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Calimesa fire chief outlines wildfire preparedness, says city lacked capacity to send crews to Los Angeles fires
Summary
Fire Chief O'Connell told the Calimesa City Council on Jan. 21 that the department has expanded prevention programs and fuel-reduction work but was at reduced staffing when asked to send resources to Los Angeles; the department recalled staff and maintained apparatus locally during recent wind-driven outages.
Fire Chief Kevin O'Connell told the Calimesa City Council on Jan. 21 that the department has shifted to a community risk reduction model, added apparatus and training, and expanded fuel-reduction and code-enforcement work — but that the department did not deploy units to the Los Angeles wildfire incident because of reduced staffing.
The chief said the department has realigned duties to create a Community Risk Reduction Bureau, led by Deputy Fire Marshal Jerry Rodriguez, and that the city performs biannual weed abatement inspections and complaint-driven enforcement. He listed coordination with Caltrans on…
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