La Habra council approves second paramedic engine; resident calls for mutual-aid review

The La Habra City Council approved an agreement to add a second paramedic-capable engine (Engine 192) on June 16, 2025, in a 4-0 vote.

A resident, David (Dave) Curley, urged the council to add paramedic resources and to press Los Angeles County Fire to revisit mutual-aid rules that he said limit neighboring agenciesability to cover parts of La Habra when local units are depleted. "I think this is a good first step," Curley said, adding that in an incident earlier the citys resources were supplemented by units from Diamond Bar, La Mirada and Whittier.

A fire department representative acknowledged the citys current configuration includes a dedicated paramedic squad at Station 191 and paramedic-capable units at Stations 191 and 193, and said Station 192 would be configured as a full paramedic engine with a four-person crew that includes two paramedics. The speaker noted departments continue to evaluate ways to increase paramedic coverage because medical calls now make up the majority of fire-department responses.

Council members discussed geographic constraints and the difference between mutual-aid arrangements among neighboring municipal fire departments and mutual aid within Los Angeles County resources. One councilmember suggested inviting Los Angeles County Fire to explain how their mutual-aid agreements operate.

The council voted to approve the item 6 agreement authorizing the additional paramedic resource; the vote was recorded as 4-0 with Mayor Chair Espinosa, Councilmember Nick Sarian, Councilmember Lapkin and Councilmember Gomez voting yes.