CALIMESA: Several cities grapple with fire services costs

Calimesa, one of region’s smallest cities, is taking on the Riverside County Fire Department, and its mayor says he won’t blink.

The department, which is part of Cal Fire, has informed Calimesa that it will stop providing services July 1, 2017, unless the city adds a third firefighter, who’s also a paramedic, to its crew.

That will cost more than $500,000, money the city cannot afford to spend, Mayor Jeff Hewitt said.

He said the city is ready to recruit a volunteer fire department if a compromise can’t be reached.

Currently, 60 percent of the city’s $5 million budget goes to the county for police and fire contracts, according Hewitt, who said adding such an expense would bankrupt the city in two years.

“They expect us to shake our resident down for more money,” Hewitt said. “We have such a lean city anyway. We’re not going to impose another tax on our people.”

A portion of property taxes in Calimesa already is earmarked to fire services. That accounts for about $1.3 million per year, the cost of keeping a two-person crew.

Calimesa, home to 8,000 residents – many of them seniors – is on the border with San Bernardino County along the 10 freeway, and is not the only city grappling with the cost of fire services.

San Jacinto, which last week agreed to form a joint powers authority with Idyllwild Fire Protection Authority, is considering signing a one-year extension with the county as it works out issues such as dispatch services.

And Canyon Lake has had ongoing issues with how to protect homes within its gates, having closed its lone fire station and battling with the county over costs.

Since incorporating in 1990, Calimesa has contracted for fire service with the county, running one truck with a two-person crew out of a station on its east side.

That is more than sufficient for the city, where more than 90 percent of calls are medical-related and there are few fires, Hewitt said. AMR ambulances also roll when 911 is called, so there is a paramedic present when needed, he added.

“We’ve never had one incident of substandard services,” Hewitt said. “Over 95 percent of our calls have nothing to do with fire.”

But Glenn Patterson, deputy chief at Riverside County Fire Department, said while based in Calimesa, the crew is part of a regional network and responds to incidents outside of the city. And as part of that system, trucks from elsewhere will respond to Calimesa, and those crews have three firefighters, which is the county standard.

Patterson said crews from outside the city responded to Calimesa 408 times last year, while the city crew assisted outside the city just eight times.

“They’re a busy city,” Patterson said. “There are well over 1,000 calls a year.”

Calimesa is proposing a transition plan that involves the city, neighboring Beaumont and the county to work together to relocate the fire station, which is close to the county line, to the area of Singleton Road and the 10 to be more central to both cities, as well as unincorporated areas.

“We’re trying to work with them.” Hewitt said. “We’re trying to keep Calimesa in business.”

And while the county department has sent notice, Patterson said negotiations will continue.

“They’ve offered a couple different proposals,” Patterson said. “We’re reviewing them to see how they fit in with the county.”

The issue will be discussed again when the Calimesa council next meets June 20.

If a solution isn’t found, Calimesa is ready to start a volunteer fire department, like the community had in 1973, when now Councilman Jim Hyatt moved there.

A volunteer department isn’t much different than what is seen in old television shows. If there is an incident, a bell is rung and volunteers come from the local garage and insurance office to respond.

The only volunteer department in Riverside County is in Blythe, and Patterson said it works there because the city on the California/Arizona border is a self-contained community.

Many Calimesa residents don’t work in the city and wouldn’t be present when needed, Patterson said, although Hyatt said some two dozen volunteers could be recruited.

As Calimesa also is investigating how to cut the price of police by asking Beaumont how much it would cost if that city’s department patrolled there, Hewitt said the council members should be the ones who decide what’s best for the city and decisions shouldn’t be forced on them.

“Calimesa is still a lot more Mayberry than Manhattan,” he said. “We are all for public safety, we need fire protection. If we can keep it the same, we can keep providing our constituents with what they need.”