By Duane W. Gang
The Press Enterprise
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. — After two months of negotiations, Riverside County supervisors today will reconsider a plan to create a reserve force for volunteer firefighters.
The county hopes to absorb its network of volunteer companies and convert them to a reserve force similar to the Sheriff’s Department reserve deputies.
The move, under discussion for four years, is intended to standardize training and avoid confusion over who is in charge when the volunteers respond to calls.
“We feel we have had very productive discussions. We need to move ahead,” Fire Chief John Hawkins said Friday. “We have reached some considerable agreement.”
The proposal first came before supervisors in August. But volunteers objected, concerned that the county would eliminate the companies altogether.
Volunteers also said creating a reserve program would not make financial sense, contending that with a current budget of about $664,000 for 500 volunteers, the current program is cost-effective.
In September, supervisors delayed action on the reserve program to allow additional discussions.
For the reserve program, the county would require all volunteers to submit to a physical and a background check, although a simplified transition would be put in place for existing volunteer firefighters.
The Fire Department would oversee the reserve program, set the training standards for volunteers and provide all equipment, according to the county’s proposal.
Reserve volunteer firefighters would be assigned near their homes in an effort to maintain community-based connections.
As part of the recent negotiations, the county agreed to put in place measures to give volunteer firefighters a greater say in the program, county officials said. Those include an advisory committee that will design the badge identifying the firefighters as volunteers.
Tim Young, chairman of the Volunteer Firefighters Association, said the talks have gone well.
He said the discussions were about the specifics, not whether the reserve program should be set up in the first place.
“From my point of view, I believe we made progress,” Young said.
Young said the association’s membership was scheduled to meet Monday night to weigh in on the reserve program.
“I might see a bunch of heads nodding or a bunch of apples and oranges thrown at me,” he said.
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