L.A. plan would cut 18 fire companies, four ambulances

A proposal to cut 18 fire companies and four ambulances from the Los Angeles Fire Department is to be considered Wednesday by a City Council committee amid opposition from leaders of the firefighters union.

The proposed cuts are contained in the $6.9-billion budget unveiled last week by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The cuts would save the city more than $53 million in the next fiscal year, and nearly $200 million over three years, according to Los Angeles Fire Chief Millage Peaks. They would also put an end to rotating staff reductions.

Every day, the Fire Department temporarily closes 22 fire companies and six ambulance teams in order to save money, Peaks said. The firefighters from the closed companies fill in for staff at other companies who are sick or on vacation, which cuts down on overtime.

The moves were instituted in 2009 after the department was dealt a $39-million budget reduction. They were meant as a "stop-gap," Peaks said, and not as a permanent solution.

He called the temporary closures "very disruptive." The department proposed the permanent closure of 18 fire companies and four ambulances at stations across the city in order to eliminate the temporary shutdowns and create "long-term structural change," according to a report sent to the mayor that details the redeployment of department resources.

Millage said the department determined which companies should go with the help of a computer program that measured which companies were most in demand. Under the proposal, no firefighters would be laid off, but firefighters from several threatened companies have protested the proposed closures.

At a news conference Tuesday at Fire Station 38 in Wilmington, City Councilwoman Janice Hahn said she would fight the proposed cuts. The station would lose a hook-and-ladder truck and a pumper truck under the proposed reductions.

On Wednesday afternoon, Hahn is to be joined by firefighters and leaders from United Firefighters of Los Angeles City at a news conference at City Hall, shortly before the council's Budget and Finance Committee takes up the mayor's budget.

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Photo: Firefighters take part in a drill in Century City. Credit: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Ben Olguin]

As an EMT, I have interacted with many fire fighting personnel and have observed that many--and perhaps the great majority--are very conservative about what they term "big government" and "over taxation." They never stop to think about how much of these taxes are allocated to them for their use--and at times abuse--of very generous overtime pay. Maybe the next time a fireman or firewoman complains about "big government" they might remember that they are part of this big government, and sometimes the taxes many of them decry are in fact necessary to provide services that the public needs--including their jobs. I urge the public to stop by a firehouse during the afternoon and especially the evening to see exactly how their tax dollars are being spent. Bring a snack for the movies and energy for the video game marathons.

[Phil]

I wonder if the readers really know just how well and overpaid our "heros" are. There are fireman making in excess of $250,000.00 a year, to sit around and watch big screen TV's and shine fire trucks.

Ask yourself, just how many fires do you see in any given week or month ?

Civil service was never intended to make one rich, but to provide for a living while also providing a public service. A huge portion of the LA City fire dept are "rich", according to the current administrations definition.

The city of LA would be much better served by having a volunteer dept., by cutting 75 % of the paid fireman.

The mystique of the under paid and overworked fireman is difficult to break.

[fred]

I know, let's stop paying for social services for illegal aliens so we can fund the fire department.

[Leonard C. Marshman]

Can you name an occupation where you spend the bulk of your time NOT doing your job? Firefighters are like bridge attendants: the majority of their is spent NOT doing their main duties. I mean, firefighters go grocery shopping, get little Fluffy from a tree,take Sparky the dog to schools for Fire Awareness Day, exercise, wash and wax their trucks, etc. Seriously, %-wise, in a typical work-week, how much of their generously-paid time do firefighters actually fight fires? The point being, this is not at all the doom-and-gloom scenario that the firefighters' union and spend-at-all-costs politicians will make this out to be. Want proof? Drive by any fire station any hour of the day or night and see if anybody's home and what they're doing.

[fred]

These guys are party of 'that union/public servant lifestyle'. Highest paid manual laborers on earth.

[Griffin]

I would also like to join with the other comments in bashing people who don't make that much money for the potentially fatal job of saving the lives of strangers. But I'm not such a scumbag and can still remember as far back as 9/11.

[gregory stanley]

what do you call a fireman in the firehouse? a vacation.

[c moon]

This nation is out of control and not desperate enough yet. The cities and counties, states and finally the country is living on foreign borrowed money and they are still wanting to linger onto the ridiculous benefit packages by unions, government workers and the politicians and last of all the illegals skimming off this pathetic system we called it democracy and wants to support non citizens more then the tax paying citizens. This country is in anarchy not recognizing the meaning of a sovereign nation and it's citizenship.

[Adam]

The root of the budget problem is the extremely wasteful overtime system. All you have to to do is look at Controller Wendy Gruel's spreadsheet on City salaries.

Line firefighters with a supposed salary of $70,000 regularly make between $220,000 and $250,000 in total compensation through overtime abuse. A cap on overtime of no more than 10% of base salary should be set and then if there is truly a need for more man hours, then more fire fighters should be hired at the base salary to cover those shifts. You could have 3 fire fighters working full-time for each current fire fighter under the almost criminally abusive overtime system currently in place. And there is no way the current line firefighters are working 120 hours per week for that money.

I am a Democrat. But the overhead of government needs to be reduced and this offensively wasteful spending eliminated. If it were done, there would likely be little need for cutting services because in almost every case there is sufficient money to support the city services if the money were managed appropriately.

[la joe]

The single biggest rip-off is the fire fighter paramedic. The overwhelming majority of these individuals have no inclination to be a paramedic and are forced to because they want to be a fire fighter. They tend to be lousy on the medical side of things, that is not what they really want to do. They get a ton of overtime! Many times these yahoos deliver a patient to a hospital substandardly. They want to sleep at night, not actually do a job that they are getting paid to do. When you complain, you wind up complaining to one of their cronies who happens to be in charge.

[clem]

So they are going to reduce services so that firefighters can keep their high salaries and pensions and retire before you and I with better benefits, including medical?

How about we cut their salaries and pensions and have them retire at the same old age we do? That is the key, to this problem, the firefighters and cops are paid too much! It is ironic that a lot of these firefighters are Republican Tea baggers complaining abut their taxes, when in fact they are pigs at the public trough. Do they ever bother to think about the taxpayer working and paying their taxes until they retire at 67?

It looks that in the reality of the new economy, the upper middle class are going to be public employees like the cops and firefighters. The people paying their salaries will be the poor and this is a formula for the rich public employees to abuse us. This is already evident with the arrogant rich cops shooting people with impunity. Fire them all, there is a line a mile long with applicants willing to do the job for reasonable wages.

[Chris Saris]

For facts about the LAFD, visit the department's website. The LAFD responds to more than 1200 emergency responses per day. It transports more than 500 people to area hospitals every day. And, each day, the department puts out ten or more fires in homes and businesses.

But, LA is a big city. With 470 square miles and just under 4 million residents, we are busy with our daily lives. We don't think of firefighters unless we need them. And that is the point. How often does an Earthquake like that we all witnessed in Japan take place? We're several hundred years overdue for something just as destructive here in LA. What happens when the Santa Ana winds blow and a brush fire takes off and threatens our neighborhood? It's at those moments when we all call out: "Where are our firefighters?"

Firefighting as an industry is in the midst of change. I've read and listened to the UFLAC leadership in news and on TV, and its clear there is a "jobs" and "no change for us" mentality in place there. UFLAC will lose. Maybe not today. Maybe not this year. But the fire service is changing. With increasing medical activity, increased use of technology, and a public that is sick of publicly funded entities living better than the average citizen, change is in the air.

I think Chief Peaks has a hugely challenging job. Balancing the fact that the city has no money - and that the lack of money is due primarily to reduced income, as there are fewer homeowners, business owners, etc. from our economic situation - combined with the seriously intellectually challenged leadership of not only UFLAC, but other area unions, and you have a highly combustible cocktail.

I would hope CM Hahn would try to evaluate how this plan affects us in San Pedro over the long term, rather than creating some political favor as she packs her bags for a new career. I know that I'd rather have firefighters than know my neighborhood, know how to most effectively reach me and my family, and have some degree of job satisfaction, than to know that every day, people are being shuffled like a deck of cards, because there is no money to properly keep the status quo in play.

Thank you Chief Peaks and the office of the Mayor for at least working to come up with a plan that will save us as a community money, so that the future can be brighter. Sure, it's not perfect. At least it's an attempt to do the right thing.

[Someone]

You have all got to be kidding. First, to answer the idiotic question about other people who spend the majority of their time not doing their main duties: What about an ER doctor/nurse?

I bet the NYFD was just thrilled to put down their video games to respond to 9/11.

These are our first-responders. In L.A., they will be the ones to help you when you catch fire or get sick or are stuck in an earthquake. You can't schedule these things - they just happen. You don't know when it will happen. Since you can't schedule it, how on earth could the FD do anything else other than maintain a state of readiness? Yes, stop by a station and see how long it takes before they go out on a call. See how dedicated they are.

These are people who put their lives and bodies on the line each and every day to save our lives and property. They must be supported and our safety must not be compromised by short-sighted politicians who won't react until someone dies as the result of this insane plan to punch holes in this city's safety net.

I hope each of the people posting below criticizing our firefighters remembers NOT to call 911 when they have an emergency. This will not only reduce the demand on the department, but it will also serve as a form of natural selection for those who don't realize how critical the FD really is.

[Jim O'Sullivan]

There are two things I swore I would never do in life if given an option: jump out of an airplane or run into a burning building. So far I've been able to avoid running into any burning buildings because there are people ready and willing to do that for me and frankly for those that think they just sit around and play video games. There is no amount of money that would get me to put on all of that equipment (weighs a ton) and fight anything. It takes a special type of person that does that, that has the mental, emotional and physical strength to fight fires and we owe them a thank you not a slap in the face. Should pensions and other benefits be addressed in a meaningful way, you bet. Are all fire fighters perfect, of course not, they are human beings but let's remember what they do for us in the times they are most needed. I for one want to go on the record with a thank you to the LAFD.

[Ray]

You want to see abuse of taxpayer dollars? Go to the State Controllers website and look and how much firefighters are making in overtime. It's freaking shocking. OT for what?? Sitting on your butt for an extra 24 hr shift. Serioulsy?? There is no way a firefighter with a base pay of $75K should be making over $200K. It happens and it happens everywhere. Everybody should know the dirty little secret of OT abuse in the fire departments. You want to see why your city is broke??..just look at your fire department. Don;t get me started on their pensions. Now you know why the fire fighters are always in a good mood.

[CR]

Probably the most important job these city employees perform is their role as paramedics. However, I don't see the need to pay these huge salaries and frequently manipulated pension benefits to paramedics. I don't think firefighters should take a vow of poverty, but the thousands of applicants for every opening should indicate that we taxpayers can afford to lower the payscale a bit.

[Anonymous]

Put out a help wanted sign for firemen at $45,000 per year.

The lines will be longer than the lines at the DMV.

[Elwyn]

"The LAFD responds to more than 1200 emergency responses per day." But what kind of response is that? There's a woman in the apartment complex across the street from me who calls out the LAFD a couple times a month for what looks like a medical call as she gets taken out of the apartment on a gurney. But in addition to the paramedics and their vehicle, at least one and usually two firetrucks with personnel show up with the paramedics. What is the point? There is no fire, just a woman who wants emergency medical care and a ride to a hospital. If the paramedics need to be protected because they're carrying drugs with them, there must be a less expensive / more efficient way to provide that protection. Why run the expensive firetrucks AND take them and their personnel out of FIRE service to park in the street for an hour or so?

[Reggie Washington]

Go to all volunteer fire departments and stop paying this people! NO MORE TAXES!

[Rod]

As a former LAFD paramedic, I can assure you that they don't just sit around watching tv. You work 24 hour shifts...do you expect them to clean the station for 24 hours at a time? The city doesn't clean the station or supply meals, they shop and cook themselves.

When was the last time you were burned or injured helping your community....never I bet.

I was shot at on that job, hospitalized for hazardous materials and missed numerous special occasions with my family, like Christmas, Easter, Bithdays and all the rest.

You people are unbelievable.

[Dean]

How many of you people complaining about a firefighter's salary work a job that, at any given moment, could end up being your last moment on earth for the benefit of a stranger? I visited my father in the hospital several times after close calls. His knees are destroyed. His life expectancy is lower than most because of all the crap he's inhaled for 30 years. And this was in a small town department!

Compared to what actors, athletes and CEOs are making today, firefighters are a bargain price and the only ones that will actually come to your aid should you need it.

[James]

How is the fire dept funded? Taxes. You pay property taxes that goes into fire and police. Last time I called the police, they don't send you a bill for a report. When the fire dept shows up, they will bill you. If they transport you, they will bill you.

Getting paid for sleeping, cooking, eating, cleaning, playing video games, working out, doesn't sound like a job.

[alan]

I am glad to see from these posts that many understand how much of a scam firefighters are with their compensation, but of course, they just put their hero hat on to deflect any attention from pensions and overtime. Is a great idea. I bet the few defending them have a family member who is a firefighter. Don't get me wrong, it is a great and noble profession, but we have many professions that are great and noble (and in fact require more credentials) that are not getting excessive compensation at the tax payer's expense.

[la joe]

Many times the firefighter paramedics will travel far distances to drop off a patient at a hospital that has a shorter wait time so that they can go back and sleep. Happens all the time!! These idiots want to sleep on the tax payers dime. The paramedic services should be privatized and keep county-city workers out of the loop. There needs to be more transparency with what they are paid and what they do on a daily basis. These services can be farmed out to private concerns that will do a better job and for a lot less. There used to be a trade off... to work for the government you would get job stability and decent benefits however you would get paid less then i the private sector. That's not what's going on now, they get paid well above what they should get, have job security, and great benefits.

[Red Hat Lady]

Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. I respect the job the firemen do immensely. When they work, they work hard and encounter a lot of situations most of us couldn't handle physically and/or emotionally. The Solution - cut out the overtime abuse and downgrade the pensions substantially for new hires. We will have the protection we need and stop frittering away money. A salary of $70,000 is reasonable, to be paying twice or three times that for overtime is absolutely not!