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Astoria fire engine deployed to California Palisades fire; city expects full reimbursement
Summary
Astoria sent one engine and personnel to the Palisades incident in California; the city estimates its direct costs at about $83,000 and expects California to reimburse all deployment costs under mutual-aid agreements.
Fire Chief Dan Crutchfield updated the council on Jan. 21 about an out-of-state deployment to California in response to requests from that state.
Chief Crutchfield said Oregon sent 21 strike teams totaling 370 firefighters and 75 engines; Clatsop County supplied one strike team of 18 firefighters, five engines and two staff vehicles. Astoria deployed one engine with a career engineer and an intern firefighter; Lewis and Clark Fire provided an engine boss to create a three-person engine crew. The unit deployed to the Palisades (Malibu/Santa Monica) area, arriving Jan. 9 after a two-day drive, worked assignments in the Malibu area and is expected to be released Jan. 23 with a two-day return trip; the crew is expected back in Clatsop County on the evening of Jan. 24.
Chief Crutchfield estimated Astoria’s deployment cost at about $83,000. He said roughly $33,000 is attributable to use of the engine and about $50,000 covers personnel, fuel, motel and meal costs. He told council the state of California will reimburse the city directly under the mutual-aid agreement; the city will then place the engine-use revenue into a reserved account for future equipment needs.
Councilor Davis asked how the engine-use funds are handled; Chief Crutchfield said revenues from deployments are kept in a dedicated account to help pay for future apparatus replacement and expensive equipment purchases. Crutchfield noted a new fire engine can cost approximately $800,000.
