Staff Report

August 26, 2005

To: Board of Directors

From: Sam Mazza, Fire Chief

Subject: Monthly Activity Report – August 2005

Operations:

Emergency Incident Responses:

On July 4, fire crews responded to a report of refuse fire located on Viscaino Road. Upon arrival firefighters discovered a fire in a recycle container. The fire was extinguished by firefighters. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

On July 5, fire crews responded to a report of structure fire located on Lariat Lane. Firefighters discovered a stove fire. The fire was out upon arrival.

On July 11, fire crews responded to a report of structure fire at the Inn at Spanish Bay. Upon arrival firefighter discovered a grease fire that had already been extinguished by restaurant employees.

On July 10, fire crews responded to a report of vehicle accident on Holman Highway. Firefighters arrived in the general area but were unable to immediately locate the accident. A search was conducted. The accident was found to be located off of the highway and down the embankment. Because of the time required to locate the accident an extended response time was recorded.

On July 24, fire crews responded to a public service assist. When the crew arrived in the area they discovered the reported address clearly marked on Porque Lane. However, as they drove off of the main road they discovered more than one driveway. The additional driveway was not clearly marked. In addition to the extra driveway the address was not posted on the home. Consequently, the crew had to investigate which driveway was the entrance to the reported location. They then had to make contact with the home owner to verify they were at the correct address. As a result of the extra time taken to search out the correct location an extended response time was recorded. The homeowner has been contacted in an effort to make sure the address is clearly posted on the house.

Other incident responses are listed on the Monthly Response Activity Report.

Apparatus and Equipment:

All district apparatus are in service.

Training:

Emergency Medical System Continuing Education Drills:

Personnel reviewed Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) curriculum, practiced skills and completed written tests to compile Continuing Education Units (CEU’s). EMT’s are required to complete 24 hours of CEU’s every two years to keep their certification current.

Company Performance Standard Drills:

Company Performance Standards are designed to keep personnel proficient in basic fire ground evolutions. Vertical ventilation was the assigned evolution for the month of July.

Multi-Company Drills:

The multi-company drill scheduled in July allows individual companies to interoperate in different arenas of the fire service.

Battalion personnel continued training in Vertical Ventilation Practices as well as beginning Complex & large area search operations.

Prevention:

General Information:

Fire Prevention staff completed facility inspections at the Equestrian Center for their July and August events. This included daily inspection of cooking and electrical systems.

Staff completed the inspection of a new family daycare facility that is located on El Bosque Drive. This is a fourteen child daycare that may only operate between 8 am and 5 pm. This is the only licensed daycare within our jurisdiction.

Staff and Cal Am Water representatives identified locations for new and replacement hydrants as part of the Third Priority Water Pipeline Project.

Fire Captain Jones acted as the Fire Marshal for the Spirit West Coast Event at Laguna Seca. This is a voluntary assignment to the local community. Fire Captain Jones was able to utilize this event to train some of our new firefighters in special events inspections for fire and life safety concerns.

Fire Defense:

Residential Fire Safety Inspections are continuing. Engine companies are still working on re-inspections of residences that did not comply upon their first inspection.

Vacant and Undeveloped Lot inspections are ongoing. There are currently forty (40) vacant or undeveloped residential parcels that require clearance work to be completed. Ten day notices have been sent to the property owners advising them of the need to abate the hazard. It is our goal to work with the owners to have them get the work completed without having to contract the work on their behalf.

Gabilan Fire Crews are continuing work on the Los Altos Fuel Break. This project should continue into September.

Fire Road 22 improvements are almost completed. The final items to be installed are road markers and security gates. District Engineer Niccum is to be commended for his work on this project.

Public Education and Training:

Staff assisted Robert Louis Stevenson School with an earthquake preparedness drill on July 13^th.

Plan Review and Inspections:

The following inspections and plan checks were completed during this reporting period:

8 Sets of plans were received for review this month.

8 Sets of plans were “Finaled”

8 On site inspections were completed this reporting period.

This includes construction, alarm, sprinkler or final inspections.