Rosendahl Seeks Citywide Study to Improve LAFD Response Times

Councilmember Bill Rosendahl will introduce a motion asking the Los Angeles Fire Department to immediately report to the City Council about the findings in a recent Los Angeles Times story that analyzes response times throughout the city.

Rosendahl, who plans to introduce the motion during Friday's council meeting, will ask the LAFD to recommend ways to improve response times in the areas most impacted, which includes the hillside communities of the 11th District.

The motion specifically asks the LAFD to conduct a comprehensive citywide study to identify where new fire stations may be needed and what additional department resources are necessary. It also calls for an assessment of community-specific factors such as traffic, access routes and geographic isolation.

"This article underscores the concerns I have always expressed about the geographic isolation of my hillside communities," said Rosendahl in a press release Thursday. "I believe we're going to have to initially focus on adding more LAFD resources in these areas, but that the long-term solution will require a combination of additional resources and the construction of new fire stations; there's just no other way around this reality."

Despite Rosendahl's efforts to shield the Pacific Palisades community from cuts in fire services during the city's annual budget deliberations, Engine 69 was disbanded in July 2011, leaving the area with just one fire company and a paramedic ambulance. The cuts reduced the daily staffing at Fire Station 69 from 12 firefighters to eight.

"Over the last year and a half I have fought for the restoration of an engine company at Fire Station 69, which not only provided an additional resource in the Pacific Palisades, but also served as a back-up unit for my neighboring Brentwood and Palisades Highlands communities when their resources were tied up on calls," Rosendahl said. "Now, when any of my fire stations are tied up on an emergency incident and another call comes in, help is going to have to come from much further away. This is the scenario I worry about the most and where the lengthiest delays occur."

To view the L.A. Times map and database on LAFD's response times, click here. You may require an L.A. Times subscription to view the story.