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| Posted: 21 Apr 2009 09:04 PM PDT The relationship between the county volunteer firefighters and their agencies moved onto the front burner at the Lassen County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, April 14. The supervisors plan to revisit the matter during a study session on Tuesday, April 28, but at deadline no time has been set for the session. It could be held as part of the supervisors meeting that begins at 9:30 a.m. or as part of a special study session held later in the day at 1 p.m. The issue boiled over when Dava Montgomery, whose father worked for the Spalding Fire Department for 16 years, shared her concerns with the supervisors regarding changes in the firefighters status at the Spalding Community Services District an issue that could have implications for fire districts across Lassen County and perhaps across the entire nation. Many small fire departments respond to fires on state and federal lands and use the money they are paid to bolster their budgets and sometimes pay the firefighters for their services. On March 28, the Spalding district reacted to an opinion from Jim Curtis, its legal counsel, that the districts volunteer firefighters became employees when they were paid for fighting fires for other agencies such as CAL FIRE. According to the letter from Curtis to the district, that practice violates the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act. Curtis advised the district its firefighters either must be volunteers or employees, but they cannot be both at the same time. Montgomery steamed over that opinion. She told the supervisors Spalding had recently lost our volunteer fire department because the board has terminated them. We are now left with no fire protection (and) no medical emergency (technicians). Montgomery said the area is at risk if there is a fire. She said many seniors in the area also are at risk without the services of Spalding's first responders in case of medical emergencies. Bob Pyle, the supervisor who represents the Spalding area disagreed with Montgomery's assessment. The supervisor told Montgomery he already had taken steps to ensure fire and medical services are available to the Spalding community. He said the Sierra Emergency Medical Service Authority still provides ambulance service in the district, and that has not changed. The Spalding fire department has first responders for medical emergencies, but it does not provide ambulance services and never has. In addition, Pyle said he asked the public works department to clear the summit on County Road A-1 between Lake Forest and Spalding to allow fire trucks to drive over the summit and respond to a fire. He said CAL FIRE was notified the road had been plowed, and the state agency had been given a key to the locked gate just past Lake Forest. The road will be opened to the public later this spring. Pyle also said he understood EMTs from the Spalding Volunteer Fire Department were ready to respond if needed and a new fire chief had been hired. We as the board of supervisors have no authority over a CSD, Pyle said. The people in these communities, in the district in this case, the people who live in that district elect a board to govern their district. The people have power over that board just like the people of Lassen County elect us to run the county. Regarding the conflict in Spalding, Pyle said, If you guys want to fight among yourselves up there, I have no authority over that. My concern is public safety. I feel there are hidden agendas, Montgomery said. They got rid of everybody because they said they were in violation of the law because they were paid employees. Montgomery said she'd contacted a number of volunteer fire agencies and they all operate the same. She said the district didn't have money for firefighters but had money for high-paid employees such as secretaries. I think the general consensus of the public out there is that they'd rather have a fire department they can rely on than high-priced secretaries and people who are getting most of our money. Montgomery urged the board of supervisors to look into the matter. I normally don't get involved with these bickerings of the board back and forth, Montgomery said, but this is something I think is very wrong, If our small community cannot have a volunteer fire department that can respond and work for CAL FIRE that cannot get money to come back in to help that organization, then every volunteer fire department in small counties have the same thing. It will be a ripple effect that will go all the way across the United States. Pyle asked Craig Settlemire, Lassen County counsel, to explain the situation to Montgomery. Settlemire said he did not represent the fire department in Spalding, but he had talked to the district's attorney about the developments in Spalding. My understanding is this relates to the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal law, Settlemire said. It basically says if you have someone who is an employee and providing services to any employer, including a district, that person can't also provide services as a volunteer without being paid a wage. So what happened is, apparently, when state or federal fire agencies asked for assistance from local fire districts such as the Spalding Community Services District, and they send personnel and equipment to a fire, then the state or federal government will pay the money to the district for providing the equipment and the crew for that. A portion of that money is passed on for the labor cost and the district, as I understand it, has passed that money back to the actual firefighters who went out on that assignment. Settlemire said the firefighters were in effect paid for their services, and that made them employees of the district. Later on, they provide services to the district as volunteers. The Fair Labor Standards Act says you can't do that, Settlemire said. You can't provide essentially the same services as a volunteer that you provided as a paid employee. That's a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Settlemire said the issues that have come to light in Spalding could have an effect on many fire districts in the county. It's a federal law that creates some difficulties in how you treat these people who are providing those services. This could affect other fire district who are providing equipment and personnel for fires during the fire season, and it does create a problem in how do you then return them to volunteer status once they have been paid for their services, Settlemire said. Supervisor Brian Dahle also weighed in on the issue. I think we need to agenda this because this is bigger than what we're discussing today, Dahle said. We need to get all the players in here. We all have volunteer fire departments in our districts. Source: http://www.lassennews.com - Link  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| EDIS: Fire weather and Thunderstorms Posted: 21 Apr 2009 08:27 PM PDT
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| Arrest made in last year's Summit Fire Posted: 21 Apr 2009 04:45 PM PDT Fire investigators said today that Channing Verden accidentally set the blaze as he cleared brush for a landowner. Verden has been charged with one felony count of unlawfully causing the fire, with an enhancement for causing multiple structures to burn. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. Verden, 50, the owner of Advanced Earth Technologies of Los Gatos, turned himself in to authorities today after a warrant had been issued for his arrest. He is being held on $250,000 bail. The Summit Fire was stubborn and difficult to fight. It started May 22 near Maymens Flats off Summit Road in an unincorporated area west of Morgan Hill and moved south and southwest out of control. When firefighters were finally able to extinguish it more than a week later, it had cost well over $12 million to battle, authorities said at the time. A statement of probable cause filed recently by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) indicates that fire investigators discovered piles of burning leaves and brush on the east side of Summit Road. Based on burn indicators, witness statements and weather observations, the investigators determined that the fire began with those burning piles of leaves and brush. On March 25, according to the statement, fire officials had gone to the area to check on reports of burning in the area and found what they were looking for at 31000 Summit Road. They spoke to the property owner and were told that a contractor had been hired to clear and burn brush. The fire officials then met with Verden and pointed out problems with his operation, including an absence of a water source. Officials said in the statement of probable cause that the officials were told the problems would be fixed. After the fire broke out nearly two months later, they returned to the piles of leaves and brush allegedly created by Verden, and discovered that no water had been applied to them and that there was still no source of water in the vicinity. The statement indicated that employees of Verden said they saw burning embers floating from the burn pile onto adjacent brush, and that Verden knew that weather conditions were too hot and dry for safe burning. Nick Muyo, public information officer for Santa Clara County, said Verden was charged with unlawfully causing a fire, instead of arson, because evidence suggests that the fire was not deliberately set. Source: San Francisco Chronicle ~ SFGate.com E-mail John Koopman at jkoopman@sfchronicle.com.  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Crash Taxes: Serve and protect, not serve and collect. Posted: 21 Apr 2009 05:04 AM PDT Minor fender-bender? That'll be $700, please TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — It was bad enough when Matthew Norville rear-ended another driver, crushing the front end of his own car. A few weeks later, the Pensacola college student got a $714 bill to cover the cost of the county police and firefighters who responded. Florida lawmakers are considering a ban on such fees, dubbed "crash taxes" by detractors who say they're unfair and not always covered by insurance. Six other states — Arkansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Tennessee and Georgia — already prohibit them, and Alabama and California may do the same. "When you have an accident you're taught to call 911," said Norville's mom, Amy. "It never occurred to us that there would be a charge for them." A Florida Senate committee unanimously approved the proposed ban Monday. A companion bill has three more committee stops before the full House can consider it, so it may not reach the floor this session. Republican Sen. Mike Bennett of Bradenton, the bill's Senate sponsor, said residents already pay property taxes to cover emergency services and shouldn't face additional fees if they're in accidents. "We've got to stop the madness right now," he said. But cash-strapped municipalities in 16 states, including Escambia County, where the Norvilles live, say the fees help pay for the time taken away from other police and fire duties and are necessary because of declining property taxes and tight budgets. South Adams County Fire District in Colorado, just north of Denver, began charging for accidents in January. Fire Marshal Ron LaPenna says property taxes just aren't cutting it. When emergency crews are called to a crash caused by a driver who doesn't live and pay taxes there, the driver is charged a basic response fee of $200, more if additional services are needed. In Escambia County in the Florida Panhandle, it doesn't matter whether the at-fault driver is a resident or not. Officials decide who is at fault. Then, a schedule of fees is applied; 15 minutes of a firefighter's time costs $10, while sending a fire engine costs about $600 an hour. Since 2007, the county has billed drivers more than $235,000, but collected only $19,000, whether because insurers refuse to pay or because many of the at-fault drivers are residents. Escambia County waives the fee if a resident's insurance doesn't cover it. Ohio-based Cost Recovery Corp. bills drivers for the county and gets a 10 percent cut of whatever fees it recovers. Company president Regina Moore says the system is more fair than forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for accidents they're not involved in. "My tax dollars should not be used for services I'm not actually using," she said. "Please don't use my money for somebody else who was driving recklessly." Moore says just over half of insurers pay her company's fees for their customers, but they've also been active in opposing them. "It's double taxation," said William Stander, assistant vice president of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, a national trade organization. He likes to say that fire and police departments should "serve and protect, not serve and collect." Matthew Norville estimates his $714 bill probably covered 10 minutes for a fire engine to sweep away accident debris and 30 minutes for a patrolman to write a report. His case had a happy ending: His mother called the insurance company and the bill went away. They're not sure who paid it or whether it was waived. But for a college student who works as a building manager and as part of a crew that does sound and lighting, even the bill was cause for alarm. Said Norville: "That's like a whole month of pay." Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap - Link | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Cancer presumption laws called into question Posted: 21 Apr 2009 04:47 AM PDT There is no substantial scientific evidence that firefighters suffer higher cancer rates than the general population, according to a report from the Washington-based National League of Cities (NLC). The NLC study, "Assessing State Firefighter Cancer Presumption Laws And Current Firefighter Cancer Research," calls into question the "presumption laws" passed in 24 states that allow firefighters with cancer to collect workers' compensation without proving that they contracted the disease as a result of their job. Of the thousands of cancer studies conducted between 1995 and 2008, only 17 looked at firefighting as a risk factor in contracting cancer, and no causal relationship has been found, according to the NLC study. Still, in states with presumption laws, cancer is treated as a work-related illness, a policy that should be reevaluated, NLC Executive Director Donald Borut said in a statement. "While we depend on firefighters for the critical role they play in the safety of our cities and towns, we must evaluate this issue objectively and scientifically," Borut said. "This study demonstrates the need for more high-level research into cancer and firefighters. States should not pass laws requiring cities to take on difficult financial burdens with no clear scientific connection between illness and occupation." Download the "Assessing State Firefighter Cancer Presumption Laws And Current Firefighter Cancer Research" study from NLC's Web site. Link Source: americancityandcounty.com - Link  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | |||||||||||||||||||||
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