Headlines - Just News headlines all the time

Monday, January 14, 2008

California Fire News

Public Safety Bill of Rights - AB 220 - Now law

Posted: 13 Jan 2008 10:44 PM CST

"AB 220 grants firefighting personnel needed safeguards against unwarranted punitive action where they can not otherwise defend themselves,"

As of January 1, 2008, this California state statute went into effect.
Firefighter Bill of Rights (California)
In 1975, the California Supreme Court determined that public employees, including firefighters, have certain due process protections on the job. In that decision (a.k.a. the Skelly case), the Court ruled that public employees are entitled to a "pre-disciplinary hearing," thereby allowing them an opportunity to respond to charges and/or request a reduction or elimination of any proposed discipline. Pursuant to Skelly, a firefighter must be given a written notice of proposed disciplinary action that includes: a statement of the nature of the proposed discipline, the effective date of the proposed discipline, the reasons for the discipline, the specific policy or rule violated and a statement advising the employee of the right to respond orally or in writing.

Beyond Skelly rights, firefighting personnel have not been granted any other administrative safeguards when subject to investigation and interrogation for alleged misconduct that may result in punitive action. Peace officers and members of a fire department's arson-investigating unit, however, have had administrative protections available to them under current law for years. AB 220 remedies this inequity…

SPECIFICS - AB 220 extends the following specified procedural protections to public agency firefighters, paramedics and EMTs when they find themselves subject to investigation and interrogation by an employer or certifying agency for alleged misconduct in conjunction with events and circumstances involving the performance of their job-related duties:

1. Protects firefighters, EMT-Ps and EMTs against being prohibited from engaging in or being required to engage in political activity or from being prohibited from serving as a board member of a school district or local agency where they are not employed.

2. Requires the following when firefighters, EMT-Ps and EMTs are under investigation or subject to interrogation:

a. Interrogation must occur at a reasonable hour on duty and if conducted off-duty, the firefighter, EMT-P or EMT must be compensated for that time and cannot be punished for missing work due to the interrogation;

b. Prior notification of name, rank and command of the person in charge of the interrogation and the nature of the investigation must be given;

c. Interrogation must be for a reasonable time period with reasonable breaks to attend to any physical needs and must be void of offensive language or threats of punitive action or promise of reward in exchange for information;

d. Prohibits statements made under duress from being admissible in a subsequent judicial proceeding, with specified exceptions;

e. Allows interrogations to be recorded and gives the firefighter, EMT-P or EMT access to the recording, as well as a transcribed copy of the notes made by a stenographer or any reports or complaints made, except those required by law to be kept confidential. Confidential notes cannot be entered into the firefighter's personnel file;

f. Requires the firefighter, EMT-P or EMT to be informed of his/her constitutional rights if it becomes apparent that he/she may be charged with a criminal offense;

g. Guarantees the right of the firefighter, EMT-P or EMT to have a representative present if an interrogation is likely to result in charges or punitive action;

h. Prohibits the firefighter, EMT-P or EMT from being loaned or reassigned if another member of his/her department would not normally be given the duty under similar circumstances.

3. Protects a firefighter, EMT-P or EMT from being subject to punitive action for exercising his/her rights under this Act or for any alleged misconduct if the investigation of the allegation is not completed within one year of discovery.

4. Prevents a fire chief from being removed without providing him/her with written notice, the reason or reasons for removal, and an opportunity for administrative appeal.

5. Requires an administrative appeal by the firefighter, EMT-P or EMT to be conducted in conformance with rules and procedures adopted by the local agency consistent with the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).

6. Requires the firefighter, EMT-P or EMT to read and sign any adverse comment before it is entered into his/her personnel file. If he/she refuses to sign a comment, it will be noted and they will be required to initial it.

7. Gives the firefighter, EMT-P or EMT 30 days to submit a written response to an adverse entry in his/her personnel file.

8. Prohibits the firefighter, EMT-P or EMT from being compelled to submit to a lie detector test against his/her will, as well as from being disciplined for refusing to submit to one.

9. Prohibits the firefighter, EMT-P or EMT from being required to disclose financial information unless otherwise required by law or obtained through court order.

10. Prohibits the locker/storage space of a firefighter, EMT-P or EMT from being searched, except under specified conditions.

11. Makes it unlawful to deny a firefighter, EMT-P or EMT the rights guaranteed by the bill.

12. Provides that a malicious violation of the act would subject the employer-agency to a civil penalty of up to $25,000, in addition to actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees.

13. Requires an employer to provide to, and obtain from, an employee a formal grant of immunity from criminal prosecution, in writing, before the employee may be compelled to respond to incriminating questions in an interrogation.

"AB 220 grants firefighting personnel needed safeguards against unwarranted punitive action where they can not otherwise defend themselves," said CPF President Lou Paulson. "We are appreciative that the Governor has signed this important measure into law."

SAR - Green Valley Lake - No Joy - Passive mode

Posted: 13 Jan 2008 08:16 PM CST

Breaking News- Active search for missing hiker Dean Christy is over.

With no sign of the missing hiker and a huge effort with hundreds of volunteers, SAR teams, rescue dogs, helicopters, fire and police searching the rugged snow covered landscape day and night after eight days the organized active search has ended.

A decision has been made by Christy's family and the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department to change the status of the search from active to passive.

SAR - Green Valley Lake - All searchers are out of the area and the Command Post is closed as of 17:00. Family statement shortly....

UPDATE: Christy Family Statement:

"The Christy Family would like to thank the Sheriff's Department, the County of San Bernardino's Search and Rescue Teams, and the many volunteers who came to Green Valley Lake to look for Dean.

"We appreciate the valiant efforts that were made by everyone who searched for Dean.

"We would also like to thank the residents of Green Valley Lake who have supported us throughout this tragic ordeal.

"Thanks also goes to the media for their compassionate coverage of Dean's story. They let everyone know that once there was an extraordinary man named Dean Christy, who was a wonderful husband, father, friend, grandfather, and teacher. He was a man who loved life, his family, and the wilderness with all his heart and soul."

SAR - Green Valley Lake - 161 Search teams Saturday

Posted: 13 Jan 2008 10:29 PM CST

Approximately 70 volunteers are expected to continue the search this Morning

San Bernardino Sheriff office Press Release -

Saturday, January 12, 2008 4:00 p.m. - The weather was sunny and warm throughout the day with an occasional cloud covering.
There were 161 Search and Rescue Volunteers in the field today continuing the search for Mr. Christy.
Teams equipped with search dogs from the California Rescue Dog Association out of the Los Angeles County area assisted in todays search as well as a search dog from El Dorado County. A member of the Nordic National Ski Patrol was also equipped with a search dog.
Four Sheriff's Department airships continued to insert teams into search areas as well as continuing the aerial search.
Members of the Sheriff's Department Reserve Medical Corp were also available at the command post today and were able to assess the team member that had to be extracted from the search area(Exhaustion). The search for Mr. Christy will continue throughout the night with a small group of volunteers.
Aviation will continue aerial searches utilizing the FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) and night vision goggles. Approximately 70 volunteers are expected to continue the search this Morning. MANY THANKS TO ALL OF THE VOLUNTEERS FOR THEIR HARD WORK!

king-6 - 7048 elev n34 15.145 w 117 3.418. (*dog*)

EDIS: SANTA ANA WINDS THROUGH MONDAY

Posted: 13 Jan 2008 10:31 AM CST

GUSTY SANTA ANA WINDS THROUGH MONDAY	Actual/Immediate/Severe/Likely
ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- GUSTY SANTA ANA WINDS THROUGH MONDAY

Sunday, January 13, 2008

California Fire News

Links for 2008-01-12 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 13 Jan 2008 12:00 AM CST

LA Times - Photo essay of Santiago Fire burnover
Photo essay of Santiago Fire burnover

USFS: Contempt of court- Mark Rey - Jail?

Posted: 12 Jan 2008 01:37 PM CST

United States Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey facing time in the slammer? Facing accusations of Contempt of court, and circumventing the law.

Federal Court challenges the agency on the use of Fire retardant for wildfire suppression.

"The apparent pattern suggests a strategy of looking for ways to avoid the law's mandate as opposed to looking for a means of complying with the law."
Contempt of court for a "duplicitous" strategy of skirting the law
"The Forest Service had no real intention to comply with the law or the court's orders."
Forest Service maintained that it did not report on what might happen to fish if fire retardant was accidentally dropped in streams because it did not intend to drop fire retardant in streams

Federal judge Judge Donald Mollo in Montana said Friday he's prepared to hold the U.S. Forest Service in contempt of court for a "duplicitous" strategy of skirting the law so it can keep fighting wildfires with retardant that kills fish.

"The Forest Service, throughout these proceedings, evidenced a strategy of circumventing, rather than complying with," the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, he wrote. "The apparent pattern suggests a strategy of looking for ways to avoid the law's mandate as opposed to looking for a means of complying with the law."

Judge Donald Molloy set a Feb. 26 hearing in U.S. District Court in Missoula to give the Forest Service a chance to argue that Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey should not be put in jail and that fire retardant drops from aircraft should not be stopped until the agency properly considers the danger to the environment.

Potential penalities include sending Rey to jail, putting him under house arrest and banning the Forest Service from using any fire retardants but water in air tankers, Molloy wrote.

In an earlier order, Molloy wrote that Rey, who oversees the Forest Service, should appear in person.

"We take very seriously our obligations to perform the environmental analysis required by law, and have made every effort to comply with the court's rulings in this case," Forest Service spokesman Joe Walsh said. "We expect to demonstrate the government's good faith in further proceedings before the court."

In 2005, Molloy ruled that the Forest Service violated the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act when it failed to go through a public process to analyze the potential harm from using ammonium phosphate, a fertilizer that kills fish, as the primary ingredient for retardant.

The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (www.fseee.org/) after fire retardant dropped in Fall Creek in Central Oregon in 2002 killed 20,000 fish.

Andy Stahl, executive director of the Eugene-based group, said the government's use of fire retardant is like the use of pesticides, polluting watersheds and killing fish and wildlife.

"The Forest Service view is, 'Whatever the harm to the environment, it's irrelevant, because we are fighting a war, and fire must be worse than anything we are doing to fight a fire,' " Stahl said. "That's not true.

Most of our Western forests need fire to stay healthy. It's been the overzealous war on fire that's been the underlying cause of our forest health crisis."

On Sept. 20, NOAA Fisheries told the Forest Service that dropping poisonous fire retardant on wildfires was likely to jeopardize the survival of 26 species of salmon and other fish, and would destroy or harm critical habitat.

The so-called jeopardy finding cited harm to more species than any other jeopardy finding in the history of the Endangered Species Act, Stahl said.

SAR - Green Valley Lake - Search Continues - Road Closures

Posted: 12 Jan 2008 11:49 AM CST

San Bernardino Sheriff office Press Release -

Effective January 12, 2008 at 0600 a.m. the US Forest Service in Green Valley Lake will be closing fire roads 3N16 (Crab Flats Road) from Green Valley Lake Road to 3N14 (Big Pine Flats) and 2N13 (Snow Slide Road) will be closed from Green Valley Lake Campground to 3N14 at Fawnskin.
The National Forest Land within the designated road closure areas is also closed. The roads will reopen on Monday, January 21st, 2008.
In the addition to the fire road closures Green Valley Lake Road will be closed at 3N16 (Crab Flats Road).
Residents of the area will be the only persons allowed through the road closure. The road will reopen on Sunday, January 13th at 6:00 p.m.
The road closures are necessary to limit the amount of traffic in the Green Valley Lake area.

The search for Mr. Christy is continuing and there are over 100 volunteers expected to assit with the search Saturday, January 12, 2008. The weather continued to be sunny, warm and clear throughout the day.
Two airships were able to conduct aerial searches and assist the ground operation by inserting teams into their designated search areas.
The search will continue throughout the night with a small group of volunteers. The search will continue tomorrow morning. Volunteers from Contra Costa County, Bay Area Search and Rescue from Marin and San Mateo, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, Ventura County and the National Ski Patrol from both Northern and Southern California will continue to assist in the search efforts.
Friday, January 11, 2008 11:00 a.m. - The search and rescue operation continues in the isolated area north and east of the Green Valley Lake Campground. With approximately 40 search volunteers today, they are encouraged to continue to search under the huge boulders and dig if necessary, as Mr. Christy may have created a shelter from the weather.
The ground search teams have covered a 20-30 mile radius from the campground and a 100 mile radius has been covered from the air.
Approximately 100 volunteers outside of San Bernardino County have assisted with the search. The National Ski Patrol plans to bring an Avalanche Trained Dog to the search on Saturday, January 12th.
Search coordinators expect about 100 volunteers to assist on Saturday.
MANY THANKS TO ALL OF THE VOLUNTEERS FOR THEIR HARD WORK!