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Brothers and Sisters,
These past couple of weeks have once again challenged our profession with personal and professional tragedy and the impact of lives lost with a fast-moving and chaotic brush fire that engulfed the town of Lahaina in Maui.
The Maui County Firefighters, from Hawaii Professional Firefighters, Local 1463 are proud outstanding brothers and sisters who have for years had a close bond with Local 1014 and, through our Union leadership, have helped each other's members over the decades. Local 1014 reached out early to Local 1463, knowing what lay ahead from our experience with Woolsey Fire and Camp Fire in Paradise.
As you have seen from the images on tv, the Maui Firefighters who are already understaffed faced failing 911 systems and failing hydrant and water systems placing themselves and the communities they served in extreme danger with a hurricane force wind driving the fire all the way to the sea. We know firsthand more than others what 100-mile-per-hour winds look like on flame fronts and we can only imagine what the day in Lahaina was like.
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Fourteen of our brothers from Lahaina lost homes, and we know of four lifeguards also who lost homes that day as they worked to protect the town. In our talks with Local 1463, we know of many victories that day that will not be front and center on TV, including lives saved in dramatic rescues as the fire blew into town and many residences and some commercial property saved in brilliant firefights where water was available.
Local 1014 serves as one district of the California Fire Foundation, an affiliate of our state Union CPF. We acted early to reconfigure our foundation to function as a charity to collect and distribute money and aid to the Hawaii Firefighters Local 1463 directly. Early efforts have generated amazing monetary support and along with the IAFF Disaster Relief Fund monies. We were able to get on the ground on day one and get help to the men and women who needed it in our world. We also have the ability to help the communities, much like our SAVE program in California. We will continue to aid the Hawaii brothers and sisters as they join in helping their communities in the days and weeks to come.
Additionally, the CFF put together a campaign to search for good RVs, trailers, and 5th wheels to ship to Maui as temporary housing for the Firefighters who lost their homes. We are proud that five of our LA County brothers donated RVs / Trailers; at least two went over Wednesday on the first shipment. We also negotiated with the LA Ports through Labor for reduced shipping rates to help make this happen.
The California Firefighters collectively have been amazing through our efforts with the solidarity of the CPF Board coordinating the support, and we want to make you aware of all of this and thank each and every one of our Local 1014 members who have stepped up to donate to the Hawaii Firefighters through this effort. In particular, Brothers Pat Hanrahan (68B), Brian Fleming (117B), Brian Douty (29B), and Chris Plank (Retired), who donated their RVs and trailers. |
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In addition to the humanitarian aid which will be ongoing, we also supported operations with four of our USAR search dog teams: Captain Celina Serrano and K9 Prentiss, Fire Firefighter Paramedic Edward Ruiz and K9 Harper, along with Fire Fighter Paramedic Nicholas Bartel and K9 Six, and Fire Fighter Jonathan Munguia and K9 Clifford. We know this part of our jobs is horrible on any day, but in particular, for the mass tragedy, it can make a difference for those we serve and for the FFs in the jurisdiction to help bring closure.
This duty, of course, comes with its own impact on those handling the search, our HI Firefighters, Lifeguards and police have been impacted the most as they rose to meet the moment. Our Peer Support Network and teams throughout the nation coordinated through the IAFF and the CPF HealingOurOwn.org. The IAFF team includes our own Captain Scott Ross, Dr. Steve Froehlich, Chief Alexander Hamilton from Oxnard Fire, and a New York City contingent. They are on the ground helping with the emotional and literal impact on the USAR search teams and the HI FFs as each day progresses and at the end of each day. We know this component of help to our members is critical both as the incident is happening and in the weeks after the incident.
We should be proud of California’s efforts to help Lahaina and our Maui County Firefighters, and within the effort our LA County Fire, Local 1014 member efforts were exceptional. President Bobby Lee contacted President Gillotte to express his heartfelt appreciation and love for our long-standing relationship and our members' love for his members. |
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RESULTS FROM THE 1014 TRIAL STAFFING SURVEY
The staffing results are in and the trial will continue with another survey in the coming months. We want to thank the 1,418 people who took the survey. As shown in the results all battalions and ranks were represented. The staffing trial will continue on with 69.39% of the memberships approval. While trials can bring challenges and disagreements amongst one another, the vast majority want to continue the trial. No changes will be made to the trial based on the survey results at this time. Local 1014 will continue to monitor the impacts of the trial, along with member feedback, and all things related to staffing.
At the end of the day, all schedules, and days we are up for recall revolve around good staffing. Your union will continue to pressure management to hire, promote and help members off on industrial leave return back to work healthy. We have also read the comments from many of you asking where the 48/96 is. The decision of a 48/96 trial is solely in the hands of the Fire Chief, and we will continue to pursue it. As a reminder the 48/96 trial is like any other changes to staffing and it must mutually be agreed upon between labor and management. 1014 is in full support of a 48/96 trial as voted on by the membership.
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REMINDER: We are calling on local artists and those in our fire family to submit proposals for a permanent art installation to be installed at Station 81. This art installation is meant to not only provide a remembrance site for our Brother Tory Carlon, but also provide a place of healing for those most impacted by this incident and a reminder of the importance of our Fire Family and behavioral health in the fire service.
The art project will be installed at LACoFD Station 81 in Agua Dulce. The project must provide 1) a memorial and remembrance for Brother Tory Carlon, 2) emphasize the importance of our Fire Family and 3) provide a reflective space that emphasizes the importance of behavioral health in the fire service.
While we will be accepting submissions from the local community, we will give preference to members of our Fire Family who submit projects.
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In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board |
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