GWOT V - P**ing Match
Jul. 22nd, 2023 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drewkittyGWOT V - Pissing Match
[Author's note: there are a bunch of in-jokes in this fictional memo. If you don't get them, that's OK. This is a California that rebelled after being nuked twice by America. Pat ... GovCal to you and me ... is a bit testy about it all.]
From: GovCal
To: GERC (Governor's Emergency Response Committee)
Re: this pissing match between all you fire agencies
After considerable reflection [about 30 seconds - Pat] the proposals made by the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the Military Department, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the California University and last but certainly not least, the municipal fire departments of San Jose, Sacramento and Los Angeles.
No one agency will be given the mantle of statewide fire protection responsibility. I'm going to split it all up. There's plenty of work for every one of you.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal is hereby established as an independent agency ... reporting to the Governor's Office of Emergency Services. OSFM will continue its traditional duties with respect to code enforcement, state fire training (including control of standards and curricula) and investigation of fire crime within or against state facilities, including state lands. OSFM shall also start running field training teams statewide, including the use of fixed and mobile simulators
OES shall however start operating its own fire department, the Governor's Office of Emergency Services fire department or GovFire. No more of this too many Chiefs not enough boots. GovFire shall protect state facilities in line with the industrial fire requirements below - except that state departments shall run their own fire agencies as appropriate. All state agencies are responsible to OSFM for quality assurance but are to run their own fire programs.
(Yes, this means there is now a State Parks Fire Department, a Boats and Waterways Fire Department, a Aviation Administration Fire Department, etc. If it is has a Director, it has a fire department now too.)
Investigation of all fire crime outside state facilities is hereby transferred to CAL-OSHA. Fire crime is a state level offense and CAL-OSHA is in best position to both prevent and investigate commercial and industrial fires.
I can hear the screaming from Riverpoint Court already. Just wait, there's more.
The California Department of Forestry will continue under the Department of Natural Resources, as its fire department. It will organize itself accordingly and shall have its own fire department _appropriate to the needs of forestry_. It shall not have its own aircraft. Any forestry flights can be arranged through California Military Department or private contractors. It can have law enforcement for forest crimes. That is final.
The California Fire Deparmtent is hereby created. It shall be an all hazard all risk department that inherits all the problems and traditions of the firefighting side of what was once called CDF. It also shall not have its own aircraft. It can have law enforcement for fire crimes, including violations of OSFM's agency regulations. This is also final.
California Fire (the acronym should be obvious) shall report to the Governor's Office of Emergency Services and through OES to me. That is correct, two separate fire agencies (GovFire and CalFire). The former shall focus on protection of state buildings and the latter on general fire protection for areas not protected by other agencies.
Every city shall have its own fire service. Every town or community that wants one shall be encouraged to have its own fire service. Every county, including the ones that used to contract with other agencies, MUST (shall!) have its own County Fire Department. Mutual aid is expected, MOUs are OK, but you have to have your own Chief who is a county employee so I can throw someone in jail when your county fire agency drops the ball and people die.
San Jose, this one's for you. All fire agencies statewide must have a program for recruiting, screening, training and making full use of volunteer fire personnel. Volunteer fire duties up to 20 hours per week shall be protected public service labor and employers can help fulfill their civic obligations accordingly.
Los Angeles. You have to have a County Fire and a City Fire. It's a tradition. You can't consolidate the two so stop asking.
Sacramento. I remind you that we are a nation under constant threat of nuclear attack. Too much consolidation makes your organization useless when Sacramento gets nuked. Separate city and county fire departments. Thank you.
It is my expectation that any full time paid municipal firefighter anywhere in the state can run a crew of volunteers on a fire apparatus. One firefighter per engine, or 1-0. That means they all need to be drivers and pumpers or whatever the term is. Figure it out.
Private fire companies. Overseen by OSFM. Can protect private properties, small or large, by contract. May only use lights and siren when responding to life threatening emergencies. Must transfer Incident Command or go into Unified Command when the public agency of jurisdiction arrives - the public agency's decision is final. If activated by the California Military Denpartment under State of War conditions, fold into the Governor's Emergency Operations Plan and report to CMD or OES with compensation if we survive.
All installations (public and private) over 100 employees must have their own industrial fire brigade. Over 1000 employees within a 5 mile radius must have their own industrial fire department. At least one full time employee devoted to fire protection for an industrial fire brigade; at least four for an industrial fire department. These private fire protection companies are as per the prior paragraph but are to focus on protecting their own facilities first.
This should give us triple coverage statewide.
Local level: cities, towns, volunteer agencies, private fire companies, industrial fire brigades and departments
County level: the County Fire Department for each County in mutual aid with the larger cities in each County
State level: California Fire, GovFire, units from state agency fire departments, CMD Fire (aka MilFire or those military forces that can be spared organized as ad hoc fire personnel)
Oversight: OES and OSFM
Disaster coordination: OES
About aircraft.
We are still planning the return to general civil aviation in a post-nuclear world. Meanwhile, there is a need for rescue, firefighting and medical evacuation aircraft.
Red Lion may operate rescue aircraft if it wishes. Red Lion shall operate medical evacuation aircraft, and continue to be subsidized if necessary.
The California Military Department shall operate rescue aircraft and casevac aircraft. CMD shall not operate medical evacuation aircraft. No California state flag or contracted aircraft shall display the Red Cross, the Red Diamond, or other protective symbols. This is not a prohibition against using state aircraft for rescue or medical missions, but under my interpretation (also final) of the laws of land warfare, we are not going to confuse the Americans, Nevada, Arizona or Mexico. Red Lion aircraft are protected, humanitarian and unarmed. That's it. Note that CMD can and is encouraged to _contract_ with Red Lion to provide medevac aircraft, but then Red Lion's internal rules apply to all flight missions.
Private medical evacuation aircraft will be authorized once we have agreements with Nevada, Arizona, and USAF. (We will tell Oregon and they will comply.) They will not wear Red Cross, Red Lion or red diamond livery.
I especially do not want someone coming up with the idea of putting a nuke into a protected aircraft and blaming California for it. Aviation security accordingly.
Firefighting aircraft may be operated by any fire agency EXCEPT Forestry or California Fire. Those two agencies may contract for the use of other people's aircraft. California Military Department shall extend every courtesy, including reserving aircraft and squadrons if justified, to those two agencies, but I want them focused on trees and fires, not on making their own baby air forces. They mostly contracted pre-Firecracker anyway, so don't tell me it can't be done.
How are we going to pay for this? The usual flim flam and hand waving, of course. Call it another make-work program if you want, but the work is real and the need is desperate.
I am sick of conference calls with grieving families when our admittedly substandard housing catches fire and burns down.
Also, don't tell me we don't need all this firefighting capability. Another nuke and every engine from Yreka to San Diego will be needed. Also remember that we can't call on mutual aid from anywhere out of state anymore if we have wildfires.
Make it happen.
Signed,
GovCal (Pat)
[Author's note: there are a bunch of in-jokes in this fictional memo. If you don't get them, that's OK. This is a California that rebelled after being nuked twice by America. Pat ... GovCal to you and me ... is a bit testy about it all.]
From: GovCal
To: GERC (Governor's Emergency Response Committee)
Re: this pissing match between all you fire agencies
After considerable reflection [about 30 seconds - Pat] the proposals made by the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the Military Department, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the California University and last but certainly not least, the municipal fire departments of San Jose, Sacramento and Los Angeles.
No one agency will be given the mantle of statewide fire protection responsibility. I'm going to split it all up. There's plenty of work for every one of you.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal is hereby established as an independent agency ... reporting to the Governor's Office of Emergency Services. OSFM will continue its traditional duties with respect to code enforcement, state fire training (including control of standards and curricula) and investigation of fire crime within or against state facilities, including state lands. OSFM shall also start running field training teams statewide, including the use of fixed and mobile simulators
OES shall however start operating its own fire department, the Governor's Office of Emergency Services fire department or GovFire. No more of this too many Chiefs not enough boots. GovFire shall protect state facilities in line with the industrial fire requirements below - except that state departments shall run their own fire agencies as appropriate. All state agencies are responsible to OSFM for quality assurance but are to run their own fire programs.
(Yes, this means there is now a State Parks Fire Department, a Boats and Waterways Fire Department, a Aviation Administration Fire Department, etc. If it is has a Director, it has a fire department now too.)
Investigation of all fire crime outside state facilities is hereby transferred to CAL-OSHA. Fire crime is a state level offense and CAL-OSHA is in best position to both prevent and investigate commercial and industrial fires.
I can hear the screaming from Riverpoint Court already. Just wait, there's more.
The California Department of Forestry will continue under the Department of Natural Resources, as its fire department. It will organize itself accordingly and shall have its own fire department _appropriate to the needs of forestry_. It shall not have its own aircraft. Any forestry flights can be arranged through California Military Department or private contractors. It can have law enforcement for forest crimes. That is final.
The California Fire Deparmtent is hereby created. It shall be an all hazard all risk department that inherits all the problems and traditions of the firefighting side of what was once called CDF. It also shall not have its own aircraft. It can have law enforcement for fire crimes, including violations of OSFM's agency regulations. This is also final.
California Fire (the acronym should be obvious) shall report to the Governor's Office of Emergency Services and through OES to me. That is correct, two separate fire agencies (GovFire and CalFire). The former shall focus on protection of state buildings and the latter on general fire protection for areas not protected by other agencies.
Every city shall have its own fire service. Every town or community that wants one shall be encouraged to have its own fire service. Every county, including the ones that used to contract with other agencies, MUST (shall!) have its own County Fire Department. Mutual aid is expected, MOUs are OK, but you have to have your own Chief who is a county employee so I can throw someone in jail when your county fire agency drops the ball and people die.
San Jose, this one's for you. All fire agencies statewide must have a program for recruiting, screening, training and making full use of volunteer fire personnel. Volunteer fire duties up to 20 hours per week shall be protected public service labor and employers can help fulfill their civic obligations accordingly.
Los Angeles. You have to have a County Fire and a City Fire. It's a tradition. You can't consolidate the two so stop asking.
Sacramento. I remind you that we are a nation under constant threat of nuclear attack. Too much consolidation makes your organization useless when Sacramento gets nuked. Separate city and county fire departments. Thank you.
It is my expectation that any full time paid municipal firefighter anywhere in the state can run a crew of volunteers on a fire apparatus. One firefighter per engine, or 1-0. That means they all need to be drivers and pumpers or whatever the term is. Figure it out.
Private fire companies. Overseen by OSFM. Can protect private properties, small or large, by contract. May only use lights and siren when responding to life threatening emergencies. Must transfer Incident Command or go into Unified Command when the public agency of jurisdiction arrives - the public agency's decision is final. If activated by the California Military Denpartment under State of War conditions, fold into the Governor's Emergency Operations Plan and report to CMD or OES with compensation if we survive.
All installations (public and private) over 100 employees must have their own industrial fire brigade. Over 1000 employees within a 5 mile radius must have their own industrial fire department. At least one full time employee devoted to fire protection for an industrial fire brigade; at least four for an industrial fire department. These private fire protection companies are as per the prior paragraph but are to focus on protecting their own facilities first.
This should give us triple coverage statewide.
Local level: cities, towns, volunteer agencies, private fire companies, industrial fire brigades and departments
County level: the County Fire Department for each County in mutual aid with the larger cities in each County
State level: California Fire, GovFire, units from state agency fire departments, CMD Fire (aka MilFire or those military forces that can be spared organized as ad hoc fire personnel)
Oversight: OES and OSFM
Disaster coordination: OES
About aircraft.
We are still planning the return to general civil aviation in a post-nuclear world. Meanwhile, there is a need for rescue, firefighting and medical evacuation aircraft.
Red Lion may operate rescue aircraft if it wishes. Red Lion shall operate medical evacuation aircraft, and continue to be subsidized if necessary.
The California Military Department shall operate rescue aircraft and casevac aircraft. CMD shall not operate medical evacuation aircraft. No California state flag or contracted aircraft shall display the Red Cross, the Red Diamond, or other protective symbols. This is not a prohibition against using state aircraft for rescue or medical missions, but under my interpretation (also final) of the laws of land warfare, we are not going to confuse the Americans, Nevada, Arizona or Mexico. Red Lion aircraft are protected, humanitarian and unarmed. That's it. Note that CMD can and is encouraged to _contract_ with Red Lion to provide medevac aircraft, but then Red Lion's internal rules apply to all flight missions.
Private medical evacuation aircraft will be authorized once we have agreements with Nevada, Arizona, and USAF. (We will tell Oregon and they will comply.) They will not wear Red Cross, Red Lion or red diamond livery.
I especially do not want someone coming up with the idea of putting a nuke into a protected aircraft and blaming California for it. Aviation security accordingly.
Firefighting aircraft may be operated by any fire agency EXCEPT Forestry or California Fire. Those two agencies may contract for the use of other people's aircraft. California Military Department shall extend every courtesy, including reserving aircraft and squadrons if justified, to those two agencies, but I want them focused on trees and fires, not on making their own baby air forces. They mostly contracted pre-Firecracker anyway, so don't tell me it can't be done.
How are we going to pay for this? The usual flim flam and hand waving, of course. Call it another make-work program if you want, but the work is real and the need is desperate.
I am sick of conference calls with grieving families when our admittedly substandard housing catches fire and burns down.
Also, don't tell me we don't need all this firefighting capability. Another nuke and every engine from Yreka to San Diego will be needed. Also remember that we can't call on mutual aid from anywhere out of state anymore if we have wildfires.
Make it happen.
Signed,
GovCal (Pat)
