Desert Hot Springs is beefing up its fire protection with new equipment.
The Riverside County Fire Department, on behalf of the city, will buy a paramedic squad vehicle and quint fire truck. A quint fire truck has five uses to fight fire, which include a hose and ladders. The City Council approved having City Manager Luke Rainey send a letter of intent to place an order for the equipment in a 4-1 vote, with Councilmember Russell Betts dissenting.
The paramedic squad vehicle will cost $324,174.12 using the city’s Fire Development Impact Fee Fund. The quint fire truck, which needs to be built, will cost $1,987,488. Rainey said the city has around $600,000 for the truck, but also has American Rescue Plan Act funds available and will look for grant opportunities for the rest.
Desert Hot Springs has two fire stations, with its Fire Station 37, located on Pierson Boulevard, being the busiest in Riverside County. Its type one engine was sent to 5,215 incidents in 2021 — the most of all Riverside County Fire Department units.
But the city has plans to build a new fire station, Station 98, on Hacienda Avenue near Long Canyon Road. It’s buying the truck “in anticipation of the construction of the city's new fire station,” according to the city staff report.
Fire Chief Mike Beverlin said having the truck available will make the department quicker in responding to emergencies. He added that ridges at the top of buildings are currently inaccessible with the ladders on the city's current fire engines.
The quint would allow firefighters to cut holes in roofs in order to relieve smoke and heat, he said.
“You don’t really see anybody die of being burned in a building, they die way previous to that with smoke inhalation,” Beverlin said. “So the faster we can get our team on the roof and cut a hole and relieve that heat and smoke, the better off and the more life saving things we’ll be able to do.”
Beverlin added that a paramedic squad vehicle will allow the city to lower its response times.
“The National Fire Protection Agency has a standard that they’ve developed that basically says that a fire engine or a fire resource should get on scene of an emergency within four minutes of being dispatched 90% of the time,” he said. “And currently, we’re below 60% in the city.”
The council majority supported the purchase. Mayor Scott Matas said he’s excited for the new equipment and fire station to be located on Hacienda Avenue. He said it is much needed to have fire services in that area.
“Hacienda Heights area is one of the … oldest parts of our community, even though it has a newer development. But it has a school, it has hiking, it has all kinds of needs up in that community,” Matas said. “And that six, seven, eight minutes sometimes [to] get up there can be life threatening to some individuals.”
Mayor Pro Tem Gary Gardner said fire and police are the primary function of city government.
“As much as the cost factor on this cause me to do a little double take, I think we really do need to move forward with this as our city grows,” he said.
Councilmember Roger Nuñez supported the purchase, but said his only issue is where to place the truck.
"I think we need to be really strategic to say, OK, this unit is going to serve the commercial and industrial. I just don't think putting the quint in [Station] 98 would be best fitted for that," Nuñez said. "I think we need a plan as we grow the two fire stations that we do have, maybe that's a better location for them to serve the industrial and commercial areas."
Betts, who was the sole opposing vote against the purchases, had concerns over the finances. He said he can’t see the cost for the truck in the city’s budget.
“We’re spending a lot of money around here now and times are good, but they’re not always gonna be,” Betts said. “Excuse me if I’m a little bit gun shy, but once [bitten] twice shy on getting into financial trouble.”
Ani Gasparyan covers the western Coachella Valley cities of Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City. Reach her at ani.gasparyan@desertsun.com.