Salvador, Register
The jobs of about 250 volunteer firefighters are on the chopping block Thursday night when the Orange County Fire Authority board of directors meets.
OCFA officials say many of the volunteers fail to provide basic service and the cuts will save more than $630,000 annually for the cash-strapped agency.
Volunteers from the 11 stations around Orange County are being reviewed by the 24-member board, representing about half of the agency’s volunteer firefighters.
OCFA officials say the cuts are a reflection of the state of volunteer services. But supporters say the volunteer program has been set up to fail after years of pressure from the firefighters’ union.
Supporters and critics of the reserve program seem to agree on one thing: performance at some of the reserve stations is weak. Critics are pushing to end the program while backers hope to revamp the system.
“There’s no question, the numbers stink,” said Brad Reese, a Villa Park councilman and member of the OCFA board who supports the reserve program.
Big changes
If the cuts are approved, it would represent the biggest change since 2002, when the program was slashed from 683 volunteers and 28 engines to 390 reserves and five engines.
The cuts are expected to be met with fierce opposition, but fire officials point to an 89-page OCFA report that details individual station performance.
Reese, who was a reserve firefighter for 28 years, said he blames the firefighters’ union for the erosion of the program.
“This program used to work really well, in fact, it used to work too well,” Reese said. “This is a management problem, not a program problem.”
In an earlier interview with the Register, Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion said the reserve program has been plagued by recruitment, retention and performance issues. As an example he pointed out Villa Park’s reserve engine, where for six months reserves responded to only one call.
“I don’t think in anyone’s book that is cost-effective,” he said. “That fire engine just sat there.”
Joe Kerr, union president for the Orange County Professional Firefighters called the potential cuts “a good start,” but said he would like to see the entire program cut because it holds up resources and funds that could help professional firefighters.
A professional, full-time crew is always dispatched when reserve firefighters are called. Of the 2,881 calls for service to reserve firefighters, the volunteers responded 44 percent of the time from January to June.
Most of the stations in jeopardy are in urban locations, while stations in rural communities will likely remain untouched.
Some volunteers work full-time jobs, and many of them are unable to respond quickly, Concepcion said. Even when they do respond, at least three firefighters - including a captain, a driver and a firefighter - are needed before an engine rolls.
Loss of manpower
Reese said he is concerned with the loss of manpower and the impact that will have during a major wildfire.
“If those people go away and the next big fire happens, it’s going to get ugly,” Reese said.
If the proposed cuts are approved, it would mean $636,331 of savings from a total volunteer budget of $3.6 million.
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