Oakland Firefighters Say Their Department Is So Badly Managed, Ghost Ship Warehouse Wasn't Even In Its Inspection Database
Whistleblowers say that the fire chief, mayor, and city council failed to advocate for sufficient
resources.
They accused city offices of not communicating with each other, to the extent that there is seldom follow-up when a dangerous facility is reported by a paramedic or firefighter to city building inspectors.
Oakland’s firefighters have warned elected officials about all these problems, since 2012, but little has been done to fix things. They fault Oakland’s top officials, and especially their own chief.
We’ve had incredible problems with Chief Reed,” Zac Unger, the vice president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 55 union, told the Express. “I’ve told the city administration and council, ‘If you think the chief is better at the life-saving part of this job than the business management job, you’re kidding yourself.’”
Oakland Didn’t Hire A Fire Marshal For Years
Multiple firefighters told the Express that the most conspicuous failure by the city to maintain a fully functioning department is that two key jobs have gone unfilled for years: the fire marshal and the assistant fire marshal.
The fire marshal ensures that the city's code is followed. Inspectors who work under the fire marshal are tasked with scouring Oakland’s large buildings and facilities, ensuring that they're outfitted with things like proper sprinkler systems, smoke detectors, emergency lights, extinguishers, and other safety measures.
Oakland's current fire marshal, Miguel Trujillo, was just hired in April 2015. For four years, the city didn’t have a dedicated fire marshal.
Instead, Reed appointed herself, as well as several deputy chiefs at various points, as acting marshals. But members of her own department say there's no possible way these temporary leaders could effectively supervise staff and modernize the bureau while also running the rest of the department.
The fire-prevention bureau should also have an assistant fire marshal, who oversees its team of inspectors. But in October 2008, the City Council froze funding for this position. They blamed budget shortfalls.
There were acting assistant fire marshals who filled this job during this period. But the longest one on the job was only there for 90 days, according to OFD sources.
The council finally decided to restore funding for the position in 2014, according to budget records.
Yet the city to this day still hasn't hired an assistant fire marshal.
The city’s decision to delay appointing fire marshals has been most noticeable with respect to the vegetation management program, which works to reduce fire danger in the Oakland hills. In 2013, the Oakland City Auditor examined OFD’s inspections with an eye on the vegetation-management unit, finding a “lackluster culture surrounding the performance of fire inspections.”
The auditor’s report noted that, from 2011 through 2013, the number of budgeted positions in the vegetation-management unit had been slashed in half, from six full-time employees to six half-timers. The report also stated that trained inspectors didn’t work during the key months of the summer fire season.
This audit also revealed that as many as 35 percent of OFD staff who performed inspections failed to attend training sessions.
Sources in the department say that the building-inspection duties of the prevention bureau suffer from the same problems — too much work, too little staff, no leadership.
Vegetation management in the hills has gotten more attention, however, because of the legacy of the 1991 firestorm that killed 25 people. And affluent homeowners in the hills are better able to advocate for themselves compared to those who live and work in Oakland’s flatlands.
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