Hollywood Park fire chief reports quieter July, new paramedic and 'Blue Card' command training

Fire Chief (name not specified) told the City Council on Aug. 19 that the department recorded 37 calls in July and that mutual-aid calls dropped as summer activity slowed. “They were at 37 total for the month with 17 of those being MS calls,” the chief said. The chief said firefighter Jace Rodriguez completed paramedic coursework and passed the national registry through the SAC EMS Academy, and another firefighter, Kyle Skinner, completed a bachelor’s degree in fire administration and emergency management. “We want to recognize him… it’s a lot of work to have a full time job, has a new baby, and to finish his degree,” the chief said. Training and preparedness were emphasized: the department reported about 240 hours of training in July and said fire officers have begun Blue Card command training — a national system for incident command communications funded by a grant. “Blue Card is a national… standard for communication standards when you have a command scenario,” the chief said, describing it as a structured decision-flow system for commanding scenes. The department also completed 25 commercial fire inspections and preplans, will continue wellness checks every other Thursday and expects additional grant funding in October to support ongoing training. No formal council action was taken on the report.