La Verne Fire Department To Undergo Preparedness Study

LA VERNE, CA — City officials brought on a consulting firm last week to conduct a study on the La Verne Fire Department as questions begin to mount on the future of the agency.

The City Council unanimously voted during its July 6 meeting to allow the Sacramento-based consulting firm AP Triton to conduct a standards of cover and community risk analysis of the city's fire and emergency medical services.

Interim Fire Chief Larry Waterhouse said the study was important as it will provide the necessary raw data to see where the department is at in how well equipped it is to handle emergencies. The study will also provide a risk assessment of all the different hazards within the city.

“Every structure that’s a potential hazard, all the commercial structures, all the railways, all the freeways, overpasses,” He said. “They look at every potential risk in your community as well as the wildland and the bordering agencies and what they have.”

The study is expected to cost $42,000 and will take five months to complete before its ready to present to the City Council, according to a city staff report.

Multiple challenges have plagued the fire department in the last several years. A budget crunch exacerbated by the pandemic led to a staffing shortage that resulted in the closure of Fire Station No. 3 more than a year ago.

Staffing shortages continue to impact the department, with the firefighters' union saying low morale and lack of a safe work environment have forced personnel to seek jobs elsewhere.

The agency has also been left without a permanent fire chief since 2019 when Chief Pete Jankowski stepped down after spending 20 years with the department. Five interim fire chiefs have rotated through the department since his retirement.

Although the department is still without a fire chief, Mayor Tim Hepburn said it was still important to go ahead with the analysis.

“This is definitely a path we have to go," Hepburn said "It’s very important that we do this in unison to give our new chief when they come on board. To make sure they have the tools to understand what we do need to do, how we need to do it and how quickly we need to do it."