Randy wrote on Jan 11, 2008 1:53 AM:The State has outlived its usefulness when it can't provide basic services, such as fire protection, using the revenue it already receives from sales and property taxes.

DC wrote on Jan 11, 2008 5:24 AM:Just curious, but why does the newspapers continue to run to a past fire chief, who essentially stated his head was hurting and was not filling well, and then quit his job? I say quit because he already had a very lucrative retirement to fall back on. I find it amazing that the papers do not go to the fire chiefs who have successful organizations in San Diego, and there are many, and get their opinions. It is time to recognize that there are successful fire organizations in San Diego, and to stop lumping them in bed with San Diego. You don't make everybody pay for the mistakes of a few and you don't keep going to the well for the same sound bites from Jeff Bowman.

Freelance wrote on Jan 11, 2008 6:08 AM:Mayor Pfeiler is right, a significant percentage of suburbia is at risk of fire no matter where they start. The property destruction was, and will be, more intense on the cities' margins then all the backcountry combined. As someone that lives in the backcountry and provides for my own electrical power I would like to see a fire fee on all properties that import electricity, because electric lines caused most of the fires.

Al wrote on Jan 11, 2008 6:12 AM:Same old political trick. Ask fro money for publicsafety rather than other items. Government's FIRST resposibility is Public Safety. If they can't do that, we don't need them. Raise fees (excuse me, taxes)for other uses but use the money you already have police and fire.

Mojavejim wrote on Jan 11, 2008 6:47 AM:Gee.............and to think I used to believe that some of my property tax money was for this purpose! Guess I was wrong. Arnold (and the state of California) gets to be a bigger joke to the rest of the nation as time goes on. We are heading straight down the drain and the folks to blame are the sorry voters of this sorry state along with Arnold and the rest of the clowns running this rotten state. He has increased spending by 40% since he has been in office.

Cardiffian wrote on Jan 11, 2008 7:13 AM:The State, the County and our cities have enough of our money. Cut programs that aren't public safety related and use that money. An example, cut the 10 million dollar slush fund our supervisors had out to their supporters every year. The money they travel to Asia and points beyond. What is more important the supervisors taking vacations on taxpayers dollars or fire safety? You be the judge when you go to the ballot box.

susan wrote on Jan 11, 2008 7:19 AM:Our governor needs to control State spending. If our State budget is anything like it is at the Federal level, it's probably loaded with un necessary earmarks. Also he needs to press harder for reinbursement from the Federal Government for schooling, prison and healthcare costs for illegals. That's one of the reasons they can't balance the budget. I agree with the article that there is no guarantee how this money would be spent. Currently we have the highest gas taxes of any state that is to be used to build and maintain roads, yet we have to pay an additional sales tax for that now. Want new fire stations or a hospital that should come out of the city budget? Well, we are being highly taxed for that also. Wouldn't it be nice if all of us who's budget was short every month because of overspending could just force their neighbor to pay for it? This tax is no different.

FF wrote on Jan 11, 2008 7:25 AM:Does DC stand for division chief? And which are the successful fire organizations (why don't you use the term department?)? There really aren't any, some have just been very lucky. Name some "organizations" in this county that meet NFPA, ISO or any other accepted standard. You can't, because none do. Toot your own "organizations" horn of you want, but you're lying to yourself and the public.

Mark wrote on Jan 11, 2008 8:06 AM:Why stop with a fire tax? Collect a flood tax from every San Diego County resident to subsidize all the residents who chose to purchase homes along the San Luis Rey River,Pacific Ocean, etc. This is just another lie being sold to take more money from those who actually produce goods and services for California and redistribute it to inefficient state entities!

My Fair Share wrote on Jan 11, 2008 8:42 AM:I am happy to pay for increased fire protection but until the government gets their act together they get no more money from me, sorry.

Karl wrote on Jan 11, 2008 9:24 AM:Just another end run around Prop 13. I wish I could write checks without the funds to cover and have them honored.

Escondeeter wrote on Jan 11, 2008 10:00 AM:The devil's in the details. If the money goes to the organizations that currently provide fire protection, enabling them to upgrade staffing and equipment it'll be put to good use. If it goes to CalFire, it'll be soaked up meeting union demands to increase staffing on existing engine companies, in the same way the last funding got soaked up going from 'three man' to 'four man' staffing. If that happens again nothing useful will come of it. Every time we have a major fire, the special interest groups come out of the woodwork, announcing that they have the solution. The reality is that these are massive events that no amount of suppression capability will ever prevent. We can, however, become more effective in handling them if the money actually goes to the right resources.

Reardon wrote on Jan 11, 2008 10:01 AM:San Diego has a HUGE advantage over other areas where wildfires are a potential! We have the World's Largest Naval Base! Hundreds of already paid-for planes flown by the best-trained pilots in the world; the best surveillance to spot fires before they get more than a match, the best communications; the best earth movers, and tens of thousands of well-trained and physically sound young men and women willing to volunteer as hand-crews for hot spots to supplement the professional firefighters. We have a terrible mis-use of taxpayer funds to have a professional firefighter force whose main object is medical assistance – not fire fighting, then when we need huge assets occasionally every four or five years, ignore already paid for an unused assets right here! This is criminal neglect!

What? wrote on Jan 11, 2008 10:58 AM:Karl ya took my post! This is an end run around prop 13. I know there are lots of other places that our tax dollars are going but I know of one $470 million dollar project that could of been put off. Everybody has to live within their means, why does government think they are the exception? QUIT WASTING MY MONEY. How about this, a 1% pay cut across the board on all govenment employees. Property taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, capital gains taxes, ciggarette taxes, alcohol taxes, estate taxes. Don't forget the registration fees. Enough is enough already. If I earn less I have to spend less. It sucks but it is a fact of life. Will government ever figure this out?

Recall Arnold.... wrote on Jan 11, 2008 11:17 AM:time to start the recall Arnold initiative.

Sigh wrote on Jan 11, 2008 11:26 AM:With the average home in CA running at $600k and paying property taxes on that average, it is unbelievable the idiots in Sacramento want us to pay higher taxes. Our gov't can't even provide us the basic requirements of a gov't now - truely unbelievable.

What? wrote on Jan 11, 2008 11:52 AM:It isn't right to flame a soloution without offering an alternative so here is my alternative. Volunteer fire fighters. I saw a bit on the news about a couple of young men in Fallbrook who did a lot of good with no training and a construction water truck. What could two hundred volunteers do with one hundred of these trucks and communication and training?
While putting the military to work on this may sound like a good idea we have to remember that they may not always be available for fire fighting. With out belittling what our troops are doing in Afganistan and Iraq the truth is we aren't in a full scale war. To rely on a resource that may or may not be available is not a good idea. We need to be able to get them in to fighting the fire quicker when they are available but not consider them part of the main plan for fighting a major fire.

Skip wrote on Jan 11, 2008 12:58 PM:My best friend from high school called me on my birthday, and as we talked he said that if he had to do it all over again, that he would have been a firefighter. Those are pretty strong words coming from him, as he is a doctor. Then I started thinking about the guy across the street from me who has all of the toys. The exact same house as me, a speedboat, 3 quad motorcycles, a golf cart simply for play and a motorcycle or two. He also has 2 nice cars, plus a new diesel truck to pull his toy box hauler trailer. He works three days a week and has four days off, and yes he is a fireman in the next county. Geeesh

To Skip wrote on Jan 11, 2008 2:30 PM:I agree, the firefighters belong to one of the biggest, most bloated group of union guys ever. They have it all. I am sick of hearing how tough their job is. When they work, it is tough. But...duh...its their job!!!

Get the Facts wrote on Jan 11, 2008 2:39 PM:In response to FF;

The City of La Mesa is an ISO 2 Department, has built several new stations, has new equipment and seems to be doing well in protecting their community. The City of Encinitas is also an ISO 2 Department and is in the process of updating their stations and seems to also being doing well in protecting their community. The City of Escondido is also an ISO 2 Department and is in the process of updating and rebuilding many of their stations. The City of San Marcos is building their third new station, is ordering a replacement ladder truck and also has a new training facility. They are also an ISO 2 Department. Finally, the City of Vista is currently rebuilding many of their stations and adding another. Once this is done, they will more than likely drop their very good ISO 3 rating to an ISO 2 as well. I am sure there are many others who can provide real data on the success of their fire services.

In all of these areas, the elected officials and the staffs from each city have worked to gain long term improvements towards improving public safety for their community. It does not happen overnight, but they have done it.

For those of you who may not be aware of the ISO ratings, this is conducted by the Insurance Service Office. They rate fire protection in three areas. These are the (1) community water supply, (2) dispatch communication systems and (3) fire service delivery. The scale they use is 1-10 with 1 being the highest rating you can receive.

Let’s get away from the emotional antics and start dealing with the true facts for each community. Once you do this, you will see that you are well served. Fire protection must be balanced with other community needs and should be based on factual community data, not scare tactics. There is only so much money to go around. It is not an endless pot, and it is up to each community to set priorities that meet the needs of their community with the funds they have available.

The real facts wrote on Jan 11, 2008 3:23 PM:Sorry to have to correct the "the facts" but San Marcos City already has four fire stations. One is in temporary housing while the station is being built.

However, your point is well made about the departments doing a good job protecting the cities and citizens that pay for them. What a concept!

San Diego City is a political and financial swamp and all their politicians can do is point their crooked little fingers at everyone else, the county, the state, etc so that they don't have to take responsibility for themselves. Guess what the politicos taught their staff? To do the same thing. Their Chiefs blame Cal Fire, blame the system, everyone but themselves. Shame on them.

Another poster hit the nail right on the head. Bowman needs to fade away. How can criticize anyone when his solution to FAILING as the San Diego City Chief was to pout and quit?

The main point of the original article was about an insurance fee to pay for fire protection. It sounds like any money that goes to Cal Fire will only replace the CUTS that are headed their way. No advance, nor more people, no more equipment. That stinks.

My final thought is a very serious doubt that any fire department will ever see a dime of that money. Look to the history of the state. Tax increases are sold to the public on the basis of helping fire protection. Then the money goes to everyone else: DAs, cops, etc. I'd rather be asked to write a $12 check directly to my fire department than pay a fee to the state and home anything trickles down to the fire departments.

WhyNot? wrote on Jan 11, 2008 4:45 PM:"Real Facts" may have the answer: let's establish a county-wide fire department assistance fund. We can each save up our small change for a few months, then go throw it in the pot. Ten bucks apiece once a year, going directly to existing agencies, could make a huge difference. Although it wouldn't 'empower' any politicians....wait a minute... I said that as if it were a bad thing.

Reardon wrote on Jan 11, 2008 5:37 PM:There will never be enough firefighter, or police, to provide “protection.” Police sell retribution, and firefighters arrive too late to do anything except save nearby buildings and possibly limit the damage. More than 85% of all Fire Protection District responses are medical, not fire, and the responders, again, do not provide “protection” – but rather stabilization and transportation. National recommended medical response times as listed by physicians associations for cardiac arrest, is under 4 minutes. In my Fire District, response time is more than 9 minutes, average, and for people suffering a cardiac arrest, for example, at 9 minutes or more you don’t need a Paramedic, You need a clean white sheet! The entire emergency fire, and medical response situation needs serious re-evaluation, not more money.

JF wrote on Jan 11, 2008 9:53 PM:Escondeteer wrote about the "waste" of switching from three person to four person engine companies. Actually, studies have shown that switching to 3 to 4 increases efficiency by 100% and leads to a 71% decrease in time lost to injuries. All by adding the increasing payroll by less than 25%.

JF wrote on Jan 11, 2008 10:00 PM:I have to agree that the public's money should be spent first and foremost on public safety. This county has not done that. Until we, the residents of this county, force a change to the charter it won't happen.

Many suggest changing the current fire protection model. It doesn't need a change. But it does need a boost. And sorry, but that means money.

I haven't seen the stats for the county as a whole, but in the city, folks pay almost half the tax per capita as they do in the average of the ten largest cities in CA. Sorry, but you're not being overtaxed as compared to your peers. If you want the service, you'll have to pay for it.

Reardon correctly identifies that the military could help in an emergency. But as the last fires pointed out, CAL FIRE is too thin to spare people to coordinate with the military. And folks, coordination is key. There are a lot of places where the military could do a lot of good. I hope he's working with his legislators to get the law changed so that we can use the military.

Reardon wrote on Jan 13, 2008 11:43 AM:JF again begs the question. Grihalva said he kept the military planes on the ground last October because of "high winds" and a lack of HIS Spotters. Please name the law that impacts either High Winds or Spotters?

JF wrote on Jan 13, 2008 2:36 PM:Reardon, an old Depression era law forbids the use of the military until private enterprise is completely depleted.

The FAA controls the tower at the air tanker base in Ramona. If they decide it's too windy to fly they shut down the airport. Federal law? Maybe not, but Federal authority... yes. The FAA doesn't care if it's an emergency, they just care if it's safe enough to fly. So... I'd like to see a tanker refilling base set up at Miramar, since the wind is typically lower there and there's no FAA tower. But again... that'll cost money.

Oh, and it's Grijalva...