Thank you NCTs wrote on Jun 8, 2008 8:10 AM:The collective wisdom of you Editorial Board is so much greater than the experts, special studies and Grand Jury report. If the NCT's had been around prior to Orange County going to a County Fire Agency they could have save millions of dollars.

Policy Guy wrote on Jun 8, 2008 9:41 AM:The Editors bring up an excellent point: Bigger is not necessarily better. No amount of additional firefighters can defeat nature. Fire and high winds sometimes result in devastation that can not be stopped. The statistic that is often reported regarding how much the County spends on firefighting efforts is extremely misleading. The comparison generally surrounds how much the County of SD spends on firefighting as compared to Orange and LA County. However, the SD number doesn't include how much each of the individual city fire departments spends on firefighting. A more rational comparison would compare how much SD fire agencies spend collectively, as compared to Orange or LA's County departments. Unfortunately, politicians who are eager to please those rabid constituents who demand a massive government funded bureaucracy may be willing to overlook their otherwise strong fiscal conservatism and support the creation of this regional agency. There may be cost savings that could be realized through regionalization of fire agencies. There may be ways to provide a more streamlined service. Increased staffing during fire season and better prevention efforts throughout the year will probably be beneficial. However, more staffing throughout the year will simply result in huge gains for unions, even greater pension liabilities, and a lot of firefighters sitting around. Nearly 95% of all “fire” calls require zero firefighting skills. We need to make sure that we don't jump the gun and react too strongly, too quickly on this issue. While residents are obviously concerned after two devastating wildfires in four years, we need to make sure that our response be reasoned and pragmatic.

Hey Policy Guy wrote on Jun 8, 2008 9:57 AM:You mean, CHEAP.

Policy Guy wrote on Jun 8, 2008 11:26 AM:This really comes down to the fundamental difference in people: There are those who believe that more money and government is the solution to all problems, and those who do not. "Hey Policy Guy" didn't address any of the fundamental points brought up by either side of this debate, but rather decided to just label those who do not necessarily favor a County fire agency as "cheap". Make an argument, don't just label.

Burn baby burn wrote on Jun 8, 2008 11:55 AM:Our fire budgets have become massive because our firefighting capacity has morphed into a bloated state of the art ambulance/paramedic corps. These guys fight fires only occasionally and then do not have the manpower or a strategy to effectively face down the threat we fear most. The only hope for fighting wildfires is making the most of trained volunteers. However, this won’t happen because firefighters are more worried about their overtime and retirement. Instead of training and utilizing volunteers they prefer to barricade residents out of their neighborhoods while they call up professional firefighters from other counties so they can earn extra pay as well. Raiding those other counties leaves them vulnerable, as we were when our guys left to fight the San Bernardino fires a few years ago.

sdiacc wrote on Jun 8, 2008 1:05 PM:Policy Guy,
You are wrong in your comment. Both LA and Orange County have many fire departments not included in their budget. LA County FD budget does not include, LA City, Long Beach, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena, South Pasadena, Arcadia, Santa Fe Springs, Montebello, Monterey Park, Vernon and a few others. The OCFA budget does not include Anaheim, City of Orange, Santa Ana, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and few others. I think you get the picture, that is a false statement. Those counties still pay alot for a service that is needed. SD County pays less the 10% of those counties. I did have to look up the cities with their own FD. I believe in this service after I educated myself about their jobs and pay. I was upset about the pay/ot/pension. After educating myself its ok with me. Before making false statements you should educate yourself to what these guys might do to help YOU one day. You might not enjoy paying for them,(same as insurance, i dont either) But what's the option? what if you or your loved one needs their help, only they can provide. WAITING would be painful! With your view, WE might all WAIT at the most unfortunate time. You may want to take the risk, I do not.

sdiacc wrote on Jun 8, 2008 1:18 PM:burn baby burn,
you hit the nail on the head. Thats why SD County needs larger fire budget. More ff's to provide the service SD deserves and seems to me, you expect. Educate yourself to the state OES. That's why our guys leave out of county and we get guys from other counties. unfortunatly in the past couple of events it overwhelms the county that needs it most. SD County! As far as the medical side, citizens in other more progressive counties realized there were less fires. They decided to use these guys in other ways. Since they're at a fire or rescue they could give better medical attention to someone injured at a fire or rescue. The public has decided to use them for more then that now.

Cool it burn baby wrote on Jun 8, 2008 2:08 PM:Lay off, burn baby. Our firefighters do not take kindly to criticism. They also do not want to hear about volunteers. In fact, they hold them in contempt. Set aside the fact that thousands of able bodied man would gladly volunteer during a crisis as they do all over the country and as we once did here. Any fair minded analysis would conclude that the wildfire problem is one that has been fabricated by the firefighting fraternity’s frugality in using volunteers.

Hear it is Policy Guy wrote on Jun 8, 2008 2:52 PM:The rest of the State is tired of providing fire control for San Diego County, it is expensive for the rest of us to cover your assests. If you do not want to provice your own fire coverage, STOP BUILDING in the habitat areas!That is policy my friend.

sdiacc wrote on Jun 8, 2008 3:19 PM:If the above comment was for me, Im not a ff. I'm to old and no one in my family is a ff. I'm all for volunteer ff's. the problem is the way ff's are used in SoCal. Volunteering in SoCal is a stepping stone to getting a paid position. So their expierence is limited due to training and expierence. Even the pros are leaving the SD region due to lack of pay compared to the rest of California. Just for info, I have no emotional ties to this subject. I just believe this is something this region needs to get educated about. WE need to understand why we need them and what they do. It took me time but I converted after watching what goes on here and see what happens in the LA region. Our politicians are weak!

Policy Guy wrote on Jun 8, 2008 6:12 PM:To sdiacc: First, I never said that LA and Orange County do not have city fire departments. Los Angeles County has 88 incorporated cities and many unincoporated areas. Orange County has 34 incorporated cities and a number of unincorporated communities. San Diego County has 18 cities and a number of unincorporated areas. The total population of Los Angeles County is also three times that of San Diego; Orange County is roughly the same size, population wise. So my point remains valid. You can not compare apples to oranges. But even if we had a list of every city and county fire department's budget from all three counties, and compared spending on a per capita basis, we still wouldn't know anything. Different places have different needs which require different spending plans. It is like comparing school district spending: some do better with less, some do better with more.

Policy Guy wrote on Jun 8, 2008 6:18 PM:By the way sdiacc, it is an error to assume that I don't understand firefighting simply because I disagree with you. Is twelve years of experience in the field and in public safety policy enough to qualify me to have an opinon on it?

sdiacc wrote on Jun 8, 2008 7:57 PM:Your 12 years expierence is relevant, and I appriciate your commiment to public service. Opposing views is not a bad thing. My point to your comment is that the other counties fire budget does not include those cities. Its not apples and oranges, and those counties get paid for their contract cities. Then pay for the unincorporated areas. There unincorporated spending is still much higher. WE need to spend more money on fire services in this county. thats the bottom line. By the way there has been a per capita study of spending per person and ratio of ff to citizens. SD County and SD City is dangerously low with both ratios. SD City failed in its accrediation, which keeps our insurance rates higher. The feds, state and other counties say the same. They all can't be wrong, I do believe SD County and City is at fault here for not prioritizing this service.

VOLS wrote on Jun 9, 2008 7:16 AM:Seems like people are on board with the volunteers. If so, where do you volunteer and how much time do you put into it? Wait, you want volunteers, but don't want to participate, do you.

Floyd wrote on Jun 9, 2008 8:56 AM:When I pay good money to go see a movie, it's reasonable for me to criticize that movie even though I'm not the director. When I pay good money for public education, it's reasonable for me to criticize poor quality instruction. When I pay good money for safety services and all I get is the bureaucracy of CalFire and a bunch of consolidation studies, it is reasonable for me to criticize it. Just because I'm not a firefighter (even a volunteer) doesn't mean I'm not part of the decision-making process. If you propose a high-density development that will take over an hour to evacuate but only gets a 15-minute advance warning of a fire (let's call in the "Stonegate Project"), it is reasonable for me to oppose it until access is improved.

Burn baby burn wrote on Jun 9, 2008 9:06 AM:To: Vols What a crock. FFs always say volunteers are wimps and won’t step up. Instead of taking cheap shots, it should be part of every FF department in San Diego County to recruit, train and make volunteers an integral part of a coordinated response to wildfires. This would be a constructive way to spend the vast amounts of non-productive time they experience when there are no fires to fight.

MEM wrote on Jun 9, 2008 9:59 AM:Speaking of volunteers: Is anyone out there aware of the IMMENSE help the amateur radio clubs (Example: Fallbrook) was and is during emergencies? The FD is now (finally) acknowledging the assistance the clubs gave (VOLUNTEER) during the recent wildfire. And if you're really interested in being TRAINED to help (what you can and CANNOT do), check out your local CERT (Community Emergency Response Team)group. Their insistance for thorough training helped a LOT of us during those awful days, and the one in Fallbrook led to the help still being offered for fire victims. (Wildfire Recovery). Don't value the volunteers? Guess who is going to be the first to call for help when the paramedics, ff's, etc. are all busy!

TheGunny wrote on Jun 9, 2008 10:35 AM:The need is for prevention, not bigger fire Depts, or volunteers getting in the way.
Cut the brush, cut out the enviros who stand in the way. Scripps Ranch used goats, and they cleared more brush than the cons could. Make your property more survivable, and be able to stay if needed, not get killed on the road out.
A "Corps" of volunteers would create another liability and mess of how to train, retain, and track those people.
Do without the gov't people! You are smart enough to attain the info that will keep you alive without the County Stipidvisors, and Ahhhnold telling you what is right and wrong.

Girls Rule wrote on Jun 9, 2008 12:49 PM:OMG! You're all living in a DEAD ZONE!!!

JF wrote on Jun 9, 2008 6:23 PM:Gunny, can goats extinguish the embers that have landed in your attic from a fire a half mile away? No.

Burn baby burn, can your thousands of volunteers do that same? No.

I'm a professional firefighter who has studied more homes and more fire behavior than most. I also was a volunteer firefighter for years. So I've seen both sides.

Here's the problem with volunteers as envisioned by burn baby burn. They want to be 'heroic' and save their own neighborhood. But they obviously don't want to commit to the time and training needed to form a regional solution. If they did, volunteer departments across the county would have hundreds of volunteers. They don't.

If volunteer agencies could have four well trained people on an engine out the door in a minute across the county, I wouldn't have a problem with them. They can't. A few might come close, but by and large volunteers have to drive from home to get the apparatus. Assuming that they're home.

I've climbed hills and had volunteer assist in my fire suppression efforts before. They sucked.

I've seen people almost die because the volunteers "took command" and canceled the air ambulance.

I still support volunteers. I even support a reserve ff program in the cities. But it should be a supplement to a full-time FD, not a replacement for it.

Floyd wrote on Jun 9, 2008 8:07 PM:The reason those volunteer firefighters would create a "mess" (as you claim) is because they are motivated to fight fires. We've already seen that CalFire's does not consider actual fire fighting to be a priority and, by extension, neither do the other professional fire fighters who side with CalFire. Enhance public safety -- bring on the volunteers!

Already Burned wrote on Jun 9, 2008 8:45 PM:Hasn't 80% percent of wildfire prone lands been burned in the last two major fires? What is left?

HS wrote on Jun 9, 2008 8:56 PM:Great comment JF!!

I too am a career firefighter of 27 years. It is easy for these people on this post to just see the dollar savings of a volunteer. I support volunteers also, but as a supplement to full-time firefighters. Your statement is true that they want to be heroic, but wont train everyday like we do.

These volunteers have no knowledge of how fire works both in a structure and more importantly in a wild fire. They don't know that a fire is affected by terrain, wind, humidity, fuel. They have no clue how many classes we attend and how many hours of training we perform each year trying to overcome things like newer construction, higher levels of commbustible plastics, fire behavior, fuels, etc.

There are things for our safety such as RIC (rapid intervention crews) when one of us goes down, haz-mat, public education, fire inspections, medical training, etc. Fire doesn't just go out when you spray water on it. I wish it was that easy sometimes.

Everyone just assumes that we sit on our butts all day waiting to work. We work all day during the normal 8 - 5 workday.

Look at how many CAREER firefighters are killed during fireground operations each year. Most of these firefighters have many years of experience and still can't compete with Mother Nature.

Do you really think that a volunteer with limited training would be the person you want coming to your rescue or a family members rescue.

Ask yourself that question and if the answer is still YES, then by all means, keep supporting the idea of a volunteer fire service.

Don't forget that these volunteers already have jobs and need to be paged out, respond to the station to get the engine, wait for enough people to man it, then respond to your dying family member who needs advanced life support within 4 - 6 minutes to survive.

To those of you who feel that we only have one dedicated fire season. Were you not in San Diego a few months ago when the temps were in the 100's and the humidity was in single digits?

Go to a city, full-time fire department and get informed by someone who has been doing the job for many years and they will tell you how things have changed over the years.

Reardon wrote on Jun 9, 2008 9:45 PM:Fighting fires is like fighting wars -- we need sufficient professionals to hold the line while we mobilize the reserves, and in San Diego County those reserves include the military.

The military can provide thousands of well-disciplined volunteers, hundreds of doctors, tens of high capacity portable medical facilities, entire armies of bulldozers, and as amny aircraft as a sky can handle.

Our nation cannot afford a standing army large enough to fight a major war, and this County cannot afford a fire department large enough to fight an occasional wildfire.

Burn baby burn wrote on Jun 10, 2008 9:11 AM:To: JF and HS. Why do you think that a volunteer wildfire fighting force would replace regular firefighters? The need is for a local response of volunteers specifically trained to assist FFs in putting out wildfires. Why feel threatened by that? It would be best for this to be initiated and managed by FFs. Pulling professionals from other counties leaves them vulnerable and is prohibitively expensive. Having willing and able volunteers parked at Qualcomm and barricaded out of their neighborhoods is insane. Putting them to work seems like the only feasible way to stop disaster from striking again but it will only happen if FFs make it happen.

Nick wrote on Jun 10, 2008 9:53 AM:I can't help but laugh at all the jokers who think that volunteer firefighters are a liability and NO help.
Deer Springs Fire Dept was started as a volunteer organization. How do I know?
My father, my uncle and many fathers in North Escondido and Hidden Meadows were tired of waiting on CDF every summer as the fires would ravage us.
We used to keep the pump trucks in my front yard and I helped build the first Fire Station. Many homes and many lives were saved by Deer Springs Volunteer Fire back in the day. It wasn't until years down the road that they actually got State and County funding.
As you can see in these posts, it is all about politics these days.
That is the real joke, not volunteer firefighters.

To JF HS wrote on Jun 10, 2008 1:22 PM:Let's not forget all of the military firefighting assets that sat idle for 72 hours because they lacked "spotters" from the "official" firefighting agencies in the County. We don't care where the help comes from - volunteer or you so-called "real" firefighters - just get all of the assets in the air ASAP. The County shouldn't have to burn to the ground while waiting for someone from the union to show up.

Hey Policy Guy wrote on Jun 10, 2008 3:42 PM:The only other comment worth reading was "Girls Rule". She didn't argue, she just labeled correctly.

Reardon wrote on Jun 10, 2008 9:44 PM:Vallejo is declaring bankruptcy. Why?

Just look at this from the pages of the San Diego Union: “The average police officer will receive a base salary of $121,518 under the current contract, with pension, health coverage and other benefits pushing the total cost to $191,060, said a staff report to the City Council on May 6.

The average firefighter will receive an annual salary, excluding overtime, of $130,112, costing $193,174 with benefits. Ranking officers get much higher pay – for example, a police captain earns a salary of $231,120, and the total with benefits is $347,726.“

Gosh! How can a city go bankrupt paying such paltry salaries?

(The answer is fire and police union demands.)

VOLS wrote on Jun 10, 2008 10:04 PM:BURN BABY BURN- I'm not taking cheap shots at volunteers. I believe they are a great asset in communities. In fact, if you read one of the posts it talks about the CERT team. The CERT team is a community group of volunteers that assist in times of emergencies. Some CERT teams have 20 people for a city with 150,000 people. Unfortunately, there are a limited amount of people who want to put the time in to train. It is run in conjunction with the fire departments. First question is who do they sue if things go wrong and they get injured or killed while fighting fires? Don't tell me that they won't, we live in a litigous society.
As far as the other comment about the "vast amounts of non-productive time they experience when there are no fires to fight" who do you think runs 911 medical aid calls, fire inspections, vehicle accidents or any other "emergencies" that people have? And yes, I think the 911 system is overused, but if someone has a problem is is usually solved by picking up the phone and diling 3 numbers.

FF wrote on Jun 11, 2008 6:45 AM:Get over the volunteer thing. We are the proof volunteers don't work. The largest fires in California have been in San Diego county, the only urbanized county without a county fire department. What more proof do you need?

JF wrote on Jun 11, 2008 6:45 AM:Nick, I comment your father and uncle for starting their own FD. That's what volunteerism is all about. So what's the status of the Deer Springs FPD today? Ah yes, paid... I believe with support from reserves. The reserves may have gone away there though.

Burn baby burn, I don't think volunteers will replace paid firefighters in the cities. I don't feel threatened by that at all. I don't even mind if they supplement us. But one has to do a cost/benefit analysis. It will cost at least a few thousand dollars per volunteer to equip and train them. They'll get used every five years or so. How many will move on or lose interest? Meanwhile, dozens of paid firefighters were sitting idle due to a lack of equipment. How about we start by buying the equipment to get the pros to work?

JF wrote on Jun 11, 2008 6:54 AM:Reardon, you bring up an excellent point. "We need sufficient professionals to hold the line". We don't have sufficient professionals now. The city of San Diego is roughly 25 fire companies (or 50%) short of the number of paid professional firefighters that it should have. Other cities are the same. That's just for the day-to-day emergencies, no less major fires.

There are two shortages here. One is in the cities as described above. The other is in the back country where there is virtually no protection now. As others have noted having a better FD in the backcountry will help prevent the cities from being stripped even further by backcountry fires.

Misinformed wrote on Jun 11, 2008 5:23 PM:Reardon, specific to your comments, I'm curious if you believe everything you read or wether you just have poor retention of what you read. I am a paid Firefighter here in San Diego County and work for one of the higher paid departments. I know of no department in San Diego County who pays their FFs a base pay of any amount close to $130,000 excluding overtime. For that matter, you will have trouble finding even a fire officer, below an administrator level, who earns a base salary of that amount.

The only firefighters I know of making that kind of money are becoming exhausted working a large amount of overtime for reasons including vacation, sick time and primarily for vacant positions.

And to those of you out there who believe that all we do is "sit around" when we are not fighting fires are very misinformed. I would contend that I work harder everday than the vast majority of those who seem to be "experts" in our proffesion and our community needs, relating to public safety. I'm also curious, lets take a look at how pertinent you job is to the community and to it what value we should assign.

There is a good chance you will need us some day. I wonder if your opinion will change then. If you ever need an Oncologist are you going to seek out one who does it only a couple times a month, or better yet, the one who will cost you the least?

sdiacc wrote on Jun 12, 2008 10:00 AM:as a non ff that chose to educate himself in this service, im amazed at the pettiness about how people blast these guys. the fire service is like no other business. there are fires burning in NoCal right now, don't be surprised if crews from sd county are there now. the governor declared a state of emergency to free up more ff's. hat means the state pays for the ff's to go north and to pay for the guys filling in at OT rate. some of these guys probably went to work in the morning and by the end of the day or during the night drove to NoCal. the same is done for us during santa ana wind events. NoCal doesnt even get the luxery of preplanning for the weather. This is an example of how the state OES works. Im sure that means guys are getting OT pay to be north and guys are filling in for the guys gone at OT rate. This is how its supposed to work and if you think about it, it is of better value for the taxpayer, then increasing staffing for temp. work, paying more for pension etc. But as I said before WE need more ff's, and stations here just to get the same level of service as LA, OC,San Fran, San Jose you now understand my point.

sdiacc wrote on Jun 12, 2008 10:28 AM:reardon,
yes this county can afford average staffing and station locations. are you looking for a free ticket? every other county in our state pays for it. Why do you feel SD should be different from the rest of the state? The ff's on here ask for average staffing and pay to their counter parts, with our expensive real estate and cost of living they deserve it. that is not to much to ask for. Educate yourself to their risks and the type of work they actually do, you might be surprised. As for the military, it is there to defend our country from foes not fires. Occassionaly if needed, assist the ff's that has been on the line for days, and need a safety rest, I'm for it. We need to start making sure we have our own resources for fires, earthquakes, floods, or for a possible terrorist attack. these guys are our first responders they ask and deserve the staffing for our safety and theirs.

Burn baby burn wrote on Jun 12, 2008 11:09 AM:To all you indignant FFs. You need to recognize funs are limited. There will be no more TP money and your benefits will go down. Early gold plated retirements and a musical chair approach to fire chiefs so that everyone gets a crack at the highest retirement rates are getting tiresome. You have a budget. Find a way to make it work. If it means privatizing ambulance work and EMT, fine. Just come up with a strategy to fight wildfires effectively with the money you got. This will mean getting volunteers and the military on board. All the other stuff is less essential and unaffordable. We cannot continue to pay for gold plated, ineffective fire service.

Cool it Burn Baby wrote on Jun 12, 2008 12:57 PM:Firefighters are understaffed and overworked. They deserve nothing but sympathy and adulation. The only thing wrong with their gravy train is that there are not enough people on board.

JF wrote on Jun 12, 2008 8:11 PM:Burnbabyburn, are you aware that the SDFD was awarded the Golden Watchdog Award by the San Diego County Taxpayers Ass'n for its unique money saving public/private partnership? Or that the SDFD shops were just awarded the same award for its cost savings measures? Sorry, but it seems that the only gold plating around here is in the form of awards.

FF wrote on Jun 13, 2008 3:33 PM:Any of you "less is best" advocates paying attention to northern California right now? It's coming to your neighborhood again and again you will lose lives and homes because you have done nothing but talk. It is becoming very expensive to be soy cheap.

Fire leadership from Bernie wrote on Jun 14, 2008 5:33 PM:Bernie

Fire Leadership Wish:

A S.D. County Fire Department that is POLITICALLY FREE; no political interference and a forward thinking Chief. A Fire Chief that can think out of the box.

The political-free County Fire Dept would include SOGE (Stay Or Go Early) aka Go very Early or prepare, Stay and Defend AND a forward thinking Fire Chief like Chief Bob Roper, Ventura County CA. or Chief Douglas MacDonald, Los Alamos County NM.

Ventura County CA, Los Alamos County NM, and Australia fire policy is SOGE (Stay or Go Early) aka Go Early or Stay and Defend.

The above would raise the Fire Leadership bar in SD County.

In the meantime, we just have a lot of political posturing, egos involved. And repeated info, misinformation, same political suggestions, and same political actions. And the need for an enormous amount of money which is not available.

How to tax us: some of us are already fire taxed via real estate.
Until we raise the bar, have SOGE, Fire Leadership (politically free), and stakeholders (homeowners) are involved, it would be like the Boston Tea Party tax. Taxation without representation. Taxes without stakeholder benefit.

2003 to 2007: not enough has been done
in these 7 months since 2007 fires.
Nothing new that really makes a major fire difference.

Better planning for the protection of the front line firefighters is also needed.

And, well trained volunteer firefighters.

A pay scale including retirement benefits (similar to now). The FF are protecting our HEALTH (cardiac arrest, vehicle crashes, etc.) and SAFETY be it a fire or a disaster (earthquake, terrorist). FFs are always working and training. The FFs are not lazy. And until you can walk in their shoes and do their job, do not complain about their pay. And yes, they have to leave the Fire Station to purchase food and drinks and make their own meals.

I am not related nor involved with a FF.

sdiacc wrote on Jun 15, 2008 9:29 AM:Bernie,
excellent view, now we need to get that view out to there. I am 100% behind you. My previous posts have only responded to false uneducated views by the anti professional fire service. Thanks for the progressive ideas on the plans to assist us. like bernie, no ff's in the family.

Bernard wrote on Jun 16, 2008 7:50 AM:Fast track to accurate wildfire info that will help you, your family and your community:

WILDFIRE PLANS TIPS TOOLS are at the Ventura County Calif Fire government website or google the words "meet your first weapon against wildfire". 12 pages of accurate info that can help you save your life and home.

TIPS from "County of San Diego Wildfire Zone Web site" [SD County pays for this website] are also accurate. google wildfirezone org. Telephone 877.357.7705. Ask for their Wildfire Zone tip cards that will help you REDUCE YOUR WILDFIRE RISK for you/your family, your home, your critters.

Ask you local Fire Dept for help.

Ask your Fire Safe Council for help. They work to save lives, and old and new homes.

Fire and Politicians wrote on Jun 16, 2008 4:18 PM:Our SD County politicians and CalFire high level politicians are a problem.

The FF and the trained volunteer FF are outstanding.

The Fire Safe Councils are outstanding.

The CERT teams are outstanding.

And others such as ham radio folks, etc. truly care about the health and fire safety (and other disasters) that can harm their communities.

The educated or willing to be educated public is interested in having a choice to stay or leave very early. Several Poway homes were saved in 2007 by ordinary people. Education needs to include defensible space and much more. The communities and stakeholders (homeowners) must be involved.

We must try a new approach. Go Early or Stay & Defend. It works and it is policy in Australia, New Zealand, Los Alamos County NM and Ventura County Calif. 500,000 Ventura County residents and 6 Ventura County cities are involved in Go Early or Stay and Defend.

Lives, livestock, pets, old homes and new homes can be saved.

See Ventura County Fire Dept government website. Or google the words "meet your first weapon against wildfire".

Learn more. SD website paid by SD County. google "wildfire zone tip cards" or "tip cards front-back".

[SORRY NICK] Sometimes a district Fire Board has a problem. Deer Springs Fire Protection District Board has 4 directors; their problems have escalated because of the stacked audience.

The current Board President attended the meetings, but she did not vote yes or no to the district's fire assessment fee. She is a 'political' junkie, an opportunist, and capable of taking credit which is due to others. The stacked audience was 'crying' about more fire tax money. The professional DSFPD Fire Chief indicated the tax raise was necessary.

The stacked no-nothing audience wanted to cut FF pay and offer FF less retirement benefits.

The stacked audience wanted to cut the 3 person crew to a 2 person crew.

The stacked audience would take the District back to 2003 with a 2 person crew; about 2004 there was a 3 person crew in place.

The stacked audience has no vote, no fire expertise, no interest in getting accurate information. The stacked audience influenced the Board to do the wrong thing. The Board vote nixed the fee increase (from NCTimes 4-4-2008).

Shamefully, 2 of these Directors continued their crusade to get rid of the professional Fire Chief. (January 2007 to May 2008.)

1 Board director continues to disregard the District's Code of Conduct. He believes he is above the law.

1 Director said QUOTE “… she'd like to see the board refocus on what she considers the major issue at hand ---- Stonegate." END QUOTE (from NCTimes 12-16-07).

This same Director does not pay attention to details and is not informed. It took her 8 meetings (8 months) to find out that she (and all the Board members) always received the billing statements from the office of the District Counsel. The info was in their individual monthly packets.

None of these 3 directors have any professional fire, medical, or engineering knowledge or training. They are misusing their Directorship and wasting time. Fire is year round. What has this particular Board and President done to improve the District. Nothing except for Director 4.

Director 4 does have a background suited to helping the District with numbers, finances.

The Board's job is the Health and Safety (Fire and other disasters) of current residents; not land use.