Crime & Safety

Firefighters Say 'Brown Outs' Put Community at Risk

The cost-saving measure has taken fire department trucks and engines off the road.

Cost-saving "brown-outs" across the Los Angeles Fire Department are endangering the community and hurting staff morale, according to Los Angeles firefighters who spoke to Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch.

Since a November directive form LAFD Chief Millage Peaks, an increased number of fire trucks and engines across the city are routinely being shut down and their crews reassigned to other stations to backfill overtime positions.

According to Highland Park Station 12 Capt. Dave Marino, at least a quarter of LAFD's engines and fire trucks are out of commission every day.

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The brownouts are supposed to save the department by freeing up designated crews of on-duty firefighters to fill in for sick, injured or vacationing colleagues across the city, instead of paying overtime rates to fill those slots.

According to a schedule provided by Firefighter Tony Cardona, who lives in Highland Park and works out of station 20 in Echo Park, Highland Park Station 12's light force--which consists of a fire engine and a fire truck--will be out of service between Tuesday, Feb. 22, and Thursday, Feb. 24.

Additionally, the third engine at Highland Park station 12 will be out of service from Friday, Feb. 25, until Saturday, Feb. 27.

Cardona said the brownouts have already had a serious impact in Highland Park.

For example, he said crews may have been able to save , who died in his home on Stratford Road on Friday, Dec. 17,  if Station 50 in Glassell Park had been fully staffed on the night of the fire.

According to Cardona, Station 50's light force was shut down due to a brownout that day, meaning that during the critical first few moments of the fire, the station's fire truck--and all of its ventilation and home entry tools--was out of commission.

Cardona admits that there's no way to predict what could have happened on that night if Station 50's light force had been on duty, but he says the entire scenario could have unfolded very differently.

He said that if there were two trucks on the scene with entry tools, instead of just one from Highland Park Station 12, maybe fire crews would have been able to immediately get to work on the back door, where Davis burned to death.

"Would it have made a difference? We don't know. We didn't even find his body until overhaul," Cardona said. "We found him near the back door. If we had two light forces, we would have had crews working on both the front and back doors with tools."

Cardona said a fire department report could never tell the true story of the incident.

"The report will show that all these engines and trucks were at the fire, but those were after the first few minutes," he said. "A fire doubles in size every minute."

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Marino said dealing with brownouts "is the most difficult thing he has had to deal with in his 30 years on the job."

On Tuesday afternoon, Marino pointed toward a calendar at Station 12 office and pointed out that he wouldn't have a full task force, which comprises two engines and one truck, until February 28.

"There are about 150 firefighting rigs in the city, which consist of an engine and a truck. On any given day 24 of those rigs are out of service," he said.

Firefighters have started to feel the weight of the brownouts, Marino said.

"One a scale of about one to five, I'd say morale is at about two," Marino said. "I've got a lot of energy, and I'm doing the best I can to keep everyone energized, but I hear about it from the guys. Our morale's okay, but is it the best it could be? No."

Firefighters have suggested LAFD's brass should instead look to reduce the department's budget by cutting the positions of staff assistants, whose primary job  is to assist captains and battalion chiefs to coordinate crews at the scene of incidents.

In an October letter addressed to Chief Peaks, United Firefighters of Los Angeles City President Pat McOsker wrote that "we must all remember that fire departments across the county have adjusted to the loss of (or have been formed without) Chief assigned Staff Assistants."

Cardona also suggested that LAFD could eliminate the uncertainty and scheduling conflicts that arise from the brownouts by blacking out a set number of engine crews throughout the city.

Marino, though, said such an idea is unpopular because it would cost firefighters their jobs.

As far as cutting staff assistants, Marino was also uncertain whether that idea was superior to the brownouts.

Marino worked briefly as a staff assistant before being promoted to captain, and was not as willing to dismiss the importance of the job as some of his colleagues, who deride staff assistants as high-priced chauffeaurs for battalion chiefs.

"As a captain, I can run an incident command myself, but it certainly does help to have a staff assistant working with you," he said.

However, Marino added that even though staff assistants did fulfill a valuable function, given the financial situation faced by the department, they were probably less important that fire trucks and engines.

We're putting in a request to the fire department for a response to the claims that the "brown outs" create a risk to the public. We'll post it when we get it.


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