Board of Supervisors Mulls Replacing Cal Fire With Independent

Replacing the California Department of Forestry with an independent fire authority to serve Riverside County would increase the county’s costs in the near-term by tens of millions of dollars, according to a report that the Board of Supervisors will consider today.

The Executive Office drafted a 33-page study comparing the costs of contracting with Cal Fire — which the county has done since 1946 — and the costs of operating a county-run fire department, a la the Orange County Fire Authority.

According to the report, the first-year expense of converting would be $58.6 million more than what the county currently allocates in discretionary revenue to pay Cal Fire — about $40 million.

However, a sizable part of the load — around $20 million — would be borne by cities that currently utilize Cal Fire’s services under county auspices, the report noted.

According to the Executive Office, the costs of salaries, benefits and pensions for the estimated 1,000 firefighters and support personnel needed for a stand-alone county fire department would pose significant budgetary challenges.

The county and its partner cities own all but nine of the 91 fire stations operated by Cal Fire. But assuming the state retains its stations, the county would have to cough up more than $14 million to build and staff replacement stations in Anza, west Riverside and Sage, according to the report.

“Beyond the basic cost question, other factors must be considered in this analysis, including the effectiveness of our current system,” county staff wrote. “Under the current system, we have an effective and cohesive countywide command structure that truly represents what most major emergency after-action reports recommend.

“Forming a stand-alone department would require that the county take on issues now covered by the Cal Fire contract, including negotiations with labor groups, staff hiring and training, and workers’ compensation costs.”

The Executive Office said an alternative to establishing an independent fire authority is for the county to become a “contract county,” taking over fire services from Cal Fire but receiving partial reimbursement from the state for assuming responsibility over areas previously under its control.

The issue of gravitating to an independent fire authority came up in May when Supervisor Jeff Stone, joined by other board members, complained about administrative cost increases that Cal Fire planned to impose on the county.

The agency has since identified ways to spare the county the additional costs.