Cal EMA Mutual Aid System

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The Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES) and the Office of Homeland Security merged to become the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) in early 2009. Their Fire and Rescue Division coordinates the State of California's Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid System that is used during an emergency. The history of the Mutual Aid System in California goes back almost 70 years, with its beginnings before World War II. "You look at the Master Mutual Aid System in the State of California [and] it's an example for the rest of the nation," expressed Deputy Chief of Administration with Cal EMA's Fire & Rescue Division, Bob Wyman.

According to Fire Chief Kim Zagaris, also with Cal EMA's Fire & Rescue Division, mutual aid for California has been around since the early 1940's on a state-wide basis. Mutual Aid is used statewide daily and can be anywhere from one fire department helping another or as it was during the 1993 Malibu fire in which 900 fire engines were moved to one single incident, according to Zagaris.

At their disposal are a fleet of 129 Cal EMA engines, 12 water tenders, 13 swiftwater units and 6 communications/support units, which through an agreement, are assigned to local jurisdictions. Kim Zagaris explained, "They can use them under certain conditions locally, but when the state needs them, they put personnel on board and dispatch them anywhere in the state and sometimes across the state boundary to areas that need additional assistance."

Often, when the apparatus is needed, Cal EMA pays for the local personnel to staff it, along with the maintenance and ownership of the apparatus. "For local jurisdictions they see a great value in it. Every now and then, we have somebody that wants to opt out of the program, but we actually have more people that want to opt in it," claimed Zagaris. Other engines are also available during emergencies. Bob Wyman stated that Cal EMA can move around 1,000 to 1,200 engines from local government, county, state, even federal agencies, and bring those resources together to divide them up throughout the state. This is an action which no other state can perform.

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the International Association of Fire Chiefs began developing a national mutual aid program with the help of FEMA. California is one of four states that serves as a model. Kim Zagaris remarked, "We've been several years into the project working with I-Chiefs to develop first an intrastate capability for state's that do not have it, and then making sure once the intrastate capability is there, we're able to then do interstate capability."

Cal EMA coordinates the mutual aid system in conjunction with the FIRESCOPE board of directors. The state is divided up into six regions with a coordinator elected for each, along with operational area coordinators elected within each region. Once a year, each region holds a meeting for the area coordinators. Fire Chief Steve Earley with the City of Riverside Fire Department stated, "It's very important, for us, to not only regroup and talk about all the requirements that go along with mutual aid, but also to meet all the players because it just helps the efficiency of running an incident when you know somebody and you see them out there in an emergency situation."

There is no incident that the state Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid System will not respond to. Zagaris said, "It could be fires, floods, earthquakes, MCI's, heavy rescue, low angle rescue, you name it, the system is pretty robust." Cal EMA has the ability to add 150 fire engines statewide to the resources they already have access to. So far, they have been able to purchase 19 of those engines and have 131 to go.  



Author:Barbara Brooks - Video, Renee Marquart - Text