By Duane W. Gang
The Press Enterprise
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Riverside County wants to absorb the county’s network of volunteer fire departments and convert them to a reserve force similar to the Sheriff’s Department reserve deputies.
The move, under discussion for four years, is intended to standardize training, avoid confusion over who is in charge at accident scenes, among other goals.
Supervisors are expected to discuss the issue today.
“The whole goal is to bring the whole program within the county Fire Department,” County Fire Chief John Hawkins said Monday. “Our goal is honorable.”
But volunteers from across the county are opposing the changes, saying the county’s proposal is fraught with misinformation. They fear losing all volunteer companies.
Angel Sanchez Jr., president of the Riverside County Volunteer Firefighters Association, said volunteer companies run effectively.
“We can still maintain the existing program and improve it,” said Sanchez, a Pedley volunteer firefighter.
State law allows counties with at least 1 million people to regulate the creation and continued existence of volunteer fire departments.
If supervisors agree today, the county will begin drafting two ordinances.
One would prohibit the formation of new volunteer companies unless supervisors determine it’s needed.
The second would create the reserve volunteer firefighter program.
Like the military or Sheriff’s Department, moving to a reserve program would provide more organization and management control, Hawkins said.
“This is not a Cal Fire versus volunteer issue,” he said in a telephone interview, noting that many of the companies provide valuable community service.
There are about 400 volunteer firefighters in the county in about 50 companies, Hawkins said. The county hopes to bring all of the current volunteers over into the new reserve program, he said.
The county fire department would provide standardized training, maintain all training and certification records and provide equipment for the reserve force, according to the proposal.
The changes could save the county money in workers compensation insurance costs, according to the county report.
Hawkins acknowledged the issue is contentious and said the department has met five times with volunteer groups, most recently on Saturday.
Sanchez said he doubts the county’s claims on savings. Volunteers currently provide the equivalent of more than $6 million in service to the county. In 2008, they donated 300,000 hours of service, he said.
Volunteers already abide by many of the county’s proposals, Sanchez said. Training standards are set by the county, and volunteers have to be dispatched by the county, he said.
“We don’t self-dispatch,” Sanchez said. “We have a response plan we follow. I am not driving around the freeway waiting for a medical call.”
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