner. But as the city grows and the TFD  continues to lose firefighters to other departments, the city fathers are taking a closer look at that arrangement. The last contract between the city and county was signed on Sept. 18, 1984.

According to Tehachapi City Manager Jason Caudle, the city has two choices: to contract with Kern County Fire department or to do it themselves.

“We are exploring both possibilities,” Caudle said. “We are looking at both sides of the option. The county has changed its policy and city must pay the county for fire service.”

The payment for services that Caudle refers to is a proposal by the Kern County Board of Supervisors to have cities contracted for protection by the Kern County Fire Department to reimburse the county for costs. In an initial study, Tehachapi’s reimbursement cost would be $27,000 annually.

Caudle said the question is: Do we save by using the KCFD and get rid of the city fire department?

He said it is time to either have a full-time fire department so the city can retain their employees, or have the county take over all the protection.

“It would be easy to get rid of our fire station, but if the council’s goal is about saving money, then the contract is the option,” Caudle said. “If the council's goal is to increase the level of service, then the city’s fire department may be the better option.”

According to Deputy Chief Mike Cody of the KCFD, under the present contract, the city receives unlimited resources from the county, without any cost to the city.

“We handle every type of emergency available, from petroleum fires, hazardous material incidents, structural fires and forest and wild land fires,” Cody said.“If it’s an emergency, we are going to be there.”

He also said that when a large disaster occurs, the county will pull from their resources from all over the county. Currently the county has 45 fire stations, 46 in the summer.

Funding for the county operation within the city comes from two sources: the fire fund portion of the property tax revenue and a contract with the state for protecting state response areas (SRAs). Under the contract, the KCFD provides the initial fire attack response on SRA land.

According to county statistics prepared for the current year, the amount of fire fund property tax generated by the city totals $221,902 and the SRA contract money amounts to $284,626.

Cody said that county fire stations have one captain, one engineer and one firefighter on each shift at an estimated cost of $1.4 million annually. He said that figure does not include costs of engines, other equipment or the fire station.

Additionally, Dennis Thompson, KCFD fire chief and director, said the county also has an increased employee expense of 25 percent to provide coverage when employees are on vacations or other leave.

As the city looks to the future, the last budget from May 2005 projected the cost to operate the full-time department to be $1.3 million per year. New budget figures will be available at the end of June.

Numerous questions have been raised regarding why the city would want to spend that amount of money when the county presently provides the protection at no cost to the city.

Although Caudle acknowledges it is cheaper to stay with the county, he believes the city needs to look at some variables. He said that while 37.1 percent of emergency responses in the city are provided by KCFD’s station 12, that could change if the county puts more fire stations in the area.

For example, Caudle said that if a county fire station were established in Golden Hills, that would impact the amount of incidents that station 12 responds to within the city because the station wouldn’t have to respond to calls to Golden Hills. By not having to go to as many calls out of the city, he believes station 12’s percentage of calls within the city could go as high as 90 percent. That increase in county services could inadd to the amount of reimbursement the city would have to pay the county if county supervisors approve a remimbursement plan.

Caudle also said the SRA money could decrease as the city grows and annexes more land into the city limits because the state wouldn’t have to pay for the protection of that land. Instead, the county or city would be fiscally responsible for the protection, which again increases cost of city or county services.he

Also concerning Caudle is the steady growth of the community. He said it isn’t the intention of the city to get rid of the KCFD station 12, but rather to have  two full-time departments to keep up with the increasing population of Tehachapi.

“Two fire stations are not too much for the city,” Caudle said. “If we go away, the next response station is Keene.”

He underscores his argument by saying that 2,500 new homes are in some stage of development within the city and will “essentially double the size of Tehachapi.”

Although Caudle looks at future variables, Cody notes that the county has never charged the city for services. But he said that could change if the contract was nullified. Without a contract, the county would operate in the city under a mutual aid agreement.

Cody said in a mutual aid agreement, a department can’t receive more than it has available to offer.  For example if the city only has one fire engine, then under the agreement, the county would only have to provide one engine and anything beyond that could potentially cost the city. 

According to the city’s finance director, Hannah Chung, if the city becomes the first responder, it will receive the fire fund tax revenue.

If that should happen, Thompson would still recommend to the board of supervisors that KCFD  continue to operate the station in Tehachapi.

“Because of its strategic location, we assist Mojave, Keene, Bear Valley and Stallion Springs,” Thompson said. “It is centrally located to get to all areas surrounding the Greater Tehachapi area.”

Aside from growth and cost, the city faces another ongoing problem— the high amount of firefighters that leave to go to larger departments.

Caudle said the city foots the cost to train firefighters, yet many leave to go to other departments. He believes a full-time department would retain firefighters.

Local control
Caudle said the people of Tehachapi need more control over their emergency  services provided and that currently the county has the control and not the electorate of Tehachapi.

However, the county disagrees that the city has no say in the KCFD’s operation.

In a letter dated July 18, 2005,  Thompson wrote Caudle and the Tehachapi City Council stating:

“The city manager’s concern about working in the existing Agreement regarding ‘at the fire chief’s discretion’ does not preclude ‘local control.’ If there are concerns or questions that any of the council or the city manager’s office have about fire protection issues or the services provided, this department stands ready to address those questions or concerns.”

9-1-1 calls
Calls to 9-1-1 are answered at the Kern County Sheriff’s Department communication center in Bakersfield and if it is a medical or fire emergency, the caller is transferred to the KCFD dispatch center.

The KCFD computer system has a predesignated initial attack response in the program based on the information received by the dispatcher.
In any emergency incident, it is up to the battalion chief or the captain to call for more help.

“Our people are trained to call for help,” Cody said.
 According to KCFD Inspector Tony Diffenbaugh, when station 12 receives a call to an emergency, the city is called out to cover the area in case another emergency occurs or to assist.

“We use the city all the time,” Diffenbaugh said. 
Although the city fire station is not staffed at night, it is on call to back up emergency responses by the county.

Training
The Kern County Fire Department has its own training facility and the  training is accredited through the state of California and Bakersfield College.

Cody said the county has a dedicated training staff and spends a tremendous amount of time on training. He also said each firefighter receives a minimum of two hours of training per day.

“We have a tremendous knowledge base,” he said. “It takes a minimum of five years to be promoted to the rank of captain.”

Cody said the information is always evolving and the county keeps up to date on such changes as new air bags and how that impacts extrication of an accident victims from vehicles.

“The firefighter that thinks he knows it all won’t have a long career,” Cody said.
Similarly, TFD has ongoing training. Last week, firefighters from the department trained in Bakersfield. An article in this issue of the Tehachapi News covers that training event.

Tehachapi City Fire Department
 According to Caudle, the Tehachapi Fire Department consists of one fire chief, one assistant fire chief, three full-time fire captains and nine volunteer fire fighters. Chief Tim McLaughlin works on a stipend,  with a 32-hour-per-week contract to serve at the  will of the city. He also is an employee at CCI.

The duties of the city fire department reach beyond fire suppression and medical services and rescue.

“The department also reviews building plans for life safety hazards in remodeling and new construction projects, presents fire prevention and public education programs to our schools, multi-family residences, churches and civic organizations and conducts a voluntary single-family, home-fire inspection program," Caudle said.” 

The county also conducts many inspections within the city. Diffenbaugh said the KCFD is responsible for fire prevention and code inspection for all state fire marshall regulations that come under state fire marshall regulations with in the city limits. That includes any place with an occupancy of more than 50, such as churches and restaurants, all schools, hospitals and elder-care institutions.

Reimbursement study
The KCFD is in discussions with a group of representatives from the cities of Tehachapi, Wasco and Ridgecrest to determine the best methodology for reimbursement or fair share of costs between the cities to the county for contracted services.

The initial study was based on the contract with the city of Delano. In that study it was proposed that the Tehachapi reimbursement cost would amount to $27,000 annually.

“We hope we can work with the group of cities and come up with what will be considered the reasonable methodology that will work for both the cities and the county,” Thompson said.

Second District Supervisor Don Maben said the board can’t move forward on the proposed reimbursement issue until they get the formula from KCFD.

Maben is a strong advocate of county contracts for cities for two reasons. First, the city doesn’t have to bear liability costs and second, if a person is injured or off work for disciplinary reasons, cities don’t have the depth of coverage to cover the position.
 


 

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Comment From: rojo

Once again, KCFD offers what TFD can't deliver at a MASSIVE savings to the residents of Tehachapi. The city council should be looking at improving protection by working with KCFD and should abandon the idea of a fully funded city fire department. Comment From: doesnotgetit

Caudle hit the nail on the head when he said that they continued to lose trained firefighters. According to him they only have three full-time employees, well they have lost at least three full-time employees and will continue even if their department goes full time. 100% turn-over isn't acceptable with any business, especially when you are paying for their training. Comment From: medicone

JC doesn't know what he is talking about or he is not being 100% about what he is saying. I can't beleve they want to be known for this 10 years down the road when it goes under or we have to vote on more taxes. They don't have the "TAX PAYERS" in mind. It's time for them to go. Comment From: fightforwhatsright

How come Mr. Caudle is always the one being interviewed when it comes to this topic? Why aren't the Fire Chief and Asst Chief ever in these articles? The KCFD Chiefs did a great job of getting the info out, and are very informed on this topic. It seems like the City Chiefs don't have a clue, that is why they are never quoted when it comes to this topic. Seems to me that the KCFD is open and honest, and the TFD is shady and dishonest. And the city wants these guys to be responsible for our safety, what a joke. Comment From: oldtehachapinative

It's becoming painfully clear that Jason and the city is going to do what ever it wants. They do this without any regard to what the people want or need. It's all about Control and helping out friends and family. I will vote for anyone that runs against them and I mean ANYONE. Maybe inmate J45632 will run. At lest you know who you voted for. How can he say the City will get more service with a City Department? Has he not been reading this? I want to know what the City Firemen think about how the City people feel about their Department. How will they run their 1st calls with the other departments knowing no one trust them or their training? Comment From: doesnotgetit

I have noticed that according to Caudle the City only has 3 full-time fire captains and 9volunteer firefighters. Either you(editor) made a mistake or he is trying to hide the fact that he also has 3 full-time firefighters already working. This is another attempt to do things without anyone knowing. As far as the meeting on May 1st. Its a pretty sad day when none of the city council can answer a simple question of -Is there going to be a vote on this?, Is there a nepotism policy?, Is there going to be a study like the police department study? These are simple questions that any member of the council should be able to answer yet they all look to Caudle for an answer and he just blames it on the county for the delay. These questions were asked over two months ago. Comment From: jump1000

I know that there are some of our city leaders who read this site. Why have our questions gone un-answered for so long? Can someone honestly answer these questions? 1. Can the city fire department honestly provide the same level of service as county fire department? 2. Both the county and city employees are public servants why don't we have an open forum for the public and compare and contrast the experience levels? 3. Where has the city fire employees experience come from and how much experience is really there? These are my concerns as a tax payer and a resident of the city, I want to make shure that in the event of an emergency my family is honestly getting the best protection possible. Comment From: williamwallace

I agree, we need a public forum to answer these questions. It seems that certain indivduals that work for the city fire dept have jumped at the chance to try to belittle other county fireman in a public setting, so it seems to me that they would be willing to put there credentials up against others in a public forum. Can anyone explain to me how the city leaders think that going to their own fire dept is what it the best for the residents. Comment From: williamwallace

I live in the city limits, and what I have learned from this website and talking to friends that work for the fire dept I do not trust these city fireman with my family or my property. Comment From: amazedbygrace

If the City of Tehachapi thinks public safety is so important, why do they choose to use an engine partially manned by inmates? Instead of pouring money into a new fire dept, why not replace the prisoners with full time professional firefighters? Wouldn't that protect the public better? If KCFD is out of the city doesn't that leave the prison engine as "2nd response"? Is it true that if the city crew is busy on an incident, the prison engine will respond to a traffic accident? Are they allowed to go on rescues and aid injured persons? Would you want a prisoner working on you or your family? This information needs to get out to the public. The arguments against this arrangement go deeper than money. Comment From: cantunderstand

There were a few comments asking who do we ask about these issues? Well keep showing up at the city council meetings. They will eventually have to answer questions if we keep asking them. A public forum would be the best but they haven't done that for us yet so if we keep showing up to the council meetings and taking up there time maybe they will see that they need to schedule one. Comment From: amazedbygrace

I only recently became aware of the use of inmates to run an engine and was outraged. It is one thing to use inmates to fight watershed fires and quite another to use them to render basic service! When a person requires help from the fire dept they are usually in a vunerable state. This is why firefighters are pre-screened so carefully! Perhaps those who are outraged can have fliers printed and distribute them either door-to-door, hand them out infront of KMart & Albertsons, or have them sent via bulk mail. I believe it would be great if MANY citizens began logging complaints with the city council and city manager. Comment From: amazedbygrace

The city would be better served if the city took some of this "extra" money they want to spend for a new fire dept and used it, instead, to have KCFD put in a second station/engine and TOTALLY ELIMINATE THE USE OF INMATES! Comment From: rojo

Plans for a informational campaign are underway. If the city council can not answer some very basic questions after their 5 year "study" of a fire department, the public must educate themselves. The more questions they get the more likely they will realize that a contract with KCFD is the most responsible thing to do. Comment From: mustang

I hate to inform you but the prison crews do respond to traffic accidents and house fires. You get a civilian(most likely a THC chief) and 4 PRISONERS.If you don't like it I suggest that you call your county supervisor and complain. Comment From: amazedbygrace

rojo, How can I be involved in getting this info out to the public? Can I help pay for fliers and a mailing, or can I help in handing them out? I will be calling and writing letters to the city and the county supervisors. I think I will also send a letter and call the Bakersfield Californian and KGET. I am also telling my friends. What else can I do? Comment From: cantunderstand

At first I couldn't understand. Now I do. The city doesn't care about fiscal responsibility any more. Why do I say that? It's very simple to understand. The City of Tehachapi Mission Statement last year stated the following-"City of Tehachapi is committed to providing the best possible service to the customer at the lowest possible cost, while maintaining the highest quality of life for our residents." That explains things a little better. So how do you do business when this is in your way? You change the whole mission statement. They have eliminated entirely any reference to cost effectiveness and replaced it with a statement that follows- "City Employees and the City Council will commit to work in concert with our citizens to maintain the highest professional and ethical standards possible". I guess they will be changing that soon so they can get around the ethical part. Comment From: medicone

Why does the warden of Tehachapi let his employees work both for the state and the City? What if there was an emergency at the prison that these guys needed to be called back for? If they where working for the city do they go in? Comment From: fightforwhatsright

Why is it that the TFD does all of their training with the CCI fire dept in Tehachapi, and not with the county who is the crew they work the most with. Is it because the Fire Chief and Asst. Fire Chief are also firefighters with the CCI fire dept. Hmm, seems like a conflict of interest to me. BEWARE!!! of the red fire engines because you will either get a crew of inmates or inexperienced kids!! Comment From: amazedbygrace

I was interviewed by station 23 news today about the use of inmates for fire and traffic collision calls. Apparently, the county thinks this is a successful program and that no change is required. I believe only public outrage will change this policy. I hope this news story will get the word out to the citizens of Tehachapi. Comment From: amazedbygrace

I also knocked on all the doors on my street today. NO ONE was aware of this practice and all were very unhappy about it. How does one start a legitimate petition drive? I would be willing to ask my neighbors to help and would stand infront of Albertsons gathering signatures. Comment From: fightforwhatsright

Did anyone see the Channel 23 news at 5:00. There was a segment on the Tehachpi Fire Dept vs KCFD. Jason Caudle was on there giving his "local control" speech for the one millionth time. Is local control his answer to everything. He even said that it wasn't about the money, it was what was best for the residents. Is he even listening to the residents. How is giving up a experienced 3 man county station for an inexperienced 2 man city station best for the residents. How is giving up the unlimited resources of the county for 2 guys, 1 patrol and 1 engine what is best for the city. I guess spending 1.4 million dollars of our money isn't a big deal to him. This guy needs to be put in his place, out of a job. He has no idea what is best for the residents, he only wants what is best for his Fire Chief buddy. The news segment also said they talked to a city fire captain and he said all 6 of the full time guys have less than 5 years of experience. I think if you combine all of their experience it won't even total 5 years. I hope all of those individual that were so fired up, frustrated and concerned on the other blog, get re-energized and ready to fight the city and the fire dept. WE ALL NEED TO STAND UP TOGETHER AND VOICE OUR CONCERNS. I hope to see a better showing at the next city council meeting. Comment From: amazedbygrace

I set up a blog for this discussion - just in case this one thread "disappears". It is meant to encourage community involvement. Please check it out and contribute to the discussion. http://tehachapiunderground... Comment From: californiadreamin

actually, the city fire dept. aren't the ones who call on cci's services, as far as I know, it's the county. Just because the chief and assistant chief work at CCI doesn't mean that the two services are suddenly merged. They are two separate entities. And I don't know why people are attacking the city for this, it's the county who calls on CCI, so when county is out at a call, there is the inmate risk just as much so. Just wanted to say that. Comment From: countygirl

Californiadreamin- So far I haven't seen anyone blaming the city for the use of inmates. However, it is true county does use CCI(I DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS),keep this in mind. If the city should decide not to keep the contract with KCFD how do you think they will TRY to keep costs down. That's right by using the CCI inmates. Instead of having to pay for assistance from KCFD they will turn to the prision. You think the problem is bad now. Just wait! Comment From: bill93561

It seems the residents of Tehachapi are getting hosed from all sides. The city management fails to respond to our questions. The city fire department, in its current state is incapable of dealing with the increasing needs of our growing community (more on this in a second). We only have 1 ambulance with 1 paramedic and a response area with tens of thousands of residents, in addition to busy railways and an important freeway. We need more deputies, as the increasing crime in our community illustrates. Disasters and terror attacks such as Katrina, Andrew, 9/11 & the OK City bombing are very graphic, dramatic and high profile reminders of how important our public safety agencies are to our well being. These events also clearly demonstrated how quickly those same public safety agencies become overwhelmed. Unfortunately for the residents of the greater Tehachapi area, something as simple as 2 911 calls in a five minute period serve to overwhelm our system. I recently found out how all this works, and it shocks, disappoints and angers me. There is no valid legitimate reason why Tehachapi only has 1 full-time fire engine and 1 ambulance. The county was apparently willing to put in a station for a $100/year tax assessment, which would apparently save us significantly more on our homeowners insurance. I say apparently, because this obviously never happened, and all I know about that issue is what I read on the other forum. I'm willing to spend a little money to save a lot of money AND have better protection and service from Kcfd... As far as Tehachapi Fire, they seem to be a good group of guys that want to help, and I believe they are a great resource. However, nobody can argue that their experience level even comes close to Kcfd, and until they are that experienced and able to provide an equal or higher level of coverage, they should not be the primary responders. Fire protection is all well and good, but it is no longer the primary role that the fire department plays in modern American society. The vast majority of fire department responses now are medical in nature (whether it's ill or injured patients, or something lie a car wreck that causes injury). With that in mind, how on earth can Tehachapi be appropriately served with just one ambulance? We should not be forced to wait 25 minutes or longer for an ambulance to drive all the way from Mojave (!) or California city (!!) if more than one call goes out at a time in the Tehachapi area. A good friend of mine who recently left the area told me that Mojave, California City, Shafter, Taft, Wasco and Ridgecrest all have more than one ambulance, but we don't. A little math shows that the Tehachapi area has more people than any of the other communities. WHY IS THIS? We are being underserved, especially by Halls ambulance, and the only way it will change is if we make it change. While I don't necessarily agree with the message that illegal immigrants are sreading, their methods are effective. We have freedom of the press and the right to peaceably assemble and the right to petition for redress of grievances for a reason: let's find out why we're getting the short end of the stick. I encourage any one with these same questions to call Jason Caudle, Halls Ambulance, Chief McLaughlin, the County, your friends, family, neighbors and local media outlets. Jason Caudle: 822-2200 ext. 108 Halls Ambulance: 322-8741 Teh Fire: 822-2230 Kcfd: 391-7000 Teh News: 822-6828 Bakersfield Californian: 395-7236 I apologize for the length of this post, but I feel we should all be asking these questions, as it is our safety on the line.