Sierra Madre Tattler: Sierra Madre No Longer Has a Volunteer Fire Department

– Courtesy photo / City of Sierra Made

By Sierra Madre Tattler

Let’s face it, the volunteer fire department that brought the great CeeLo Green to the Foothill Village in 2011 had even by that time become a mere shadow of itself.

In case you are not aware, CeeLo Green is a famous urban pop star and former coach on the TV show The Voice, and he had come out to Sierra Madre to pay homage to the last volunteer fire department in Los Angeles County. His mom was a fire volunteer in Georgia, and he wanted to show his respect. Oh, and film an ad for a battery company.

The era when factory workers, plumbers, and folks who just wanted to show some community concern, would at the sound of the alarm stream out of their places of work to hurriedly pull on yellow rubber jumpsuits and climb aboard howling fire engines, was already a thing of the past.

If anything the Sierra Madre Volunteer Fire Department had become an unofficial training command, one that would help young firefighters gain enough experience so they could swing jobs with paying departments. All run by supervisors who were salaried professionals.

As you know, Los Angeles County fire departments do pay very well. This was a wise investment of a young firefighter’s time, one that could soon pay very handsome dividends. Backed by strong municipal employee unions, some did go on to take jobs elsewhere that paid handsomely.

If you don’t believe me; head on over to the website Transparent California and type in the word “firefighter.” Prepare to lament your career choices.

Somehow the demise of Sierra Madre’s Volunteer Fire Department had become a fait accompli. It certainly didn’t arrive with a lot of publicity. This would have been big news a while back, but now the sleeping village didn’t even murmur in its sleep. Nobody said much of anything.

I sent off an email to Sierra Madre City Manager Gabe Engeland and asked about the fiscal dynamics behind all of this. After all, it is always all about the money. I was soon rewarded with the following bounty of information.

Hi John – In response to your email entitled “PSN article PRA Request” I have attached one responsive document. 

As you will see staff has identified a potential savings of up to $340,000 for the FY18-19 Budget. Changes already made in the current FY are equal to $190,000 in savings. The Fire Department reorganization the City Council authorized on Tuesday increased the Fire Budget for this FY by an estimated $90,723, but this increase was offset by the $190,000 in savings already identified for a current budget year General Fund reduction of $99,277. 

It is anticipated these savings will be necessary to further the transformation of the SMFD to a career department. Thanks, Gabe

So there you go. Not with a bang, but a spreadsheet. Ce Lo Green, along with any available Dalmatians, has now left the building.

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