Fire Department makes debut
It’s here. Finally. Tomorrow at 8 o’clock in the morning, emergency calls for fire and medical service for the City of Canyon Lake will be routed to the brand new City of Canyon Lake Fire Department. An eager and cohesive department of firefighters and fire captains will respond and take to the streets of Canyon Lake for the first time in the community’s history.
After a year of preparation and planning, the new fire department is ready to roll. More than 25 firefighters, including 15 reserves, are on staff and have been trained for the Jan. 1 debut tomorrow.
“This has been an incredible journey and I have been fortunate to work with an amazing staff at the City of Canyon Lake,” Fire Chief Jeff LaTendresse, the first to be hired almost a year ago and tasked with forming the new department, said. “We are a small city, yet each employee has made a difference in getting this new department up and running.”
Jeff, who was promoted from Interim Fire Chief to Fire Chief last month, went through an exhaustive process to hire his staff. The new employees were hired in November and have been in training for the municipal fire department ever since. Jeff is convinced they’re ready and are the right team for the job.
“In November I was also able to hire an incredible staff, including one Battalion Chief, three Fire Captains, three Fire Engineers, three Firefighter/Paramedics, 15 Reserve Firefighters, and an Administrative Assistant/Analyst,” he said. “During the past month as we have trained together, I have watched these talented individuals become a cohesive team that is totally committed to serving the City of Canyon Lake.”
Working hand in hand with the fire chief to create the new fire department was City Manager Chris Mann. Regulations needed to be established, budgets made, equipment identified and purchased and an endless list of other items on the two’s to do list. The list is completed and Chris is convinced that the department is ready.
“The Canyon Lake Fire Department will provide a sustainable, high level of service, tailored to meet the needs of Canyon Lake,” Chris said. “I am confident that the Fire Department will become a source of pride for the community, and that Canyon Lakers will embrace our new firefighters.”
The City of Canyon Lake Fire Department takes residence in the existing Station 60 that has been the community fire station for years on Vacation Drive. Tomorrow morning, when the contract with Riverside County Fire and Cal Fire expires, city firefighters will move into the station, rename it Canyon Lake Station 1 and get to work.
At the time of the shift, the new fire department will have much to do in a short period of time. Even though Cal Fire was cooperative with the transition and worked with the new city employees, the firefighters will need to quickly become familiar with Station 1, move all of the new equipment into the building and throw a banner over the existing sign sporting the new name. The permanent new sign will be installed on Monday.
Because of all there is to accomplish tomorrow, there will be no ceremonies or celebrations. Instead, the city plans on conducting an official ribbon cutting ceremony in February once fire station renovations are complete.
Calling 9-1-1 to report incidents and emergencies will be seamless since the city is contracting with the same County of Riverside dispatch and communications services that were used with Cal Fire previously. The process will continue to work exactly as it has in the past and Canyon Lake residents should notice no change, the city said.
The vehicles the new fire department will be using initially are not what they’ll be operating in a few weeks. They have purchased a Fire Engine, a Type 6 Engine and two command vehicles, none of which are going to be parked at the fire station tomorrow when the doors open. Until those new vehicles are operational, the fire department will be able to make do with the existing Fire Engine (Engine 60, which is being left for the city’s use as part of the transition) and a Code Enforcement Department vehicle.
“Engine 60 has been turned over to the city, as the city owns the engine,” the city said. “It will be our backup engine, and has been renumbered/renamed Engine 201. Our new engine, Engine 1, arrived last week. It will be on-hand for the transition, but it will then be sent to Ontario for a week or two for the equipment to be installed on it. While it’s gone, we will use Engine 201.”
The Type 6 Engine was slightly delayed due to the chip shortage, but the city said it can operate without it for a while because it is used for wildfires and won’t be needed this time of year. The two command vehicles are also delayed due to the chip shortage. Those vehicles are expected to be in the city’s possession and operational sometime in February.
All other equipment has arrived and is ready to be deployed.
“This is an exciting and historic moment for the City of Canyon Lake,” Chris said. “After struggling for the better part of a decade to manage and pay for fire service through a contract with the County of Riverside, this City Council took bold action to solve the problem once and for all by implementing local control.”