Not sure I need to add much to this:
California's once-acclaimed mutual aid system among local fire departments, key to fighting the state's increasing number of massive brush fires, is being undercut by tight budgets, fire officials warned a legislative hearing Wednesday.
Mutual aid response to the Station fire, the largest fire in Los Angeles County history, was down by a third over past Southland brush fires, officials told a session of the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management.
"We handled the Station fire because it was the only fire and was . . . not wind-driven," said Sheldon Gilbert, Alameda County fire chief and president of the California Fire Chiefs Assn. "Heaven forbid if we have two or three fires that are wind-driven," he said.(LAT 9/24/09)
These are part of the trickle-down cuts. The cuts to the local governments are playing out on local fire departments, resulting in the loss of mutual aid.
It's all well and dandy that the Republicans run over and over again on public safety. It would just be nice if they bothered to actually do something about it. |
