SAVEOURVOLUNTEERFIREFIGHTERS .ORG Establishes Straight Talk Website

[RVC_FF]

Riverside, California (August 5, 2010) --- Riverside County Volunteer Firefighters has established a new straight talk website at SAVEOURVOLUNTEERFIREFIGHTERS .ORG in support of their struggle to protect the citizens of this great County, maintain the existing volunteer firefighter program and quell the special interests that want to eliminate them.

The polished interactive campaign website; explains many reasons to keep volunteer firefighters, what will happen if they're eliminated, asks their supporters to pick from a list of public officials and contact them, sign an online petition of support, keep updated on the latest news and follow their blog.

"We've added links to our MySpace, Facebook and Twitter pages too, and encourage our supporters to stay connected with us there", says Angel Sanchez, Chairman of the Riverside County Volunteer Firefighters Association. He added, "we know the value of social networking in today's society and want to make sure we're maximizing our message delivery".

Sanchez says the first of a series of campaign videos is also posted. It explains the issues facing Riverside County, talks about the over 500 member volunteer firefighter program with an honored 130 year history and points directly at the special interests bent on getting rid of them.

"We're excited to finally get a platform available so we can speak directly to the public and correct the misinformation campaign being waged against us", says Sanchez. "Yes, there will be an increased threat to public safety, some fire stations will close and hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual donations will be eliminated. But the biggest loser will be the public if Riverside County eliminates the Volunteer Firefighter program. We hope the public will rally around us and fight to stop this injustice from happening."

SAVEOURVOLUNTEERFIREFIGHTERS .ORG was established by the Riverside County Volunteer Firefighters Association who represent a highly trained and very cost effective back up firefighting force of over 500 members dedicated to protecting the citizens of this great county. In 2008, Volunteer Firefighters donated nearly 300,000 hours, valued at over $6.1 million of in-kind contributions to the County. Volunteer firefighters perform the same duties as paid firefighters. They're in your homes providing needed medical care, onscene at traffic accidents, fighting out of control wildfires and crawling through dense smoke to rescue your family. Volunteer firefighters do it for the love of the job and serving the public, not for money.

[Acklan]

From the Riverside Volunteer Fire Department's website,...

Volunteer Firefighters

Currently the “hiring’ of active suppression volunteer firefighters has been suspended by order of Fire Chief John R. Hawkins, effective April 29, 2009.
It is anticipated that a change to the current program will be made in 2010. We anticipate at that time we will be able to accept applications on an as needed basis. Please check this website often for any changes to applicant status.


Please direct any questions not addressed above to;

[email protected]

Can anyone give the other side of the story? Why are they elimitnating the volunteer program?

[RVC_FF]

The special interests were the catalysts

They've been able to convince the Fire Chief that we are a problem and no longer needed. Of course that's BS and if you read our website we refute their claims.

We just got our website up last Friday and we're getting the word out. The public outcry is building. We believe we'll win this fight.

Our wildland threat is HUGE. Fire season is all year long. Budgets have been cut and paid fire station closures are real possibility.

We are the County's backup firefighting force!

[LaFireEducator]

Sent my support by posting on your website.

If your career staff is union you, my friend, are fighting a powerful enemy with many powerful friends. The fact is your volunteers are probably more critical than you will ever know, and I wish you luck.

We have one Chief of a combo department that previous to his appointment, was the Chief of a all-career department, who has stated that he wants to see all the volunteers gone from his department even though they cover almost 200 square miles with a current shift force of 5 personnel.

Be strong.

[RVC_FF]

Thanks, I saw your post on our websiute and appreciate the support.

The fire service has a culture thatthe public doesn't know much about. When they get wind of this in-fighting that will cause a threat to community safety, we believe they'll come around.

[RVC_FF]

Press Release - Fire Department Declares Volunteer Firefighters Enemy Combatants

Riverside, California (August 7, 2010) --- The recent submission by the Fire Department to the Board of Supervisors is peppered with misinformation and untruths in support of their smear campaign bent on eliminating Riverside County Volunteer Firefighters. The special interests have managed to sneak their flawed proposal onto the Supervisor's agenda for this Tuesday, August 10th which shows their complete disregard for the safety of the public.

"We just have to set the record straight, because what they've said in their proposal to the Supervisors is just wrong", says Bruce Connole, Treasurer of the Riverside County Volunteer Firefighter's Association.

They claim volunteer firefighters respond without being actually dispatched to incidents. The truth; all volunteer firefighters responding to calls are sent by the County's Dispatch Center in Perris, and Cal Fire always takes charge even if volunteers arrive first.

They claim there's no medical or background screening of volunteers. The truth; of course there is, and it's the same annual examination paid Cal Fire firefighter's are given.

They claim volunteers do not have established training standards. The truth; yes, there are training standards and in fact they were developed and are managed by the Riverside County Fire Department.

They claim there's inadequate keeping of response and membership records. The truth; all response and membership records are reviewed and signed by each Cal Fire liaison, then sent monthly to the County.

They claim there's liability from volunteer owned equipment not under the control of the County. The truth; all volunteer equipment is approved by the County prior to purchase, insured by the volunteer company and its use is governed by the Riverside County Fire Volunteer Operating Manual.

Connole added, "the Fire Department claims there's no risk management control of volunteer firefighters. But in actuality they help select and train us, provide us personal safety equipment, and supervise us on incidents. We always operate as a team to serve the public."

SAVEOURVOLUNTEERFIREFIGHTERS .ORG was established by the Riverside County Volunteer Firefighters Association who represent a highly trained and very cost effective back up firefighting force of over 500 members dedicated to protecting the citizens of this great county. In 2008, Volunteer Firefighters donated nearly 300,000 hours, valued at over $6.1 million of in-kind contributions to the County. Volunteer firefighters perform the same duties as paid firefighters. They're in your homes providing needed medical care, onscene at traffic accidents, fighting out of control wildfires and crawling through dense smoke to rescue your family. Volunteer firefighters do it for the love of the job and serving the public, not for money.

# # #

[Acklan]

Is there a site that has the unabridged version of what the two sides said? Like published minutes of meetings? I am seeing one side and the other side appears a bit lean on information.

[DeputyMarshal]

Is there a site that has the unabridged version of what the two sides said? Like published minutes of meetings? I am seeing one side and the other side appears a bit lean on information.

Traditionally, a dot-org domain was assigned to a non-profit organization. These days, it's just an open option to anyone registering a domain with a discount registrar like the one used by "saveourvolunteerfirefighters.org."

Considering that references to any legitimate organization are conspicuously absent from the website, the contract address is a PO box, and the domain registrant is hidden, I'm inclined to suspect that the "we" behind the whole "saveourvolunteersfirefighters.org" campaign is a just one person...

It's mentioned on the RCVFA website but it's the only thing that's been posted to that site since last year... You'd think there would be something leading up to anything as drastic as this is protrayed.

For a balanced, two sided discusssion, I think we're going to have to look elsewhere.

[DeputyMarshal]

FWIW, this document is an interesting read; it's the RCFD Strategic Plan for 2009-2029:

http://www.rvcfire.org/opencms/quick...tegic_Plan.pdf

[LaFireEducator]

Very comprehensive.

Not much in there about the volunteer program one way or the other.

[Acklan]

For a balanced, two sided discusssion, I think we're going to have to look elsewhere.

Agreed. I would have like to have seen an article quoting the RSVFD directly, instead of paraphrasing them.

[Acklan]

I was looking at the "RCFD Strategic Plan for 2009-2029", and on page 61 (.pdf page 67). I am lead to believe they may have suspended the hiring of volunteers till the administration can sort out conflicts between the career and volunteer staff. If you notice there are many areas they apparently are addressing. I wonder if they have had a major change in administration in the passed year or so, and this is the new administration tailoring the department to their style?
Maybe the OP can shed some light on the subject.

[DeputyMarshal]

I wonder if they have had a major change in administration in the passed year or so, and this is the new administration tailoring the department to their style?

Sounds about right... The Chief came up from the ranks about 3 years ago. That's just about long enough to commission and execute the management study reflected behind the Strategic Plan.

I see that he's the 9th Chief in the last 25 years. A comprehensive 20 year strategic plan is pretty ballsy. (I mean that in a good way. )

[RVC_FF]

We have plenty of supportive documents, but they take away from our message.

The Riverside County Fire Department wants to eliminate the volunteer firefighter program, then create a new reserve volunteer firefighter program. This is essentially cutting the head off the Volunteer Firefighter's Association and the 59 Volunteer Fire Companies giving the County complete control.

The reserve volunteer firefighter program (yeah I know the title is lame) will eventually be dissolved and they will be gone. Historically that's a fact.

Orange County Fire took exactly the same tactic when they moved their volunteers into reserves. Now they're only used in anemic support roles with no EMS or fire suppression duties.

[RVC_FF]

The Grand Jury conducted an investigation in 2009 pointing plenty of fingers about the mistreatment of VFFs at the department. Here's a link: http://www.riverside.courts.ca.gov/g...cofiredept.pdf