Sparks Fly at City Council Debate over
Setup of ‘Volunteer’ Fire Brigade
• One Member Says Professional
Firefighters Aren’t Enough
The Malibu City Council meeting got a
little heated this week when members were told Los
Angeles County Fire Department officials were not going to
recommend Malibu create what is likened to a
quasi-volunteer fire department, a Call Firefighter Program.
The program is described as an integral
part of the department’s emergency services delivery
system serving the rural and remote areas of the county. The
firefighters work on a part-time basis, as needed for all types
of emergencies. They are trained and paid.
Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich
called on Malibu to create its own volunteer department and had
asked city and county staffers to provide feedback.
Fire department spokesperson Marie Grycan
told council members the battalion chief and captain saw no
reason for Malibu to have its own program.
That seemed to set off Conley Ulich and
Council member Ken Kearsley who peppered Grycan with
questions about the denial.
Conley Ulich, who insists the matter is one
of protecting lives, urged council members to question the
opinions of lower ranking officials and appeal directly to the
head of the county fire department Michael Freeman or the
county board of supervisors.
“People will die if they don’t
get training. I want to make sure people are protected,”
she said.
Kearsley wanted to know how and why Topanga
has a program and not Malibu.
Grycan said Topanga has one fire station
serving 20,000 people, as opposed to Malibu, which has four
stations within its city boundaries serving fewer
residents. “It is not just a matter of training,”
Grycan responded.
Grycan attempted to continue the
department’s rationale but was cut off several times with
more questions and challenges.
The fire department spokesperson told
council members there are five firefighters assigned to the
call program in Topanga. That the personnel can be assigned
anywhere and, in the event of wildland fires, be sent
outside the area. Grycan also said the department thinks
Topanga is more rural.
Kearsley shot back he wanted to know the
parameters for such definitions and the rationale for how the
department arrived at these conclusions.
Grycan said that one of the parameters is
how long it will take an engine company to arrive on the scene.
In Topanga, it is 20 to 30 minutes.
She said the call teams are deployed
usually in remote places, such as desert communities like the
Leona Valley or Pearblossom, or other distant locales such as
Catalina Island.
By contrast, Malibu has four stations in
its city limits, another just outside the city on Decker Canyon
Road, and two other stations located over the hill in Monte
Nido and Agoura Hills.
Kearsley said he was not buying any of that
and added that if the department “did the numbers,”
the size and remoteness of Malibu would be evident.
Grycan answered, “There are 12
stations in this battalion.”
It was also pointed out that the call
firefighters are not ideally suited for wildfires. They can be
assigned anywhere and would not necessarily stay at home base.
Another issue the council kept bringing up
was about people staying with their homes. “That is
another issue,” Grycan said. “If you are talking
about training them. Call firefighters won’t fix all of
those problems.”
Councilmember Sharon Barovsky then began
asking Conley Ulich what kind of program she was seeking.
“I am hearing you say the program you want is they could
be sent to fight fires in the Antelope Valley? It is ultimately
the fire department’s choice. They are the experts. I am
the only one that criticized the fire department and got
smeared. Topanga has one station and that is such a fire
trap,” she said.
Mayor Jeff Jennings asked about the
training of the firefighters.
Grycan said they have 64 hours of training
during eight Saturdays, Afterward, they are obligated to drill
with their engine company one Saturday per month.
Conley Ulich, who at one point insisted the
county board of supervisors should be called in to grant
Malibu’s request, took a different tack and suggested the
key was the backfill of the existing stations during the summer
months when fire officials were making many paramedic calls.
“These programs would help. It is not about property it
is about lives,” Conley Ulich said.
Grycan again answered that the only reason
Malibu has four stations is because of the use of the shift in
population during the summer months. “The beach traffic
is the biggest reason the stations are there,” added
Grycan, who emphasized to council members that the department
also relies on the paramedic training of the lifeguards, which
are then also used as backfill for the stations.
Barovsky said she would support sending a
letter to Freeman asking to explore the possibility of meeting
with an ad hoc committee to find out the rationale for the
department’s decision. Other members agreed and
voted unanimously to direct the staff to send off the
letter.
In other action, the council heard from
Point Dume Marine Science Elementary school children about
their drive called Pennies for Peace.
Each of the students spoke for several
minutes from a prepared script about why they were
embarking on an effort to save pennies for school children
in Afghanistan and Pakistan. “The kids do not
even have papers or pencils,” one student remarked.
Another student said while pennies have no
real meaning in our society a penny saved for their project
could buy a pencil or paper.
“A penny cannot buy a gum ball here,
but it can buy a pencil there,” another student told
council members.
“It gives kids like us a chance to
help other kids in other parts of the world,” one student
added.
