| LACOFD to staff OES engines |
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Updated On: Jun 179, 2008
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Thank you to all personnel and card file sites for helping fill the staffing needs to put the OES Type III Engines in service a month sooner than we had planned.
These 5 Type III Engines were to be delivered to our department after personnel were trained, and agreements on staffing and locations to be put in service were addressed by the Department and Local 1014.
These Engines will still be delivered officially and dedicated to Dallas Jones, in honor of his service to the Department, the Union, and the State of California as OES Director at a later date. This will occur after final staffing and deployment agreements are negotiated and put in place. Things such as where these engines will be stationed and staffed and the training personnel will need to deploy will be addressed.
In the mean time, the State has called upon us to staff the engines and get them in service now, as a result of the extreme fire weather and number of fires throughout the State and the need for Type III work. Both the Department and Local 1014 met to work on a plan that would allow us to rise to the occasion and meet the needs of the State request and to be ready for what is expected to be extreme fire weather and lightning strikes in the north.
The plan to staff these Type III Engines has taken into consideration spreading the workload and personnel demand and deployment by staffing the engines with personnel from geographic regions. 2 Engines will be staffed from East Operations Bureau, 2 engines from Central Operations Bureau, and 1 Engine from North Operations Bureau. This is by no means indicative of where these engines will permanently end up being stationed. The North Operations Bureau is already strained with augmented staffing requirements and demand on personnel is high, so they will staff 1 engine where the other Operations Bureaus will staff 2 engines. This will spread the work nicely geographically and with equity for ability to work.
Since this deployment is potentially going to fall over the Fourth of July Holiday and may well run into 14 days or more, we have asked personnel to voluntarily “Go Available” for this assignment, and 4 personnel per engine will be staffed for the deployment with their positions backfilled.
The Firefighters and Captains positions on the Strike Team will be staffed by the regions where the engines were temporarily assigned for the purposes of hiring, and based on SRC and Seniority in case of personnel having the same number of SRC. This is most consistent with current staffing procedures.
The Firefighter Specialist positions are slightly different in that there are requirements for Apparatus Operator 1A and 1B and Instructor 1A and 1B because of a need to send individuals who will become our department’s trainers for the additional state requirements to staff a Type III Engine for deployment in the future. These FFS were the individuals that were going to be originally sent to OES to get the training and bring the Engines back to Los Angeles. The FFS will be put through a “train the trainer” class Sat-Sun and will be qualified to operate and respond immediately for a strike team assignment and will return certified to handle training for the remainder of departmental personnel. If the FFS Instructors are not available to respond, then the regions will fill the FFS positions with personnel who have the qualifications listed so they can drive and respond as part of the strike team. SRC and seniority in case these FFS have the same number of SRC will be used to offer the assignment. This also is consistent with current staffing procedures.
While personnel are completing training and inventory and outfitting the Engines they will be on ZD and backfilled at the station level. Once the Engines are “In-Service” and operational and deployable, backfill will be at the battalion level as card file positions. This should only be for 2 days. This is also consistent with current staffing procedures.
While not perfect and not permanent, this plan spreads the work, the demand on personnel, and stays consistent with the use of SRC and the primary factor in the assignment of work with seniority used as the tie breaker in case employees who go available for this assignment have equal numbers of SRC.
Both the Department and Local 1014 will continue to meet and develop the permanent long term plan for these engines. We are pleased to have worked together to meet the State’s emergency need and rise to the occasion to deploy our personnel and pleased that our members will have the opportunity to handle the work, and the backfill behind the work with 4 personnel on each of the engines.
It is a tribute to Dallas Jones that we would step up and handle this within 24 hours of the request and staff each engine with 4 firefighters and backfill the stations with 4 firefighters as well. Los Angeles County Fire Fighters should be proud to put these engines in service in this time of need.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation to make this happen. If there are any questions regarding the staffing and backfill, please call us at the Union hall or call your regional bureau chief’s office.
Local 1014 Executive Board
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