Orange County Fire Authority Reserves.
The Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) operates a Reserve program with volunteer fire fighters. The idea is the volunteers can serve as back up and additional personnel when needed. The program also accepts people who are applying to be firefighters or attending firefighter training as local schools.
That's if they show up.
In May 2009, the OCFA Board decided to continue the program at a cost of almost $2 million a year. Reserve engines in Sunset Beach, Emerald Bay, La Palma, and Villa Park were targeted for closure.
In Sunset Beach, the OCFA Reserve station is across the street from a Huntington Beach fire station and 1/2 mile from OCFA station 3. In 2008, the Reserve engine for Sunset Beach needed to be rolled out 51 times because there was an emergency call needing an engine. OCFA Reserves were able to show up with enough staff for the engine 2 of those 51 times. Do you want the fire department showing up 2 out of 51 times at your house?
In Emerald Bay, the response was better. The engine was needed 31 times and Reserves were able to roll out the engine 19 of the 31 times. 19 out of 31 is better than 2 out of 51, but do you want a fire department that shows up just when they have enough staff?
La Palma's relatively high stats are from the time of the Freeway Complex/Yorba Linda fire when every available OCFA resource was deployed so reserves had to fill in. The squad was needed 291 times but made it out of the firehouse 28 times. Because of the time of the calls (Freeway Complex Fire), the squad made it to the seen first 8 times. 28 out of 291 times is almost 10%. Your house is burning down and the firetruck shows up one out of 10 times. Great.
Villa Park, the loudest proponent of the Reserve program, got the engine out of the firehouse 4 times of the 35 times it was needed. At the meeting, some Villa Park residents in the OCFA Reserves claimed it would be better if OCFA stopped serving Villa Park and the city went to an all volunteer system. What would the insurance companies that insure homes in brushy, hilly Villa Park say when they found out a firetruck has an 11% chance of showing up when called?
The OCFA Board will get a report back on progress of changes in Reserve firefighter capabilities in December of 2009. All residents of Orange County need to be watching for that report and be ready to pounce when the OCFA Board agrees to waste more money on the Reserve program.
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