IFPD seeks higher fire safety rating

Commissioners at the March 23 meeting of the Idyllwild Fire Protection
District (IFPD) had a lot to digest. The chief’s report included several
big documents: the draft fiscal year (FY) 2024-25 budget, the draft of
the 2025-30 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), the district’s new Vehicle
and Equipment Catalog (VEC), the draft 2025 update of the district’s
Strategic Plan, and a summary report of this year’s Insurance Services
Office Public Protection Classification, or ISO rating.

The FY 2024-25 draft budget is 6.5% higher than 2023-24, similar to the
increases over the last five years. The last budget was $3,345,000, and
the draft calls for $3,563,300 next year, with revenues keeping pace.

The CIP is the plan for equipment acquisitions and includes estimates of
where each piece of equipment, especially vehicles, is in its expected
lifespan, and how much it would cost to replace. Chief Mark LaMost
thanked the board for its support for past purchases: The two ambulances
the district purchased in 2020 and 2021 would cost at least twice as
much now. 

LaMont, and the commissioners, expressed satisfaction with the recently
purchased, low-mileage, used ambulance that arrived. It was purchased
for $60,000 after logging only 31,000 miles at an Air Force base. A new
unit would cost $219,000 and take at least a year to deliver.

Another purchase fell through this month: LaMont has been looking for an
administrative vehicle for Executive Assistant Rachel Teeguarden, who
logs a lot of miles for the district on her personal vehicle. This
purchase was already budgeted and is a $43,000 line item in the new
draft budget. An offer came in for a new 2023 Dodge Durango for $23,230,
an interdealer trade, but another buyer got there first, so the search
continues. LaMont is seeking something large enough to do crew swaps
during extended incidents, but small enough to get good mileage, and is
focusing on either a Durango or a Jeep Cherokee.

The ISO audit is the way a fire agency’s strength or weakness is rated,
and the information has historically been used by insurance companies to
determine risk. On a scale of 0 to 100, over 90 points earns an agency a
“1,” above 80 a “2”, etc. IFPD rose from 80.03 to 89.33 with this audit
and is now less than a point below that top rating.

LaMont said only two other agencies in the county have 2 ratings:
Riverside City and Corona, and that Cathedral City lost its 2 rating
this year. IFPD will ask for an interim audit in 18 months and try for
that last fraction of a point to raise the district’s rating to a 1.
LaMont told the Crier he is not aware of any agencies in the county with
that rating.

LaMont tied the CIP into the ISO rating: Gaining and losing equipment
gives a fire department more or fewer points. In LaMont’s example, if
the district lost its ladder truck it would lose 5 points. A ladder
truck would cost $1.5 million to replace. It cost a about a third that
in 2003. He said he has only seen it used three times in his time at the
district, but it saved houses on those calls.

The documents used for the audit fill a 4-inch-thick binder. Much of
that is from Fern Valley Water: 7 points are available for water, and it
is hoped that with Idyllwild Water District’s (IWD) cooperation, this
goal can be reached. Hydrant maintenance is one thing that helps, and
IWD’s interim general manager has begun fixing them. IFPD receives no
direct benefit for the better ISO rating, but it is a benefit for
homeowners, and indicates a higher level of preparedness, and a better
resourced agency.

The Crier contacted Bill Severns, a broker who has sold a great deal of
insurance to Idyllwild homeowners, to ask whether this change would
affect local insurance premiums. He pointed out that while standard
carriers consider ISO ratings for their fire ratings on properties, the
California FAIR Plan does not, but instead uses its new Zesty AI system.
Severns said, “All standard carriers are not writing in the brush areas,
so I have no idea what the differential in premium would be for an ISO 1
vs 2.” The higher rating, he concluded was, “Great news for Idyllwild
people, but really not applicable to the Idyllwild insurance industry at
this point.”

During a recent trip to California Training and Education Expo at the
Riverside Convention Center, IFPD met many vendors who confirmed what
they already knew: Replacement costs for vehicles and other equipment
are “off the charts.” Looking at the service life of the present fleet,
the CIP foresees a steady increase in the cost of replacing it, from
around $31,000 a month ($379,958 annually) to $41,000 ($531,250
annually) over the next 16-year cycle. 

The board approved a request for an increase in the billing rate for
ambulance service of 4.1%; 5% would require going to the county board of
supervisors. LaMont spoke of the recent acquisition of AMR by GMR. In
response to a question from Commissioner Henry Sawicki, LaMont explained
that since ambulance companies are being bought up by for-profit
businesses, and since ambulance service is a very expensive item in
medical billing, people might think it a lucrative business. Some calls
are expensive: Interfacility transport, ambulance rides between
hospitals and other facilities, are prepaid. Firms agree to take
money-losing 911 calls in order to get the interfacility calls, calls
outside IFPD’s service area. IFPD’s medical calls also are relatively
high mileage, with most going off the Hill.

But Medicare and MediCal reimburse less than $100 for a service billed
by IFPD at over $2,000. This means IFPD’s budget includes a red line for
ambulance service write off, money it will never see, usually about 60%.
For 2022-23, this was $897,750 out of the total billed, $1,522,000.
LaMont said this needs to be addressed at the federal level.

Another revenue item approved was the district’s unit fee, the
assessment that appears on property tax bills. It was set in 1981 at $65
for a structure up to 3,000 square feet, with higher fees for larger
buildings. The annual approval is a legal requirement, but any increase
would have to be approved by two-thirds of the voters in the district.
LaMont noted that the district has a sustainability committee that has
not met since COVID, and he is trying to restart that group, with the
board adding an ad hoc committee. He thinks it’s necessary, at some
point, to put an increase before the voters, including an accelerator, a
built-in increase to keep pace with inflation, using the Consumer Price
Index.

The Chief also met with U.S. Representative Ken Calvert, to discuss ways
his office could help IFPD. LaMont’s top two priorities were grants for
the district and funding for the U.S. Forest Service (USFS); although
IFPD is well staffed, LaMont said the San Jacinto Ranger District of the
San Bernardino National Forest was experiencing a 51% vacancy rate among
firefighters. Funding for USFS firefighters is another shortcoming
LaMont said requires federal attention.

LaMont told of one way Calvert did help IFPD recently after a visit from
the IRS. He recounted that several months ago, the agency decided IFPD
was a sole proprietorship, and owed a great deal in back taxes. During
months of engagement, the IRS would not back down from this position,
and only after the congressman’s intervention was the matter set
straight. LaMont was “bothered” by the thought of how a less savvy and
well-connected taxpayer would have dealt with the same situation. 

The board also received copies of the new VEC, which LaMont called “very
thorough” and “a wonderful thing.” He said he has been trying to put
this together for 20 years. It includes not just the vehicles and their
maintenance requirements, but all the supporting equipment on them, and
every tool (or tool kit) for which the district has paid more than $500.
With it, every necessary detail is available for the staff in a
permanent document.  The chief made a comment that began, “If I were to
get hit by a truck…,” making light of the importance of having an
institutional memory separate from any one person.

Two more staff members are in training for paramedic certification, to
finish in October. LaMont’s goal is to have all IFPD full-time personnel
certified. The Strategic Plan included statements from members of the
team, including Teeguarden, who recently completed paramedic
certification. She said she had thought she might never use the skills,
or only occasionally, but is actually running calls and driving an
ambulance. LaMont pointed out that IFPD does 12,050 calls a year, but
those calls do not come in evenly. Some days are very busy, and it helps
to have people who can cover different types of call.

LaMont mentioned helping teach a Strike Team/Task Force Leader class at
the Forest Service’s Danny Rhynes Training Center.  LaMont said the
facility had been “somewhat shuttered” for several years and that it was
nice to see it open again. One of the department’s volunteers also
completed a course: the Training the Trainers course for CERT (Community
Emergency Response Team) at Rancho Cucamonga Fire’s training center. 

Looking to future recruitment, IFPD team members conducted mock
interviews and gave students a crash course in resumé building at a job
fair at Anza’s Hamilton High. The chief noted that the line at IFPD’s
booth was among the longer ones and 18 future candidates went through
the exercise.

IFPD’s new communications site lacks only one piece of equipment, a
duplexer that will boost  transmission from 5 watts to 50, which will
help when working rescue missions in drainages and other dead spots.
IFPD also plans to relocate WNKI (1610 AM), the emergency radio station,
to the new site to provide better coverage.

In his update on fuels reduction projects, LaMont noted that wet winters
haver led to “amazing” regrowth in areas that were thinned six to eight
months ago. This is being trimmed on the new Bear Trap project, and “as
soon as we get a window, we plan on introducing a little bit of fire to
that landscape to try to reduce the threat on our west shoulder.” Home
abatement inspections begin April 15.

Before the open session, commissioners participated in the mandatory
bi-annual Workplace Ethics refresher with legal counsel. Secretary
Rhonda Andrewson, not present, was excused and so will complete that
requirement on her own, Commissioner Stephanie Yost said.

The next scheduled board meeting is 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 28.