Cambria Fire likely to stay locally run

It appears that the stand-alone Cambria Fire Department will continue to operate under the management of the local services district, rather than as an adjunct to Cal Fire, if the district board agrees today with recommendations of the district’s ad hoc committee.

According to advice from the Cambria Community Services District’s Ad Hoc Committee to Evaluate Fire Prevention and Response Service Options, Cambria’s in-town fire service should continue to be provided by the 130-year-old department, an entity that’s garnered a lot of strong support from the community, especially during the past seven-plus months.

The committee recommends “that the CCSD Board affirm its intention to maintain the CCSD Fire Department, based upon its examination of the fire-service cost issue and the support expressed by a great many Cambrians.”

According to the report, current estimates are that it would cost CCSD up to $145,000 more to contract with Cal Fire for services currently being provided by Cambria Fire. Director Mick Thompson said figure is an annual estimate.

The report said the difference is primarily “due to labor costs, which could go even higher depending on ongoing State and Cal Fire union negotiations; costs that would be passed on to local contracts,” according to the committee report issued Feb. 3.

Thompson said the difference is based, in part, on the fact that Cal Fire must budget for employees at the top end of the wage scale.

The board will consider that decision — along with the possibility of hiring Bob Murray and Associates to lead an executive recruitment for a fire chief (cost not to exceed $30,000) — at a meeting that starts at 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 12.

The meeting is scheduled to take place at the Veterans Memorial Building, 1000 Main St.

Also on the agenda is the long-anticipated public hearing on adopting higher water and sewer rates, including the count of written protests against the increases.

Fire department timeline

When CCSD received the “Making the Case for Efficiency: Maximizing Levels of Emergency Services for Cambria” report from the county grand jury in March, one of the report’s recommendations was for the district to research the financial and service-quality ramifications of contracting with Cal Fire for fire-suppression services currently provided by Cambria Fire.

The board established an ad hoc committee to handle that investigation. When Cambria Fire’s chief Mark Miller resigned in mid-July, the district hired Cal Fire for a year’s “interim management” of the local fire service. That contract runs through the end of June.

Committee members took public comment at two special workshops and through other avenues, and conducted ad hoc interviews with Cal Fire officials, Cambria Fire personnel and others.

Current committee members are Board President Gail Robinette and Director Michael Thompson. Former district board director and ad hoc committee member Muril Clift resigned from the board effective Oct. 1; Robinette took his place on the committee.

Committee members also recommend that CCSD “reopen discussions” with the Cambria Community Healthcare District “to determine opportunities to integrate and coordinate activities, with the goal of effectively reducing administrative costs and improving services.”

Robinette and Thompson also recommended that CCSD develop a plan for replacing fire equipment and establish a fund that would pay for it.

What could happen next

If the board approves the Murray executive-search contract to recruit a new chief for Cambria Fire, current personnel, including captains William Hollingsworth, Johnathan Gibson and Emily Torlano should be allowed to test and apply for the job.

It is assumed that Cal Fire would continue to maintain its Cambria fire station and the state department’s strong presence on the North Coast, especially with recent concerns about wildfire danger during the four-year-plus drought and having so many dead and dying trees in the area’s rare native Monterey pine forest.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 10:24 AM with the headline "Cambria Fire likely to stay locally run."