SB Fire Concessions Mean Loma Linda Keeps Emergency Support

A decision by San Bernardino County firefighters to accept benefit reductions may save jobs and possibly avoid impacting public safety services to cities such as Loma Linda, which rely on the county fire department.

Members of the San Bernardino County Professional Firefighters Local 935, which also represents Loma Linda’s firefighters, voted 98 percent in favor of accepting a 7 percent salary reduction, made possible by reducing retirement pickup, a 50 percent reduction in salary step increases and a capped medical subsidy that applies toward retirement calculations, according to a county news release. The cuts go into effect July 2.

The cuts would affect only members of the San Bernardino County Fire Department. While Loma Linda Fire Department members are covered by Local 935, they are currently conducting their own separate negations.

The move by the firefighter union was expected to save the county about $2.14 million annually. While many are praising the union’s decision, the cuts will not be official unless the specialized peace officers, public attorneys, probation officers, and some special districts employees groups accept similar concessions, said David Wert, county spokesman.

If all the unions agree to the recommended cuts, the county could save more than $30 million, officials said.

“The county cities that we serve have definitely been impacted by the budget situation,” said Don Trapp, executive vice president for Local 935 and a San Bernardino County Fire captain in Bloomington. “Our goal is to provide the best service we can absolutely provide. So when it came to the decision between service reduction and us giving concessions, it was an easy answer for us. We wanted to try to work on concessions that we could live with and also maintain a service delivery we always do.”

For Loma Linda Fire, the vote means they might hang on to needed emergency support service. The city's department, like many small cities, relies heavily on the larger department for mutual aid.

Loma Linda's working on a tight city budget. Loma Linda Fire Chief Jeffrey Bender was making contingency plans for fire coverage after Colton Fire, which has a mutual response agreement with Loma Linda, announced it would close one of its four stations on a rotating basis.

“If we had to close a station, or brown out a station, it may not just affect out department and the citizens we serve, it may even affect adjacent cities or communities,” said Tracey Martinez, public information officer with San Bernardino County Fire.

The county is a large department. The firefighter union alone is made up of 344 firefighters, fire captains and fire engineers.

For large fires, such as the ones that will occasionally break out in Reche Canyon, mutual response is key to extinguishing fires quickly

Fire season is year round in Southern California, Martinez said.

“We’re reliant on each other,” she said.