The Hillside Village PropertyOwners Association (HVPOA) organized a community protest on January 30th at the front of Los Angeles Fire Station 16 located on Eastern Ave. The protest was in response to the BROWNOUTS that have been happening since this past summer.
Brownouts are station closures or temporary reduced services to a neighborhood. The stakeholders organized the protest to protect the communities of Hillside Village, El Sereno, and University Hills which are immediately impacted by temporary reduced service by Fire Station 16.
These brownouts require staff rotations that relocate fi refi ghters from other parts of the city to field the emergency response calls in our community. The problem is that each community has its own distinctive needs that a fi re company coming from other areas may not be familiar with which will result in ineffi ciencies that will compromise lives.
THE VOICE received a letter sent out by HVPOA; in the letter it alerted concerned stakeholders about the protest against the brownouts at Fire Station No. 16. HVPOA President Luanna Allard stated in the letter, “Fire stations like ours with existing limited resources carry a larger burden to provide fire service than those fire stations that have more than one engine. Our firefighters know our complicated hillside topography and navigate our confusing and winding roads using the quickest route to help our neighbors in times of need.” Allard continued to state in the letter, “Eliminating the paramedic engine in our community will result in increased response times and compromise the first and most critical minutes of medical emergencies, which are the majority of service calls. As the most eastern fi re station within the City boundary, our fire station cannot rely on backup from all directions like those in ther parts of the City. It has taken years for our neighborhood to acquire a paramedic engine, and we will work harder to protect it. Reduced service is not acceptable because all citizens lives are valuable.
The brownouts began on August 6, 2009 and THE VOICE has seen first hand how this has directly affected the Lincoln Heights Community serviced by Fire Station 1. As reporters, we are on location at crime scenes, community meetings and emergency response incidents and because of this over the years we have become acquainted with most of the fi re personnel from every station in Battalion 7 (which serves El Sereno, Boyle Heights and Lincoln Heights.)Since these brownouts started we at times arrive before the paramedics on location. The ironic thing is that we arrive on scene before 1st responders and we ride our bicycles to get to these incidents.
It has indirectly impacted El Sereno and Boyle Heights neighborhoods because when Station 1 is on the brownout rotation Paramedic Engine companies such as 16 and 47 out of El Sereno and Engine Company 2 out of Boyle Heights loss staff in order to cover Fire Station 1. This has been going on for five months and yet Councilman Huizar CD14 and Ed Reyes CD1 have never mentioned it during their email community updates.
On Saturday, January 30th the communities call for alarm was loud and clear. Nearly 100 community stakeholders responded to the call, armed with picket signs, whistles and lots of energy to alert other community members of the imminent danger. Community members told THE VOICE they find it strange that the evening before the protest was scheduled Councilmember Jose Huizar send out his weekly email update notifying the community that he recently became aware that the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) had developed a draft plan to consider redirecting resources across the City based on budget cuts.
Several members of the community who are employed by the city did not want to comment on the record for fear of losing their jobs or any city retaliation for speaking up. This last ditch effort to disseminate information the evening before the protest makes us upset. Councilman Huizar has known of these brownouts happening for months and did not alert his constituents that this was taken place.
In his email the day before the protest Councilman Huizar states, “Public safety is my number one priority, I want to assure you that this plan is not going to be implemented anytime soon.” commented Huizar thru the letter. Huizar continued to state, “Last summer, LAFD management devised a brownout plan as a way to meet the department’s goal of saving $120 million. Initial dialogue with the department suggests that the latest redeployment plan does not represent a decrease in overall resources, but instead a redirection of resources between stations according to Fire management’s sense of where they are most needed. Councilman Huizar closes his letter by stating, “You have my commitment that I will closely monitor this situation”
Leonard who did not want to reveal his last name is an El Sereno resident that attended the protest stated “This is typical political cover up, wait until Huizar runs for re-election, he will have a three alarm call for the community to come out and vote for him, he has a surprise coming when no one from this community is coming to his aide, he is failing us now, he is placing my family in danger. This is something our community will not take lightly, What good will it do when he is monitoring the situation and we are making funeral arrangements for loved ones?” stated Leonard.
The fact is that LAFD has been closing fire companies and ambulances on a daily basis since last summer due to budget constraints imposed by the Mayor and City Council. The closures per day, for a total of 87 fewer emergency responders on duty each day in the city. The Fire Chief recently signaled his intent to spread these closures on a wider basis, in a way that will impact the residents of Hillside Village, University Hills, and South El Sereno to a greater degree.
Unlike the ambulance, Engine 16 will be replaced at the station on the days it is closed. Non- paramedic Engine 47 (from the Monterey Hills / Rose Hills neighborhood) will “move-up” to Fire Station 16 on the days in question.
Last year, on January 27th, 2009 THE VOICE covered a press conference on the opening of the Valley Blvd Grade Separation Bridge. Councilman Huizar stated during that press conference “The single most important factor of building this bridge was PUBLIC SAFETY and today we’re taking something that was a source of frustration for the community and we’re turning it into a source of pride.” stated Huizar. (You can read the complete press coverage in our FEBRUARY 2009 VOICE@ thevoicepub.com)
Wes Taussig a homeowner in the University Hills community also at the protest stated, “We finally get the Valley Blvd. Bridge to open last year to service us efficiently and now the City is taken away the Paramedics that we need. The budget affects all of us, and money is an issue for every family. We understand you have to make cuts, but you cannot make cuts to public safety. Paramedics are essential, how can we have a community that is not supported by Paramedics, the Fire Department or the Police Department. This is not an option. What is happening with this situation is that politics is dominating people to say whatever they want just to look good and are unaffected on how this affects our communities. The decisions they make hurts real peoples lives, this community needs the support of our Paramedics.
Eddie Santillan, El Sereno’s Honorary Mayor told THE VOICE “It is critical for this community to keep our fi re stations fully staffed, when my father had a massive stroke several years ago, the Fire department responded to render aid and in moments like this where seconds count.” LAFD Paramedics have told THE VOICE “In our line of work, a few seconds’ delay could mean the difference between life and death”.
The United Fire Fighters of Los Angeles (ufl ag.org) the Fire Fighters Union website: Post brownout station closures on a daily basis to keep their union members and the community at large informed of what is happening. Sources within the department has brought it to our attention that beginning February 3rd, Paramedic Assessment Engine 16 will be closed for three consecutive days in a row. That cycle will repeat 27 days later, meaning the engine will be closed 3 days out of every 30 days for as long as this policy continues.
We spoke with Battalion 7 Chief Michael Thomas who was representing the City at the community protest and he stated, “LAFD Paramedic Rescue Ambulances (RA) resources are available to respond within the prescribed time, so there is no loss in response time. The community has it wrong calling it brownouts, it is a rotation of resources” stated Thomas. We asked him, What exactly does that mean for normal people like us? He stated, “Basically it is a reduction of resources on a rotational basis and it is accomplished by putting staffi ng elsewhere in order to cover the city.” (So one must question who is watching station 1 in Lincoln Heights? Perhaps this is why we have often seen signs put up by community members at the Lincoln Heights station saying that their station was closed when their engine was covering other areas.)
Unlike the ambulance, Engine 16 will be replaced at the station on the days it is closed. Non- paramedic Engine 47 (from the Monterey Hills / Rose Hills neighborhood) will “move-up” to Fire Station 16 on the days in question.
Last year, on January 27th, 2009 THE VOICE covered a press conference on the opening of the Valley Blvd Grade Separation Bridge. Councilman Huizar stated during that press conference “The single most important factor of building this bridge was PUBLIC SAFETY and today we’re taking something that was a source of frustration for the community and we’re turning it into a source of pride.” stated Huizar. (You can read the complete press coverage in our FEBRUARY 2009 VOICE@ thevoicepub.com)
Wes Taussig a homeowner in the University Hills community also at the protest stated, “We finally get the Valley Blvd. Bridge to open last year to service us efficiently and now the City is taken away the Paramedics that we need. The budget affects all of us, and money is an issue for every family. We understand you have to make cuts, but you cannot make cuts to public safety. Paramedics are essential, how can we have a community that is not supported by Paramedics, the Fire Department or the Police Department. This is not an option. What is happening with this situation is that politics is dominating people to say whatever they want just to look good and are unaffected on how this affects our communities. The decisions they make hurts real peoples lives, this community needs the support of our Paramedics.
Eddie Santillan, El Sereno’s Honorary Mayor told THE VOICE “It is critical for this community to keep our fi re stations fully staffed, when my father had a massive stroke several years ago, the Fire department responded to render aid and in moments like this where seconds count.” LAFD Paramedics have told THE VOICE “In our line of work, a few seconds’ delay could mean the difference between life and death”.
The United Fire Fighters of Los Angeles (ufl ag.org) the Fire Fighters Union website: Post brownout station closures on a daily basis to keep their union members and the community at large informed of what is happening. Sources within the department has brought it to our attention that beginning February 3rd, Paramedic Assessment Engine 16 will be closed for three consecutive days in a row. That cycle will repeat 27 days later, meaning the engine will be closed 3 days out of every 30 days for as long as this policy continues.
We spoke with Battalion 7 Chief Michael Thomas who was representing the City at the community protest and he stated, “LAFD Paramedic Rescue Ambulances (RA) resources are available to respond within the prescribed time, so there is no loss in response time. The community has it wrong calling it brownouts, it is a rotation of resources” stated Thomas. We asked him, What exactly does that mean for normal people like us? He stated, “Basically it is a reduction of resources on a rotational basis and it is accomplished by putting staffi ng elsewhere in order to cover the city.” (So one must question who is watching station 1 in Lincoln Heights? Perhaps this is why we have often seen signs put up by community members at the Lincoln Heights station saying that their station was closed when their engine was covering other areas.)
Channel 4 News Anchor Ted Chen was one of the reporters covering the protest and was the fi rst to notice that Engine 1 was parked in the station bay where Engine 16 usually is parked ready to answer the emergency bell tones. Chen asked Chief Thomas, “What is that engine doing here? Chief Thomas replied “This is a perfect example on how the LAFD routinely rotates its resources throughout the city; in this case the engine that is usually here was scheduled for a training exercise this morning and is out of service, and the coverage that 1’s is providing is actually normal procedure. At any given day, our companies receive training and when this happens we leave a company behind to cover the district. This particular engine is within Battalion 7. The bottom line is strategically we have total coverage with in the city, so I cannot elaborate anymore on the effect this program has, we just want to make sure that city services are not compromised.” Thomas continued to say, “Certainly communities should take ownership of fire fighting resourses which is a normal thing but sometimes they have a tendency to misinterpret what this measure is, what they think is that there is no coverage at this station and that is not true” stated Thomas. Chen asked him, “Chief are you not worried?” Thomas stated, “Well like I said, I work for the fi re service and we make certain strategic measures to comply with city services and as far as I’m concerned these services are not reduced at all” said Thomas.
Well after further investigation by THE VOICE we found out that Engine 1 is what’s called a BASIC Life Support Engine and Engine 16 in El Sereno is classifi ed as an ADVANCE Life Support engine company. Here is what makes up a BASIC vs ADVANCE or also known as an ASSESSMENT Engine. A BASIC ENGINE Company has One Captain, One Engineer, and two FIREMEN, an ADVANCE ENGINE Company will have One Captain, One Engineer, One Fireman and ONE PARAMEDIC.
When someone has a stroke or heart attack as an example; Engine 1 would not be able to render or administer drugs to a patient to stabilize them for transportation to get further medical attention. In some cases when a PARAMEDIC is not on location it can be a matter of LIFE OR DEATH. That being said let say Engine 1 is covering for Engine 16 and let’s say traffi c accident happens near Valley Blvd and Mariondale Ave in the University Hills community, how long will it take a LAFD Paramedic Engine to arrive on scene to stabilize that patient to save a life?
Now as a stakeholder of this community, I Carlos Morales ask: LAFD Chief Thomas, do you still maintain that there is no loss of response time? We all know the real answer now…and you knew better! And to Council Members Huizar and Reyes how much more monitoring of this situation would you need to step up and protect our community? We are not a barganing chip! This community stepped up because you have failed to keep us informed!
Raymond Rios, Vice President of the HVPOA summarized the protest by stating, “We organized a protest to draw attention to the citywide Fire Department Brownouts. Thankfully for local media coverage, we informed our community and City residents about upcoming changes to their local Fire Stations. Our message is that cutting vital emergency services results in the lives of citizens to be put at risk. We feel that Saturday’s demonstration was a success. The goals we set out to accomplish were met; however the battle is not over. We now have to be vigilant and hold the City Council accountable for their decisions related to spending and City budget cuts. While mindful of the City’s fi nancial crisis, we need to keep reminding them that we WILL NOT tolerate cuts to vital emergency services within our communities. In the case of Fire Station 16, anything less than a self-reliant station would be unacceptable. Our property owners association grew-up in a big way as a result of Saturday’s protest. We hope we inspired other community organizations and look forward to working with them, sending the message that “Enough is Enough!” said Rios.
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