On Friday, only one day away from Fire Station 69’s Pancake Fundraiser, Fire Capt. Scott Gribbons and Capt. Joe Teijeira of the Los Angeles Fire Department received a notice that Pacific Palisades’ permanently on July 5.
Engine 69 is a multipurpose vehicle with an attached water tank, able to carry firemen and plays an integral role in the station’s ability to fight fires. The engine is currently housed at Fire Station 69 located at 15045 Sunset Boulevard.
The cuts are part of a master plan called the "2011 Deployment Plan” which will eliminate one division and two battalion offices, 11 engine companies and seven light forces while upgrading 10 fire companies to paramedic companies, reported The Daily News.
Engine 69 will be shut down and may only be used as a reserve, said Gribbons, who was busy filling out the transfer requests for the engine’s crew.
“They are going to be transferred to other areas of the city,” Gribbons said. “The engine has been in operation since this station first opened in 1967 . . . it has helped fight countless fires and saved numerous lives . . . (The cuts should) start somewhere other than where the rubber meets the road.”
The action is a response to a predicted slump in the LAFD budget of more than $50 million and will reduce the workforce at Fire Station 69 by more than 40 percent, said Teijeira. The company will be reduced to a light force with only one truck and ambulance, decreasing the station’s ability to respond to simultaneous calls and fires, he said.
“People pay a lot of money (in taxes) for protection but they are not going to be getting it,” said a fireman who wished to remain anonymous. “Chief Peaks is meeting with (local newspapers) and painting a happy face on a bad situation as we speak.”
Morale is very low because of this action, said Teijeira.
The study that led to the changes analyzed the number of emergency calls and recorded a higher number of medical incidents. Unfortunately, the study did not concern itself with the way the terrain in Pacific Palisades is laid out and how the reduction would impact response time in the event of a large brush or structure fire, said several firemen from the station.
“For instance, if we get a call for an injured hiker it takes us a few hours to reach them,” Gribbons said. “I would hate to be the second person calling about a fire.”
The cuts come five months away from the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack, which led to the loss of many lives including 343 firefighters.
“It seems many have forgotten on this coming 10th anniversary (of September 11) the sacrifices that were made that day,” said a fireman, who wished to remain anonymous.
Engine 69, which will be permanently shut down as of July 5, 2011, may only be used in certain situations as backup for other damaged engines, said Gribbons.
The fact that the reduction is happening in the midst of the coming fire season is a concern, said one the station’s firemen.
In 1961, a fire in the surrounding areas led to the destruction of 7200 acres and destroyed more than 200 homes, which included the residences of Burt Lancaster, Joe E. Brown and Zsa Zsa Gabor, according to a Nov. 7 1961 issue of the Gettysburg Times.
More than 2000 people were evacuated from their homes during the 1961 fire, which led to calls for increased fire protection in the area.
“Official said the fires will join, forming a 10-mile flaming front. If they continue burning southward, all of heavily populated Pacific Palisades near the ocean will be in danger,” reported the Gettysburg Times in 1961. That was six years before Fire Station 69 first opened.
The area around the Palisades is prone to brush fires and the terrain, traffic and morale isn’t something that any program or study can calculate, said several firemen.
Here is a link to data assembled by The Daily News that allows users to look up any firefighters' salary up to 2009. http://www.dailynews.com/ci_12165738
OMG! is anyone besides us looking at these numbers these guys are raking in - no wonder no one ever quits the fire department!
If your house is saved from burning down, or if you (or your child!) receives life-saving medical attention, are you going to care if that first responder is working OT?! I, for one, would be damn grateful!
Pay is not the topic of conversation that should be discussed in this article. The topic of conversation that should be discussed is the fact that the Mayor and the Fire Chief are stealing services that have been bought and paid for by the tax payers. Are our taxes going to be cut? No. The fire companies are there for insurance. The insurance that when a resident has a dryer fire the fire does not extend to the family room, the bedroom, the kitchen and the rest of the house. The amount of fire companies that were put in place are there so a bad situation can be stoped in it's tracks. The purpose of having two companies in the station is so when one companie is on an emergency, the other companie can respond to a second emergency in the same response time. If this plan of the Mayor and Fire Chief go through I sure hope my family is not that second call. Let get together and save what our taxes have paid for
Here is a link to data assembled by The Daily News that allows users to look up any firefighters' salary up to 2009. http://www.dailynews.com/ci_12165738 I suppose that the figures for the two Captains in the article aren't correct? Who are you kidding, it is all about $!!!
We are still a “Sanctuary City” Right Mr. Mayor? 54 Million in fire Department cut! How about 200 million in social service cuts to those not entitled to it. No we cant do that can we.
http://www.experiencingla.com/2008/10/not-but-30th-anniversary-of-mandeville.html
Do I smell another City Of Bell story?
By way Mr. Thinking Man this great deal is available to you to; just take the test, be willing to put your life on the line for a complete stranger, be willing to get up close and personal with other peoples bodily fluids during medical calls and also be comfoftable with the fact that if you make a mistake you could be killed. The real issue here is that we are going to loose a life saving resource in the Palisades not how much firemen earn. By the way Thinking Man what do you do, and how much do you earn enlighten us and we can debate if were geting our bang for the buck from you.