The Orange County Register
VILLA PARK, Calif. — Villa Park’s reserve firefighter program has been officially shut down, but the city is planning to fight to keep the program going.
Villa Park’s reserve crew was expected to be shut down nearly four months ago, but the threat of a lawsuit by the city and a $27 million claim against the county’s fire agency has kept the crew afloat.
The 24-member Orange County Fire Authority board decided Thursday to dismiss the volunteer crew, despite the $27 million damage claim filed by the city of Villa Park. The OCFA has yet to respond to Villa Park’s claim — a precursor to a possible lawsuit.
OCFA officials decided to slash its volunteer program in half in September, closing down 11 reserve crews across the county.
Fire officials said some of the volunteer crews had become unreliable and used much-needed funding in the cash-strapped agency. But Villa Park city officials said the OCFA opened itself to a lawsuit, because shutting down the city’s reserve crew would be a violation of its contract.
Two weeks after the board of directors decided to cut the program, Villa Park made good on its promise. City officials filed a claim for damages against the OCFA, requesting roughly $27million — about $1.3 million annually for its 20-year contract.
“At times of need, including in the event of an emergency, the reserves are not available to staff the engine company,” the claim states. “This results in reduced fire protection for the City of Villa Park.”
Reducing staffing at the Villa Park fire station is a breach of contract between the OCFA and the city, said Villa Park city manager Lori Sassoon. The city also wants to work with the fire agency to restructure the volunteer program and keep reserves on hand, she said.
Fire officials have cited the poor performance of several reserve crews when the program was slashed. Among the poorest-performing volunteer crews was Villa Park’s station 23. According to a study presented to the board of directors, the dozen volunteers in the station there had responded to one of 59 calls.
OCFA officials had decided to keep Villa Park’s reserves after the claim was filed.
During that time, from Oct. 8, and Wednesday, Villa Park’s reserves were able to respond to the station twice in 27 calls for service, according to the OCFA.
Sassoon said she didn’t disagree with the poor performance, but said it was due to the structure of the volunteer program, not a reflection of the volunteers themselves.
“We agree the program is not working, but it can be restructured,” she said. “It’s like saying I have a cut, I should cut off my arm.”
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