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Posted: 20 Feb 2009 11:25 PM PST

Cal Fire Not Exempt from Furloughs
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By Ashley Ritchie and Winston Whitehurst
Cal Fire Station 85 in Fresno County, the furloughed firefighters are busy at work, despite the state's mandatory day off. "When it was set up, it was based on office personnel that work an eight-hour day," Chris Christopherson, Cal Fire, said.
But with a schedule of 48 hours on, 48 hours off, the state's furlough plan is just not possible for first responders. "Obviously furloughing emergency response and public safety is not maybe necessarily the best way, but I know that we are trying to do our part as a state agency," Captain Sean Hernandez, Cal Fire, said.
So in order for Cal Fire to take the 9.3% pay cut created by the furloughs, firefighters must take those two days a month and apply them to their vacation time. The problem is it could actually end up costing the state more. "That time that's banked, and if someone retires within the next couple of years, that's vacation hours that they didn't use.
So then there's an added cost to the state, to the taxpayers because the employees are having to be cashed out for that time they didn't use because of the furlough process," Christopherson said.
And with rumors flying around about even more cuts to public safety, the firefighters at Station 85 are feeling the heat. "People are very concerned about what's going to happen as far as, is it going to continue to get worse.
Is the 9.3 going to become 12%, 15%?" Hernandez said. But until they get orders to close their doors, Cal Fire officials say they'll continue to provide protection to the people of Fresno County and fight fire through the furloughs.
All Cal Fire offices that are not fire stations are closing their doors two days a month because of the furloughs. That means on those days, you cannot get things like burn permits or fire report information.
On another note, the California Highway Patrol is exempt from the furloughs.
Source: KMPH Fox26 - Link

Hero saves driver during tragic traffic accident

Posted: 20 Feb 2009 10:46 PM PST

Former firefighter and Action News photographer save driver from burning wreck that killed six others

Friday, February 19, 2009
Reported by: Stacy Daniel

A fiery accident near Los Alamos leaves six people dead and a 19-year-old woman in the hospital.

The crash happened around 6:30 p.m. Thursday on Highway 101.

Investigators say the seven people in the vehicle were traveling from San Francisco to Los Angeles. All but one were foreign national students who were going to school in the U.S.

A retired firefighter saw the accident happen, he stopped his car and let his instincts take over. Soon, others joined in on the effort to help.

Imagine driving down the highway and you see the car in front of you veer off the road and into a tree. It happened to John Duthie Thursday night.

Duthie said, "It literally unfolded right before my eyes. I had to stop the truck so I didn't get hit."

Duthie, a former firefighter, instantly pulled of the highway to help.

"The roof of the car, it was pretty much ripped off and smashed away," Duthie said. "So she, I got her out the roof, slid down the windshield onto the hood and got her away from the car, back up to the truck I dropped the tailgate down I laid her in the back of the truck. This was all in seconds."

By then, someone else had stopped to help. Action News photographer Juan Espinosa was on his way home from work.

Espinosa said, "I saw this guy helping this girl out, so I helped him and then we got her back to the truck."

Espinosa and Duthie headed back to the burning vehicle to check for additional survivors. By then, the flames made approaching the vehicle impossible.

Espinosa said, "It was really hot, so we couldn't even get close to the car."

So, they focused their attention on the one person they knew they could help, the driver, 19-year-old Jeanne Ostrowski.

Duthie said, "The miracle was one survived. It wasn't a total loss."

Once emergency responders arrived, Espinosa grabbed his camera and captured some of these images.

Both men say they are glad they were there to help, but the graphic images of that night are not likely to fade from their memories anytime soon.

There is some good news. Marian Medical Center has upgraded the driver's condition to fair.

The names of the six people in the car will not be released until all family members have been notified.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Reported by: Sarah Spotten

Five of the six people killed in a fiery crash near Los Alamos Thursday night were foreign national students attending schools in the Bay Area, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The six who were killed range in age from 18 to 30. Four died inside the vehicle, while the other two were ejected. They have not yet been identified pending notification of their next of kin.

The accident happened at around 6:30 p.m. Thursday, when the single Toyota SUV crossed into the median and overcorrected, crossed the southbound lanes, rolled over and slammed into a tree before bursting into flames, the CHP says.

The 19-year-old driver, Jeanne Ostrowski of San Francisco, survived the crash with major injuries. Marian Medical Center lists her in fair condition Friday afternoon.

According to the CHP, alcohol does not appear to be a factor, and it is unknown at this time whether the passengers were wearing seatbelts. The investigation into the cause of the crash is still continuing.

Source: KSBY - Link

California late on last years strike team wildland fire bills

Posted: 20 Feb 2009 10:32 PM PST

State owes fire department $213K

The Petaluma Fire Department has received more than $80,000 from the state for providing assistance to five wild land fires in other California counties in 2008, but has not yet received the additional $213,000 that it is owed.

The department has received three payments, which cover the costs of strike team members for fires in Humboldt, Lake and Napa counties. A payment of $26,000 was received on Oct. 8, followed by payments of $28,000 on Jan. 12 and $27,000 on Jan. 26.

But funds have not been received for strike-team services during fires in Butte and Orange counties.

"This delay is due to the state budget problems," said Fire Chief Larry Anderson. "It isn't affecting our day-to-day operations in Petaluma, and we would be able to send a strike team to another location if needed.

"I would do it in a heartbeat. But we wouldn't be able to send two teams, because we would be stretched too thin."

The Petaluma Fire Department has not been told when to expect the remaining money, which pays the overtime salaries of strike team members, and their expenses, including fuel, food and apparatus.

Anderson explained that the fire department still is within its budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year, although the expenses have been higher than anticipated due to the participation of the strike teams.

Within Sonoma County, fire agencies supply personnel to other agencies, and don't charge anything for their services, he said.

Several fire agencies in Sonoma County provided strike team members to help battle the flurry of wild land fires in the state in 2008, and several of these agencies have not yet been fully compensated.

Source: http://www.petaluma360.com - Link

State News: Governator signs budget bill

Posted: 20 Feb 2009 03:58 PM PST

Governor Schwarzenegger signs state budget package

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a package of bills designed to close California's $42 billion budget shortfall for the next year-and-a-half.

The Republican governor signed the bills Friday during a brief event that was closed to reporters. He made no public comments.

During a news conference a day earlier, Schwarzenegger praised lawmakers for taking a courageous stand in agreeing to a compromise. The plan includes $15 billion in spending cuts, $12.8 billion in temporary tax increases and $11 billion in borrowing.

The package of 34 bills passed both houses of the Legislature with the minimum number of Republican votes needed to reach the required two-thirds majority. It is intended to close the deficit for the rest of this fiscal year and pass a balanced, $96.3 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Source: KSBY - Link

Related story at Sacramento Bee

Schwarzenegger slashes budgets for constitutional officers

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger formally ended months of political fighting Friday by signing a new state budget - but not before taking another shot at constitutional officers.

Among $1.3 billion in vetoes, Schwarzenegger sliced budgets of the attorney general, controller, treasurer, secretary of state and Board of Equalization by 10 percent to compensate for savings that would have occurred from furloughing employees.

Schwarzenegger chopped even more from the budget of Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, a potential gubernatorial candidate in 2010, slicing his budget by two thirds - from $2.78 million to $1.04 million, saying he did so "to ensure that sufficient resources are reserved for key programs within state government. In these tough times, we cannot continue to fund the Office of the Lieutenant Governor at the level provided in recent years."

The unusual scope of the reduction, however, which will force Garamendi to lay off much of his relatively small staff, may have been payback for his sharp criticism of the budget deal that Schwarzenegger had worked out with Democratic legislative leaders. Garamendi's complaints about the deal's spending cuts have been widely seen as currying favor with unions and other pro-spending groups as he seeks the Democratic nomination for governor next year.

Schwarzenegger did not, however, inflict the same budgetary punishment on Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a Republican candidate for governor, who has been sharply critical of the budget deal's $12-plus billion in new taxes.

The budget cut did not temper Garamendi's criticism. He said the spending cuts "further harm the vulnerable and the ability of the state to thrive in the years ahead" and called the package of spending cuts and new taxes "temporary and insufficient," adding, "the borrowing continues and the budget problem will reemerge in just a few months."

Schwarzenegger has ordered the twice-month furlough of state employees to save money. Constitutional officers have balked at order, arguing that the governor does not have authority over them.

Constitutional officers say they have achieved adequate savings without furloughing workers.

Schwarzenegger has filed suit in an attempt to clarify his authority in the matter.

Constitutional officers also are elected officials and oversee their own budgets.

The Legislature's budget was not targeted by Schwarzenegger's vetoes. A funding formula for the Senate and Assembly was adopted in 1990 as part of a ballot measure, Proposition 140, which imposed term limits.

Source: Sac Bee - Link
Photo credit: Sacramento Bee

Australia: Wildfire threat rising again, death toll now 209

Posted: 20 Feb 2009 03:31 PM PST

Australian fire authorities have announced a high fire alert -Red flag conditions starting this weekend.

Critical fire weather forecast for Southwest Australia starting this weekend, expected to bring High temperature, low humidity and strong winds.

Black Saturday Bushfire toll is now 209 souls lost.

Earthquake 3.7 M - Central California, Trona, CA

Posted: 20 Feb 2009 08:00 AM PST

Earthquake Details

Magnitude	3.7
Date-Time	Friday, February 20, 2009 at 12:19:14 UTC Friday, February 20, 2009 at 04:19:14 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	35.985°N, 117.307°W
Depth	0.4 km (~0.2 mile) (poorly constrained)
Region	CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
Distances	25 km (16 miles) NNE (13°) from Trona, CA 25 km (16 miles) NNE (16°) from Searles Valley, CA 29 km (18 miles) SW (224°) from Telescope Peak, CA 52 km (32 miles) NE (39°) from Ridgecrest, CA 189 km (117 miles) W (264°) from Las Vegas, NV
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 0.3 km (0.2 miles); depth +/- 0.7 km (0.4 miles)
Parameters	Nph=039, Dmin=11 km, Rmss=0.18 sec, Gp= 50°, M-type=local magnitude (ML), Version=M
Source	California Integrated Seismic Net: USGS Caltech CGS UCB UCSD UNR
Event ID	ci10377693