Santa Paula Fire Chief presents fourth-quarter incident analysis; council asks about overdoses, EV fires and new Station 29

Fire Chief Williams presented the Santa Paula Fire Department's fourth-quarter incident analysis during the Feb. 5 council meeting, reviewing call volumes, recent wildland-urban interface incidents and department capabilities including a drone thermal-search program and progress on Fire Station 29 construction.

Williams reported that the department's quarterly call volume has remained steady in the 700s range and that medical responses — especially fall victims and overdoses/poisonings — form the largest share of calls. He said opioid overdoses countywide were down in 2023 and suggested that wider public availability of naloxone (Narcan) and public awareness likely contributed, while noting dispatch coding and initial call information determine call-type statistics.

On wildfire and brush fires, Williams explained many of the area's blazes occur in the river bottom and are often kept under one to a few acres; colder weather sometimes prompts unhoused residents to light warming fires that can spread. He described resource and air operations during recent major incidents, noting that Type 1 helicopters ("heavies") were the only aircraft able to fly during high wind events and that the department staged strike teams in neighboring jurisdictions when necessary.

The chief also addressed electric-vehicle fires after council questions. He said EV and hybrid battery fires present evolving hazards and can reignite after initial suppression; in some cases crews have chosen to let an EV burn in place and evacuate nearby areas because products of combustion and re-ignition risks make immediate extinguishment hazardous. Williams described some mitigation tactics used elsewhere — including vehicle submersion or large roll-off containers — but cautioned those solutions can be costly and logistically complex.

Williams noted the department's drone program has thermal imaging capability to locate smoldering hotspots that might otherwise be missed in brush areas, and he praised the hand crews who construct containment lines in steep terrain. He also provided an update that Fire Station 29 construction is progressing with walls going up and underground utilities in place.

On ambulance and transport matters, Williams explained the city's Rescue Ambulance (RA) augments contracted ambulance service (AMR) and will transport when AMR response time exceeds 10 minutes; he said RAs filled about nine transports in the period cited and that destination decisions (e.g., Ventura County Medical Center for trauma) depend on patient condition and regional trauma routing.

Why it matters: The presentation outlined operational realities for local emergency response, identified emerging risks from lithium-ion battery fires and stressed the department's reliance on mutual aid and air assets for major wind-driven fires. Council members asked staff to provide additional ambulance-destination data following the recent ICU closure at a local hospital.

No formal council action was required on the report; Williams said staff would follow up with requested transport-destination data and any further information on EV-fire mitigation strategies.

Key excerpts from the meeting: - "Our number 1 call we run, in the city is fall victims," Williams said, and he flagged overdoses/poisonings as a monitored category. - On EV fires: "When these batteries get into that free burning stage... we will let it burn and evacuate the nearby area because of the dangers of the off gassing and the products of combustion," Williams said.

Staff follow-up: Chief Williams will provide data on ambulance destinations (Santa Paula Hospital vs. Ventura County Medical Center) and related transport statistics to the council as requested.