Eastern Alpine County Fire Services Plan

Due to increasing development in Eastern Alpine County, and the limited human, equipment and financial resources available to the all-volunteer Markleeville and Woodfords Fire Departments, in May, 2004 the Alpine County Board of Supervisors and the Alpine Fire Safe Council (AFSC) agreed to develop a master fire plan for Eastern Alpine County. An ad-hoc committee was formed that included members of the Board of Supervisors, representatives of the fire departments, Sheriff's office, Office of Emergency Services, interested members of the public and the AFSC.

The ad-hoc committee produced two reports. The Phase I report (72 KB) examined the existing situation and what might be done about it, the Phase II report (417 KB) examined the more promising alternatives in detail and made recommendations as to the preferred alternative. In May, 2005 the Board of Supervisors approved the Phase II report and voted to implement the recommendations.

The key findings of the above reports are:

• Although they are called fire departments, the community calls on them for far more than structural fires. During the period June 2002 through June 2004 the combined call statistics of the Markleeville and Woodfords Fire Departments were as follows:
  
  

  Type of Call	Number	Percent
  Wildlands	53	14%
  Vehicle Event	83	23%
  Medical Aid	139	38%
  Hazardous Materials	15	4%
  Structure Fire	14	4%
  Other*	64	17%
  Total	368	100%

• Due to the larger population served and the heavy tourist and commercial traffic on Highway 88, the work load falls disproportionately on the Woodfords Fire Department.
• Currently the Woodfords Fire Department is responding to approximately 130 calls per year, which is an extremely heavy work load for an all-volunteer department.
• Despite the enthusiasm and dedication of the current volunteers, history shows that the heavy work load will burn most of them out in a fairly short time unless the community can provide the support and recognition that they deserve.
• Changed demographics in the community and mandated stiffer training requirements make recruitment of new volunteers difficult.
• Some property owners are having difficulty getting reasonably priced fire insurance.

The key recommendations are:

• Consolidate the Markleeville and Woodfords departments into one department under one paid fire chief and one paid assistant chief in the Emergency Services office. In year 3 consolidate the Emergency Medical Services into the one department.
• The current level of funding that goes to the Markleeville and Woodfords fire departments should be maintained, and allocated to the consolidated department.
• A Benefit Assessment District should be formed as soon as possible with the proceeds dedicated to fire and emergency medical services.
• Negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding with the Woodfords Community on their funding of a proportionate share of the costs.
• A Capital Improvement Plan for fire and emergency medical services should be completed and based on that plan the current impact fee schedule should be updated.
• Increase the Transient Occupancy Tax and apply it to campgrounds and special events that last overnight, with the additional funds to be dedicated to fire and emergency medical services.
• Increase the Sales Tax, and attempt to increase the tax base by applying it to ski lift tickets with the additional funds to be dedicated to fire and emergency medical services.

Unfortunately progress on implementing the plan has been slow to non-existent. If you are interested in helping move this forward please contact David Griffith at 530-694-2168.

Currently an interim solution of hiring a full time Fire Chief has been proposed as explained in this letter to the community.