RIVERSIDE COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT IN COOPERATION WITH CAL FIRE ANNUAL REPORT 2013 FIRE CAPTAIN JEFF ROBERTS AT COUNTYWIDE HAZMAT OPERATIONS GROUP (CHOG) TRAINING MISSION STATEMENT “The Riverside County Fire Department is a public safety agency dedicated to protecting life, property and the environment through professionalism, integrity and efficiency.” VISION STATEMENT “The Riverside County Fire Department is committed to exemplary service and will be a leader in fire protection and emergency services through continuous improvement, innovation and the most efficient and responsible use of resources.” VERVIEW 20132013 overview O The Riverside County Fire Department in Cooperation with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection: • Serve more than 1,360,000 residents in an area spanning 7,200 square miles • Service area topography includes mountainous terrain, desert and rural to densely populated urban areas • Provided fire protection, rescue and emergency medical services to 21 cities and one community service district • Provided dispatch services to two tribal fire departments and one fire protection district • Employed 1,033 career firefighters, 247 administrative support personnel and 203 volunteer reserve firefighters • Staffed 94 fire stations which provide fire protection, rescue, pre-hospital emergency medical care, hazardous materials response and fire prevention education • Responded to 133,536 incidents in 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Message from Chief 1 Executive Management 3 Organization Chart 4 2012 Statistics 7 Significant Incidents 23 Emergency Command Center 33 Emergency Medical Services 35 Administration 37 Office of Emergency Services 39 Training 41 Health and Safety 43 Public Affairs and Education Bureau 45 Fire Prevention 47 Fire Protection Planning 49 Pre-Fire Management 51 Communications and Information Technology 53 Strategic Planning 55 Volunteer Reserve Program 57 Fleet Services 59 Service Center 61 2013 Year in Pictures 63 Retirements 67 In Memoriam 68 Acknowledgments 69 CHIEF’S MESSAGE As your Riverside County Fire Chief, I am extremely proud to share with you our 2013 Annual Report. We are honored to serve the citizens of Riverside County including those living in the unincorporated area of the County and in the 21 out of 28 partner cities to which we provide service. Every day that we come to work, we are ready, willing and able to deliver public safety protection and disaster management that citizens deserve and expect. We constantly remain in the starter’s blocks loaded to immediately move out to your need. I believe you will find our annual report both very interesting and enlightening. As you read it, I ask that you recognize the fire department is comprised of the CAL FIRE Riverside Unit operation, the Riverside County Fire Department and the Riverside County Office of Emergency Services (OES). Our elected and appointed officials stand tall and remain very supportive to the delivery of public safety service. Even during this recent and worst economic period of our lifetime, the elected officials protected public safety services. They only reduced services where no other choice existed. In many cases, they have recommended reinstitution of services previously reduced. We are greatly indebted to our officials. They clearly recognize the public safety risks and ensure that we correctly protect you. JOHN R. HAWKINS Fire Chief Across the 7,206 square miles of Riverside County, we proudly respond to upwards of 400 emergencies every day. During 2013, we responded Riverside County to 133,536 emergencies. Some emergencies are simple and easily handled in less than 30 minutes. Many emergencies involve significant impacts to families, residents and businesses. The impacts can be life or property threatening or damaging. Some emergencies are life changing and create a major impact to one or many people. As our commanders view emergency management, they program their minds to the following strategic priorities: Protect or save life; Protect or save the community; Protect or save individual properties and; Protect the environment. These are important priorities. We see the need to protect the community before individual property because the community is the support system the residents and merchants need to safeguard their quality of life and environment of business. 1 Over the last year, a few incidents were deadly for our firefighters. On July 5, 2013, CAL FIRE Engineer Paramedic Christopher Douglas was killed on the Interstate 10 east bound on-ramp from Monterey Avenue, Coachella Valley. He was mounting his turnout clothing for response to a vehicle rollover when a pickup truck hit him. We also mourned the loss of Firefighter Christopher Mackenzie, son of retired CAL FIRE Captain Mike Mackenzie. Christopher was killed on June 30, 2013 at the Yarnell Hill, Arizona Fire where he was working as part of the Granite Mountain Inter-agency Hotshot Crew. Lastly, we also mourned the loss of Sr. Public Information Specialist Cheri Patterson. Cheri lost her four-year battle with breast cancer on May 4, 2013. Her leadership and innovative spirit will be missed, but certainly not forgotten. We responded to several large and damaging fires during 2014. They included the following fires: • “Summit“ Fire, May 1, 2013, 3,166 acres, one structure destroyed, Banning and Cherry Valley areas impacted • “Gorgonio” Fire, May 4, 2013, 510 acres, no structures destroyed, Banning-Idyllwild area impacted • “Hathaway” Fire, June 10, 2013, 3,825 acres, no structures destroyed, Morongo area impacted • “Mountain” Fire, July 15, 2013, 27,531 acres, seven structures destroyed, Idyllwild evacuated, Mountain Center, Fern Valley, Pine Cove • areas impacted • “Falls” Fire, August 5, 2013, 1,393 acres, no structures destroyed, Lakeland Village, Lake Elsinore, Rancho Capistrano and Decker Canyon • areas impacted • “Silver” Fire, August 7, 2013, 20,292 acres, 48 structures destroyed, Poppet Flats, Twin Pines, Cabazon, Snow Creek Village, and Silent Valley RV Park impacted During 2013, CAL FIRE/County Fire/County OES implemented the following service improvements : • Emergency Medical Dispatching wherein our dispatchers provide pre-arrival medical instructions to victims before arrival of our fire and medical personnel. • Reorganization and improved customer service from our municipal fire prevention services including enactment of the 2014 California Fire Code. • CAL FIRE added two engines to the San Jacinto Mountain communities of Pine Cove and Garner Valley as part of a jurisdictional change. • Arrest of Steven Taylor Rutherford for 13 felony counts of arson. • Social media information dissemination for the public and for the media. We are strongly committed to our Core Values: Leadership, Competence, Integrity, Safety and Customer Service. I expect that our personnel will always serve you with the greatest level of competency and be nice to you. We value the opportunity to serve you. You not only deserve, but have the right to expect the best of service. It is not just our job; it is our honor. Thank you very much for your support. Your support counts. We hope you enjoy reviewing this wonderful documentation of what we do and how we work for you, our customer. Best wishes for a wonderful, happy and prosperous 2014! As I frequently finish notes to our personnel, please take care, be safe, have fun and live the dream. We live the dream to serve you. John R. Hawkins, Fire Chief LEADERSHIP COMPETENCE INTEGRITY SAFETY CUSTOMER SERVICE STEVE CURLEY GLENN PATTERSON DORIAN COOLEY ROBERT MICHAEL Deputy Chief Deputy Chief Deputy Chief Deputy Chief Western Operations Administration Eastern Operations Central Operations DIANE SINCLAIR PETER LENT Deputy Director Deputy Director Administration County OES 3 DALE HUTCHINSON JAY ORR Southern Region Chief CEO CAL FIRE Riverside County JOHN R. HAWKINS Fire Chief DREENA BRETHORST Executive Assistant DORIAN COOLEY ROBERT MICHAEL STEVE CURLEY GLENN PATTERSON PETER LENT JAMES FRATER Deputy Chief Deputy Chief Deputy Chief Deputy Chief Deputy Director Fire Marshal East Operations Central Operations West Operations Administration OES SUSAN BITTNER GINA MCGOUGH Fire Protection Admin Services Emergency Services Planning Bureau Analyst Manager MARK BASSETT Emergency Services Manager GREG EVERHART DIANE SINCLAIR TOM HYATT CHET ASHBAUGH TIM WILLIAMS SILVIO LANZAS Division Chief Deputy Director Division Chief Comm Div. Manager Battalion Chief Battalion Chief Administration Administration Support Services Comm/IT Law Enforcement ECC PAIGE PHILPOT Admin. Serv. Officer Cost Recovery CHARLIE SOTELO LETICIA MORALES PHIL RAWLINGS Fire Prevention and Manager Accounting Tech.II Battalion Chief Communications Law Enforcement EMS Service Center County Finance SANDY ISOM Admin Serv. Officer Cost Recovery JODY HAGEMANN LORI WILLIAMS JOEL VELA Sr. Public Info Spec. Accounting Tech.II Battalion Chief IT Public Affairs Accts. Receivable Training VACANT KAREN GIBSON LUCAS SPELMAN JAN DAVIDIAN Admin Officer Admin Serv. Officer Captain Applications State Finance Contracts Health & Safety SUE BURTON CASSANdrA RAY JEFF LARUSSO RON ARBO Admin Officer III Admin Serv. Asst. Reserve Program Man. Battalion Chief State Personnel County Personnel VRFF PSEC RENE VIGIL JOSE LEDESMA BEN JOHNSON DAVE DONLEY Staff Serv. Analyst Admin Services Sup. Supervisor GIS Return to Work Purchasing Strategic Planning 4 DORIAN COOLEY STEVE CURLEY Deputy Chief Deputy Chief Eastern Operations Western Operations JEFF STOWELLS BILL HUNLEY STEVE GALLEGOS