Who is responding to Canyon Lake fire calls?

BY

There was a 911 call Monday morning for smoke coming from an electrical outlet at a home in Canyon Lake. The 911 call was received at the Perris Emergency Command Center (ECC), a full-service regional command and control center providing dispatch services to all unincorporated county areas, 21 contract cities and one Community Service District for a total of 93 fire stations.

Following the fire response to Monday’s 911 call, a post went out on a Canyon Lake Facebook page that it took 24 minutes for the first fire engine to arrive at the scene, and 36 minutes for a second engine to arrive. The post was by Station 94 Captain Jeff Roberts who lives in Canyon Lake and has a scanner.

He also commented in his post that the lineup for response to house fires in Canyon Lake is now “one county fire engine, one Murrieta fire engine, one Corona city fire engine, one Hemet fire engine, one Riverside city fire engine.”

Canyon Lake’s interim Fire Chief Mike Wilson responded to this comment by saying that he had received notification immediately after the 911 call. He said when he received the call from the County, he asked for two engines to respond. They called back to say that a battalion chief and two engines were en route.

The “emergency” turned out to be a malfunctioning A/C unit outside of the structure. Chief Wilson confirmed with the Perris ECC that there was no fire and that the first responder, a battalion chief, was on scene within 13 minutes. It then was up to the battalion chief to make the decision on canceling units, continuing all or some of the units, downgrading the emergency, etc.

Chief Wilson adds, “I have been the main contact for Canyon Lake since June 30 for County Fire and the Perris ECC. I have met with and/or had phone discussions multiple times with the Executive Team of County Fire. I have never been told that they are only sending one engine to calls and then going to other municipal fire departments for other engines. I have been told they will send the closest resources, which is their policy.”

City Manager Ariel Hall says the lineup that the fire captain listed on social media “was inaccurate” (County, Murrieta, Corona, Hemet, Riverside City). She said the City does not have a written agreement with the County at this time but is operating under the Declaration of Local Emergency – with Fire Chief Hawkins coordinating with Chief Wilson.”

She reiterated, “The County’s policy is to send the closest available resource. The Interim Chief has confirmed this and has not been notified that anything has changed.”

The Question

The question one must ask then is, “Who is the ‘closest available resource?’” According to Captain Roberts, Station 94 (Canyon Hills) and Station 5 (Quail Valley) were on standby at their respective stations and available to respond to Monday’s 911 call. But they weren’t called.

In a letter to the City Manager, Melissa Roberts, the Captain’s wife and former dispatcher, wrote that Engine 9 from south Perris and Murrieta Engine 5, near Loma Linda Medical Center, were the responding engines. Perris Engine 9 arrived in 24 minutes, Murrieta Engine 5 arrived in 36 minutes.

It was reported by an unofficial source that the battalion chief had requested a thermal imaging device, and the closest station to have that was Murrieta Engine 5. That could explain why it was 36 minutes before that engine arrived.

As indicated at the beginning, the original 911 call was for smoke coming through an electrical outlet. Had there been actual fire, would the Emergency Command Center have contacted the closest fire stations: 94 and 5?

That’s a question the City and County fire officials may or may not be addressing this week. But one thing is certain: a war of words is underway between those who believe residents are getting the protection they need during this State of Local Emergency and those who don’t.

Seemingly trustworthy individuals on both sides are seeking to educate their respective followers with “the facts.” Hopefully it won’t take a real house fire before Cooperative Agreements are signed to prove who’s right.