Fire Department

The Glendale Fire Department received a $5,000 donation Thursday to help pay for equipment used in urban search and rescue and hazardous materials training, officials said. The donation was made possible through the State Farm Insurance "Good Neighbor" program, which offers additional funding to fire departments struggling with budget constraints. The Fire Department will use the grant to pay for props and materials used for training in mass casualty response and regional terrorism incidents, officials said.

GLENDALE — The city's fire chief, Chris Gray, announced his retirement Monday and will move into the same position in San Rafael later this year. The announcement was made at the Glendale Firefighters Assn. Union meeting and comes six years after he took over as the city's top firefighter, according to a statement issued by the Fire Department. In addition to helping push through the Glendale-based Verdugo Dispatch Center and greater inter-department operability between area cities, Gray, 50, has been widely credited by city officials with having the public relations touch in reaching out to the community over the years.

CITY HALL — With city finances tight, fire and police are the latest city departments to introduce new fees as a way to recover the costs of providing services. The City Council on Tuesday voted 4 to 0, with Mayor Frank Quintero absent, to approve a new $135 police booking fee and a $30 charge for fire inspections, which officials said would help the two departments recoup the costs of staff time spent on the tasks. “It’s become very difficult to offset all of our costs through general-fund budgeting,” said Fire Chief Harold Scoggins.

Crowds of people packed the halls of the Glendale Fire Station No. 21 Saturday for family fun, education and a chance to better know their fire department. The scene was the department's Centennial Fire Service Day, and the department went all out to let people know what it is all about. "It's kind of like an open house, we're trying to let the community see who we are and what we do, Glendale Fire Capt. Tom Propst said. The event closed off part of Columbus Avenue, leaving an open area with several fire engines on display.

CITY HALL ? Caught between a growing budget deficit and pledges to leave public safety budgets alone, the City Council this week is scheduled to review police and fire services for possible cost-cutting measures as the new fiscal year looms. How the council approaches possible reductions for the Police and Fire departments, which together make up the lion?s share of the city?s general fund budget, will affect how other city services are impacted when the final cuts are made. Having already sustained millions in cutbacks over the past year as tax revenues plummeted with the economy, some city executives have already warned that any more significant reductions could spell the end of certain programs, or even employee layoffs.

GLENDALE — Twelve ambulance operators have officially become members of the Fire Department’s new Basic Life Support program, which is scheduled to start today. The 12 members of Class 1 graduated Tuesday from the Fire Department academy, earning the right to count themselves among the city’s first-ever ambulance operators. Starting at 7:30 a.m. today, two ambulance operators will start answering service calls to transport patients with minor injuries to local hospitals, officials said.

GLENDALE — Hoover High School student Adeh Tarverdian was on a bus with his soccer team Dec. 21, 2007, about to leave for a game when he heard cries for help. He and coach Charles Martinez ran to find a man lying on a grass field. They performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the man was taken to the hospital. Four days later, a high school secretary notified Adeh that the man survived and that they had saved his life. “The man said if it wasn’t for us doing CPR on him, he probably wouldn’t be alive,” Adeh said.

Alex Coolman NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- About 300 Glendale students gathered at Verdugo Park Friday for the Fire Department's annual Junior Fire Program picnic. The event featured a fairly lavish giveaway -- with prizes ranging from plaques and teddy bears to tickets to concerts and amusement parks. Fire Department Capt. John Wray said the point of the event was to reward students who perform well in the fire education programs that district fifth-graders study.

Alecia Foster GLENDALE -- From checking a smoke detector to what to do if a fire breaks out, the Glendale Fire Department's Junior Firefighter program has it all. The program, celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, has educated thousands of Glendale students about fire prevention and safety issues. "I truly believe it cuts down on the incidence of house fires," said Capt. John Wray, coordinator of the program. While other factors also may contribute to the low number of home fires, Wray believes the program affects the thousands of households it reaches each year.

Glendale fire inspectors soon will be swapping their paper and pens for 33 Apple iPads to input data from the field. While officials say the change will increase efficiency, it also will add to the amount the city has spent on a data program, which so far has ballooned from an initially planned $1.2 million to almost $2.2 million. The City Council unanimously approved the project Tuesday. Director of Information Services Department Ed Fraga said all the glitches with the EdgeSoft software, known as City Services Interface, have been fixed, and since Nov. 2009, it has been fully functional.

After 50 years of setting fire to the same building, it was finally time to say goodbye to the Glendale Fire Department's trusty training structure on Tuesday. Most of the brick-and-mortar building - used to train firefighters on live fire exercises - will be demolished due to the amount of damage and deterioration it has sustained over the years. A new structure will eventually rise at the Glendale Fire Department's training center at 541 W. Chevy Chase Drive. “It's been an amazing tool for, literally, 50 years,” Fire Training Capt.

Fire stations across Glendale on Sunday will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In Glendale, a commemoration ceremony begins at 6:50 a.m. when the Fire Department is scheduled to lower the flag to half-staff and air a tribute by the Verdugo Dispatch Center. All 44 Verdugo stations will toll three sets of five tones to honor the firefighters killed on 9/11. At 7:04 a.m., firefighters at each station will read a portion of all the names of the firefighters who perished while responding to the terrorist attacks.

Earlier this week, the Burbank Fire Department held a “Badge Pinning Ceremony,” honoring the promotions of Travont “Tray” White and of Jason Murphy, who rose to the ranks of captain and engineer, respectively. In addition, Captain Peter Hendrickson was named to the Fire Prevention Bureau, making him the department's official spokesman. White was hired in September 1997, became a permanent firefighter in 1998, became a provisional engineer in 2007, and promoted to probationary Engineer in 2008.

Firefighters in Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena could soon be using new life-saving defibrillators after the coalition secured a $1.14-million federal grant.  Officials say paramedics in the three cities currently use outdated defibrillators, but the new 12-lead defibrillators capable of monitoring carbon monoxide and dioxide levels will improve patient treatment for better outcomes, according to city reports. The high-tech tools, which cost about $24,000 each, are used to deliver an electrical shock to the heart muscle in heart attack victims.

Glendale fire officials plan to develop a recruitment strategy to diversify their ranks and make it easier for existing personnel to be promoted from within and stay with the agency. As part of the five-year strategic plan, officials will create a recruitment committee to identify the city’s demographics and develop methods for hiring applicants who reflect those ethnic categories. They will also develop programs that would allow firefighters to learn skills from more experienced employees and give them an opportunity to promote to other positions.

CITY HALL — Glendale fire officials are proposing sweeping changes to the department in order to cut costs, including hiring 60 hourly emergency medical technicians to offset the 21 sworn firefighter positions that will be eliminated through attrition within the next two years. The transition could eventually end up saving the city $2.5 million annually, Fire Chief Harold Scoggins said, because the hourly workers wouldn’t require the benefits that their full-time counterparts get. The city’s rising pension obligations have been a driving factor behind the need to cut expenses or face crushing budget deficits.

Glendale firefighters and police officers will don basketball uniforms and meet on the Glendale High School hardwood Saturday for the first annual Hoops Heroes charity basketball game. The game benefits the Zone Academy, the after-school youth program run by the Salvation Army Glendale Corps. Admission is $5 and a can of food for the Salvation Army pantry. “Regardless if the fire department or the police department wins the game, the big winner is going to be the Salvation Army’s after-school program and pantry, where hungry people can come for help,” Glendale Fire Chief Harold Scoggins said in a statement.

Carlos Saldana is the epitome of service to his community and country. The 25-year-old from Los Angeles spent Saturday afternoon surrounded by friends and family during the graduation ceremony for Glendale Community College's Verdugo Fire Academy. Saldana's time at the academy was interrupted by a tour with the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq. The other 28 members of the graduating "Class 13" worked 12-hour days each weekend in 2010 to complete the necessary training to become a state-certified firefighter.

The presents were so numerous they all but filled the tiny one-room apartment on Wilson Avenue in Glendale. In one corner was a bicycle and helmet, in another, a set of plastic building blocks. Five children danced around, arranging and rearranging the piles. "They woke at 7 a.m. and already wanted to bathe and get ready," their mother, Aida Cardenas, said. "They are so happy. " It was a joyful moment in an otherwise difficult year for the family, which has struggled with prolonged unemployment.