Valley Center Fire Protection District

ORDINANCE NO. 2014-44
View the fully adopted 2014 Fire Code

AN ORDINANCE OF THE VALLEY CENTER FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT WHICH ADOPTS THE CALIFORNIA CODE, 2013 EDITION, AND 2012 INTERNATIONAL FIRE CODE WITH CERTAIN AMENDMENTS, ADDITIONS, AND DELETIONS

First read at a regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Valley Center Fire Protection District of the County of San Diego, California, held on the 20th day of February 2014. A second reading occurred at a regular meeting on the 20th day of March 2014 a public hearing was held March 20th, 2014 and finally adopted and ordered published in the manner required by law at the hearing and meeting on the 20th of March 2014, by the following roll call vote:

AYES: Simonsen, Palmer, Smith, Bell, Wold
NOES: 0
ABSENT: 0
ABSTAIN: 0

Joint Press Release
The Board of Directors of the Valley Center Fire Protection District, the Tribal Council of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians and CAL FIRE announced today the restructuring of the delivery of fire protection service for the Valley Center Fire Protection District.

CAL FIRE will continue its current contract with the District for services until August 31, 2013. Thereafter, the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indian's Fire Department will provide those services to the District utilizing Tribal Company officer level personnel to the District at each of its Stations 72 and 73 augmented with District reserve firefighters. CAL FIRE will continue to operate the state funded Station on Vesper Road in Valley Center and will remain responsible for wild land fire suppression and investigations.

This restructuring of relationships is necessary to the continued financial solvency of the District. The District is sincerely saddened to have to end its long cooperative relationship with CAL FIRE. The District is also delighted to enter into a new relationship with its San Pasqual neighbors and long standing community partners.

Contact Information:
Valley Center Fire Protection District
John H. Byrne, District Administrator
760.751.7600

Bridges and Crossings
Bridge FAQs
Bridge Brochure
Letter to Home Owners

January 2013
Dear Property Owner,
In an effort to provide prompt and efficient emergency services to our customers, the Valley Center Fire Protection District is surveying all bridges, culverts and other crossings within our jurisdiction to ensure compliance with District, County and State fire codes. This effort is in response to the identification of several substandard, non-permitted bridges or culverts in the district, with the ultimate goal of preventing our fire apparatus from falling through a bridge or collapsing a culvert. Our staff has conducted a survey and determined that there is a bridge or culvert on your property. We will be requiring that all private bridges and culverts have the maximum vehicle load limits posted on both entrances to the elevated structure. This requirement can be found in the 2010 edition of the California Fire Code Section 503.2.6 which has been adopted by the Valley Center Fire Protection District in Ordinance 2010-39. See codes on Attachment A.

In order to ensure the safety of our personnel and equipment, we cannot guarantee our fire apparatus will cross your bridge or culvert until such time as we receive verification that your elevated structure will support a capacity of 75,000 pounds. Rest assured we will continue to provide prompt service to your property; however, service will likely be delayed if the capacity of your structure remains unanswered. Verification of capacity may be accomplished by one of the following:

PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT
October 21, 2008
Fire Marshal George E. Lucia Sr. and District Administrator John H. Byrne today announced that the Valley Center Fire Protection District will commence enforcement of its rights to recover the costs incurred by the District for public fire suppression efforts caused by property owners who fail to observe the District's fire code ordinance.

There have been a steadily increasing number of incidents requiring the dispatch of fire engines and firefighters to suppress fires started by landowners and business owners in violation of the existing Fire Code. Examples of such violations are: burning without a valid burn permit; burning on "no burn" days; burning in violation of burn permit conditions; repetitive false alarms; impeding fire apparatus access; and maintaining unsafe conditions which result in a fire.

The District is allowed under its Fire Code to recover from an offending landowner fire suppression, investigative and other administrative costs associated with a fire caused by negligence or as a result of a violation of the law. These costs may be substantial in amount, often exceeding thousands of dollars per incident.

Lucia and Byrne said that it is unfair to District landowners who comply with the Fire Code to ultimately shoulder the unnecessary financial burden caused by landowners who fail to comply with the Code. Code violators also detract from the District's readiness and capabilities to provide fire suppression services for legitimate fire incidents.

For additional information regarding this release, contact the Fire Marshal or the District Administrator at (760) 751-7600.

Making plans ahead of time can often mean the difference between tragedy and survival. And, while the VCFPD and other emergency responders are dedicated to making your life safer, no one agency or governmental entity can do everything that needs to be done to protect you in all circumstances.

Good planning includes having knowledge of your community, its terrain, its roads, the best places to go or avoid in an emergency, what media stations to turn to during a disaster for information, and many other things.