The Lombok Fire Department needs funding to mitigate safety concerns and recruitment gaps | News

The following article was published on May 26, 2021 in Santa Maria Sun – Volume 22, Number 13 [ Submit a Story ]

The following articles have been printed from Santa Maria Sun [santamariasun.com] Volume 22 Issue 13

Lompoc Fire Management needs funding to mitigate safety concerns, and staffing gaps by Malea Martin

Earthquake resistance of Fire Station 51 and dangerous diesel exhaust are among the most important issues for the Lompoc Fire Department, which presented its budgetary needs along with other city departments at a recent private meeting.

Structural integrity One of the major concerns of the Lombok Fire Department is the ability of Fire Station 51 to withstand earthquakes. The department requests an inspection as part of its funding requests for the city’s new budget.

Lombok City Council reviewed and discussed the city budget for the 2021-23 biennium during its May 20 meeting. City manager Jim Throp said it was balanced without any staff cuts, furloughs or operational cuts for the first time in more than a decade.

“Looking at the next few years, it looks like the city has finally made an proverbial turn, and is now well on its way to continuing … a financially secure future,” Throp said.

Interim Fire Chief Brian Federman was the first to present departments’ needs to the board, and he has raised longstanding concerns about the health and safety of his employees that he hopes the new budget can address.

Federman said the most pressing need, which the ministry hopes to get with CARES law dollars, is a diesel extraction system. Federman said this technology ensures that when the fire engine retreats to the station, the diesel particles that are expelled from the truck “are absorbed into the filtration system and then released into the air, not in the station’s living quarters.”

These systems are standard at fire stations, he said, and Lombok is the only fire department in the county without a system. It is a health hazard the department is already suffering from its consequences.

“One of our employees was diagnosed with colon cancer, and it was a work-related disease due to carcinogens from diesel exhaust,” Federman said. “So we very much hope that with this funding, we will be able to see these people get to the plant quickly, to protect our staff.”

Federman told The Sun that cancer is a major cause of death in the fire services industry due to carcinogens from fire as well as from diesel exhaust.

The division is also looking to expand its vehicle fleet, in particular the Airlift Truck.

“As you saw last month, our 29-year-old truck was sent to the rescue yard,” Federman said at the meeting. “It was completely insecure and irreparable. We also hope to have another Type 1 engine to offset some of the shortcomings in this area.”

Federman said having an insufficient fleet harms the administration’s ability to respond not only domestically, but also to provide mutual assistance throughout California.

Another major safety concern is the structural integrity of the Fire Station 51. The department requests funding to obtain a structural assessment of the building.

Councilor Jeremy Ball asked President Federman to speak openly about the condition of the building.

“If we had a terrible earthquake in California, how confident would you be that this building did not collapse?” He asked the ball.

“It has to be assessed,” Federman insisted in his voice.

He told The Sun that the building underwent a preliminary assessment in 2014, which first exposed structural safety issues, and that the administration has been trying to secure the city and grant funding since then to address them. If funded this year by the city budget, Federman said the intent is “to get an entire team to open the walls and look at the key structural members.”

Finally, the department is looking to add two new jobs: Fire Inspector and Office Officer Assistant.

“While we have many needs – we can certainly use more firefighters – I think the most important component we have is trying to meet the needs of economic growth in our society,” Federman said. “We want to make sure that we are doing this in a safe and effective manner and being effective in the process.”

Part of the fire department’s role is to ensure businesses adhere to the California building code and fire code through inspections.

“From an economic point of view, we think about vitality, and we don’t want the industry or any business to be at risk in their success because of the risks,” Federman said. “The more prevention we can put it into, and make sure these important events don’t happen, the more we want to do.”

With only one fire inspector overseeing this workload, he said, adding the position of a fire inspector was critical. Federman explained that as the city grows economically, and especially as the hemp industry expands, this role will become more affected.

“When I see an opportunity to add an inspector, I see that helps the fire director on the commercial side, to make sure we move through the process of plan checks, reviews, and inspections,” Federman said, “but also in order to get into our current business and make sure it’s as safe as possible, and help with Educate her when needed. ”

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