STATter 911

Some of you may recall the coverage both FireGeezer and STATter 911 had earlier this year of the severe financial problems in Vallejo, CA. FireGeezer also covered Friday's fatal four-alarm fire at a Vallejo retirement home. Now today, it isn't a surprise that those two stories have intersected.

The San Francisco Chronicle talks to a union official claiming budget cuts impacted the handling of the fire. Here are excerpts:

At least one fire official said the North Bay city's dire financial status - which led to the shuttering of two fire stations and has contributed to a big drop in the firefighting staff - may have prompted a slower response than usual.

And it likely contributed to the police officers having to pitch in without the proper equipment, said Capt. Jon Riley, vice president of the local firefighters' union.

The upper stories of the seven-story Casa de Vallejo at 1825 Sonoma Blvd. erupted in flames at 3:42 a.m. Friday. One of the two shuttered fire stations - Station 2 at 700 Fifth Street, a mile-and-a-half away - would have been part of the first response team, Riley said.

"It's difficult to speculate on what coulda, woulda, shoulda happened, but obviously having two fire stations closed definitely has an impact on our ability to respond to incidents," Riley said, noting he didn't know what the response time was.

The department formerly had 116 firefighters, but is now down to 77, he added. He said they're always equipped with breathing apparatus and fire resistant suits, which the police officers who entered the building didn't have.

"The cops were very heroic going in without that safety equipment - they were very instrumental in helping to get quite a few people out," he said.

Vallejo police Lt. Mat Mustard, vice president of the police union, said the outcome with a fully staffed fire department would have been "anyone's guess."

"We as cops don't expect firemen to run into bank robberies, and firemen don't expect police officers to run into burning buildings, but when the public's life is in danger, public safety people step forward," Mustard said.

A total of 59 firefighters were at the scene with 13 engines, five ladder trucks and nine ambulances, Tweedy said. The estimated property loss is in the millions, he said.

Vallejo filed for bankruptcy in May to cope with a $16 million deficit, a sinking housing market and public employee costs that are rising dramatically. By the end of this month, a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Sacramento is expected to decide whether the city meets Chapter 9 bankruptcy criteria and can begin renegotiating its debts.

In the meantime, the city has slashed funding for public works, libraries, senior centers, museums - and shut two fire stations indefinitely. City officials have been in a war of words with the public employee unions.

Mayor Osby Davis didn't return a call for comment on whether the closures may have impacted the fire response. City Councilwoman Joanne Schivley said any speculation on that question was "sensationalism" and refused further comment.

City Councilman Hermie Sunga said he didn't think there was any impact.

"I don't think so - they responded pretty quickly," he said. "The performance of our fire department and police was great, the response time was great and they saved a lot of people."

# posted by Dave Statter @ 8:58 PM