FP-5 CONT.
CAPTAIN
KYLE HAUDUCOEUR
WHAT WAS MY ROLE?
I was the planning section chief for what was basically a
non-traditional incident management team assignment.
I generated paperwork such as the public hearing
notice, the operational directive regarding the handling
of protest forms, maps for the 20 community meetings—plus the mailing list.
The public information officers (PIO) Steve Tracy and Tracey Martinez generated
the content and then I would troubleshoot the technical problems for the FP-5
Information website. Meanwhile, Incident Commander Kat Opliger would open
doors with Agency Administrators John Chamberlin and Mark Hartwig, to these
county agency cooperators: Special Districts, printing services, mailroom,
clerk of the board, Assessor and Tax Collector, Surveyor and County Council.
Later on I was responsible for logging the hand-delivered and mailed
protest forms. There were several days that required the use of all available
administrative staff in headquarters to help log in the forms. I remain grateful
for their help. The PIOs responded to emails and I returned phone calls from
the public.
What surprised me were the stories of how they came to own the land and the
way they had managed it for the last 50 years or so. Most shared stories of a
family member that had a dream of land ownership, bought a parcel 30-plus
years ago and didn’t have the heart to give up on their loved one’s dream. Many
WHAT WAS MY ROLE?
I was shocked by the number of large land holdings in the desert communities
north of Victorville, the two that come to mind are a 1,000 parcel and a 400
parcel land holding. I spoke to the two owners both indicate they acquired the
parcels through “…county land auctions…” (it) “…started as a hobby…” .
One individual, has 200+ parcels in Yucca Valley owned by 10 different persons
and/or trusts. The property was operated as a mobile home park, but without
the sub-parceling that a MH park normally has. Instead, they pay 200+
individual tax bills annually. I served as the lead PIO for the incident management
team. As part of my assignment I was asked to participate
in this project to coordinate and develop the messaging to
be disseminated to the public. This was done in partnership
with department PIO Tracey Martinez and some external cooperators.
WHAT DID YOU MAKE OF THE COMPLAINTS FOLKS HAD ABOUT
THE PROCESS OR FEE ITSELF? WHAT WAS THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECT OF THE EFFORT,
AND WAS IT THE THING YOU EXPECTED IT WOULD BE?
Working this closely to the FP-5 Expansion process, I have empathy for both
the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District funding situation and the
tax-paying land owners. I empathize with tax payers that could see their tax
bills raise 50 to 400 percent on an undeveloped parcel. I empathize with the
fire district’s desire to keep one station with one fire engine open in various
communities around the county. I’m certain the process we used was legal and
fair in both cases. This expansion blazed a new trail, not a path of destruction,
for fire district funding.
WHAT SURPRISED YOU ABOUT THE QUESTIONS YOU GOT?
I was not shocked by the questions they would ask. Most people understood
what County Fire was proposing. After they understood the proposal they
would ask: if I wanted to buy some vacant land, do you know a realtor in the
area, will the bullet train cross my property, is the airport (SCLA) going to grow
or are the property values going up?
CAPTAIN STEVE TRACY
kept the parcel, but have never seen the land and live out of state now.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW ON THE FLOOR GOING FORWARD?
I expected this project to be challenging just due to the fact it was something
an IMT doesn’t deal with on a regular basis. However, the biggest challenges
came where we didn’t have control. For example, none of us were experts in
this type of process, so learning the regulations, laws and procedures was
a huge challenge. We essentially had to write a playbook from scratch on
expanding a service zone, making sure we covered every aspect of the law and
procedures covering notification of parcel owners and how we would manage
the calculations of protest. This was a complex process, where we had to make
sure every “i” was dotted, and every “t” was crossed. Notifications to the
public and all the town hall meetings were another challenge. All in all,
I thought the team did an outstanding job with planning, logistics and
the overall execution of the entire project.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW ON THE
FLOOR GOING FORWARD?
As the FP-5 expansion has been approved by the board of supervisors,
there still remain some challenges. As published in the media, there are
some groups moving forward with lawsuits to stop the expansion. This
was expected from the very beginning of this project. The San
Bernardino County legal team feels confident we will prevail in the
courts and be able to move forward with the expansion. In part, a lot
of what the team did in the execution of this project was to ensure
the process we put together was bullet-proof and would be able to
withstand any legal challenges. The team and county legal folks feel we
have met and exceeded what is legal as it relates to the expansion of
FP-5 county-wide. As we move forward, and as the new revenue stream
to the district is applied, we will see a more sustainable County Fire
with positive changes to our service delivery coming in the near future.
Staff has chosen a path that raises the level of play for all of us. The supervisors,
city councils, MAC’s and the average citizen will expect better service. “What
have you done for me lately?” mentality will not go away anytime soon. Keep
working towards our response time goals, proper documentation of what we do
and look for ways to document our actions that maintain our image. It would
be difficult to explain how much staff struggles to show our elected leaders
our successes. Statistics are where they all start looking, but lets give them
something more.
BATTALION CHIEF BOB EVANS
WHAT WAS MY ROLE?
As operations section chief [for the Type 3 IMT] I had to
look at this differently, as there was no hose line to put
in, no hand-line needed, etc. Much of the assignment
was plans, PIO, GIS, and liaison. I opted to help where
I could, and mainly tried and punch holes through what
we were implementing. One of our biggest objectives was to do our very best at
having an end result that would hold up on its merit in a court of law. In addition,
we tried very hard to present to the public and/or offer all the information we
could give them. When Chief Opliger told me about the assignment, I thought,
“Wow, this is entirely different, this is campaign management or something
along those lines.” She then said, “Bob, with clear objectives our team can
do anything.” Well, she nailed it. Our team was able to meet the task. We had
tremendous support from Chiefs Hartwig, Chamberlin and [Deputy Chief] Don
Trapp, as well as from Local 935. This made things go easier but also, with all
that support, really made apparent the importance of our mission.
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FIREWIRE • FALL 2018
WHAT WAS THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECT OF THE EFFORT,
AND WAS IT THE THING YOU EXPECTED IT WOULD BE?
Two distinct challenges were the duration of the assignment without regular
planning meetings, as we would have on a normal assignment, and the
uncomfortable feeling of not always knowing what the other hand is doing. We
all had to demonstrate tremendous trust in one another that objectives were
being met. We were certainly running a short team, as many of us were still
working our day jobs and it took quite a bit of effort to keep everyone updated
and to keep people from crossing out of their lanes.
2018 Media Award
st
PLACE!
winter 2017
BEST AFFILIATE PUBLICATION 2016 IAFF Media Award
2nd Place Best
Affiliate Publication FIREWIRE
for the
Summer 2017 issue
WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW ON THE FLOOR GOING FORWARD?
I would like the floor to know how hard many people in the organization worked
to meet the task—and to never underestimate themselves. All of us in this
organization, from the top to the bottom, are vitally important, and when we
are tasked, working as a team, we can rise to the occasion!
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Congratulations to
Greensboro, NC Local 947
1st place award with
“The Feederline Newsletter”!
APPARATUS
COMMITTEE
MESSAGE FROM DC PORTER Pg. 5
CRADLE TO
CAREER Pg. 42
ANCHOR
POINT
Pg. 51
FIRE FAMILY
FOUNDATION Pg. 20
FALL 2018 • FIREWIRE
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