A Riverside man found guilty of touching off a 2006 blaze that killed five firefighters has received the death penalty. Raymond Oyler, 38, was convicted of multiple counts of murder for starting the 2006 Esperanza Fire. Five U.S. Forest Service firefighters died battling the deadly blaze.
Two Alameda firefighters were injured this past Sunday while responding to a house fire in a single family residence -- injuries that may not have happened but for public safety cuts in Alameda. The firefighters were injured responding to a Sunday evening structure fire call. At the time of the call, all three of the city's ALS ambulances were conducting transports. The lack of resources allowed the fire to intensify and hazardous conditions to exponentially increase.
In preparation for another summer of potentially devastating wildfires, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today directed his Department of Personnel Administration to exempt all CAL FIRE employees from the statewide furlough program during the 2009 and 2010 fire seasons. This action will ensure that all available personnel will be ready to mobilize when disaster strikes.
The state Senate took up AB 196 on the Floor this afternoon, which is one of two measures that seeks to implement the Emergency Response Initiative (ERI). The ERI proposes a 4.8% emergency response surcharge on all new or renewed commercial and residential fire or multi-peril insurance premiums in California. When the Senate votes were tallied, the final score was 23 "AYES," 14 "NOS," 3 "NOT VOTING", leaving AB 196 short the required 2/3 vote it needed to pass. The bill was granted re-consideration, which means it can be brought up at a future date for consideration and action.
Thousands of firefighters across the country face possible layoffs this year, prompting concern that deep local government budget cuts will delay emergency response times. Up to 5,000 firefighting jobs could be in jeopardy, according to an IAFF survey of members, which includes 292,000 firefighters.