Six back injuries, trauma to the shoulder and knee, an on-duty heart attack, and a hit to the respiratory system.
These are some of the work-related damages faced by firefighters in the Five Cities Fire Authority (FCFA) over the past three years.
“On average, one person is on work compensation for a work-related injury almost all the time,” firefighter and FCFA Union President Jeff Lane told New Times.
Lane spoke at the Grover Beach City Council’s Dec. 5 special meeting where officials discussed the future of fire services following the defeat of the Measure A-22 special tax in Oceano. During public comment, he told city leaders that he’s cautiously optimistic about FCFA’s reformation.
“With all-time high call volumes and a lack of staffing, your firefighters are unable to complete basic important duties such as fire prevention and training,” Lane said. “Just todayāventilation training in Oceano usually takes two to three hoursāit took the employees all day to do it because we have to answer the calls of citizens, that’s our No. 1 priority.”
Call volume data from the fire department mirror Lane’s comments. Grover Beach City Manager Matt Bronson displayed those statistics at the meeting. Calls for service have been rising since 2011āa year after a joint powers agreement combined resources from Grover Beach, Arroyo Grande, and Oceano to form the FCFA. That year, the three areas received a total of 2,812 calls. While that call volume dipped during some years, the FCFA received 4,154 calls in 2021. That’s an increase of 47 percent over a decade. As of Nov. 30, 2022, the FCFA call volume for the year is 6.7 percent higher than in 2021. Projections show a continued average increase of 4.8 percent annually.
Lane urged city officials to support Fire Chief Steve Lieberman’s plan for proper staffing at the fire department, adding that the lives of the public and of the firefighters depend on it.
“Stress levels are elevated from increased workload, and workplace injuries are at an all-time high,” he said. “These are direct correlations to our increased call volume and workload. Within the last year, 11 of the 20 firefighters have applied for outside agencies. This is due to the lack of financial support from the cities and the uncertainty of the department’s future.”
He told New Times that most of the injuries occur because they’re called for lift assists. Those are cases where a person can’t get off the ground because of a fall. Lane said it often happens to elderly people who then need to be picked up off the ground and placed into a wheelchair or a walker.
“Some of these individuals weigh 200 to 300 pounds, and with only two [firefighters] available, it’s difficult to lift that deadweight,” he said.
With increased funding, and subsequently, more staffing, more than two people could operate a fire engine at one time and arrive at service calls.
During public comment, firefighter Mike LoPresti said that 66 percent of the time, only seven firefighters are on duty. He added that the national recommendation for staffing for a residential structure fire is 17 firefighters.
With voters in the Oceano Community Services District rejecting the special tax to preserve emergency fire services in the area, they will have to leave the FCFA. Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande are now scrambling to figure out fire services before the wind-down period ends on June 30, 2023. Ī
This article appears in Last-Minute Gift Guide 2022.