Sitting 22 miles south of San Pedro, the City of Avalon is an ocean away from the nearest fire department — meaning, in the event of a wildfire, backup could take hours to arrive.
While the island hasn’t experienced a large-scale fire in several years, the area’s brush-filled landscape, intense winds, aging infrastructure and outdated fire-suppression equipment is a combination that worries Avalon Fire Chief Michael Alegria.
“We are definitely due for something big,” Alegria said. “We’ve been lucky with just some close calls recently, but the afternoon northerly winds we get make me nervous.”
With just three fire engines, the department is left vulnerable if one were to break down or be in use elsewhere when a fire breaks out.
The Avalon Fire Department, the city’s sole station, operates with just 10 full-time employees, staffed three at a time. The department is responsible for seven square miles, much of which is characterized by rugged, mountainous terrain and dense vegetation.
Their three trucks — all around 20 years old — can only carry three firefighters at a time, are unable to meet off-road challenges and leave them vulnerable if a fire were to erupt while in use elsewhere.
“It’s tough for us to get to some of the more remote areas,” Alegria said. “There have been times where our fire truck physically could not make it to the location because it is not four-wheel drive, so we’ve had to change vehicles just to get to the fire.”
Recognizing the city’s vulnerability, and considering its high fire risk status, Southern California Edison worked with the city to identify ways to build community resilience and add to their wildfire suppression abilities.
“When we reached out to the fire chief to find out how we could help, he said, ‘We’re in need of everything’,” said Troy Whitman, SCE senior advisor of Fire Management. “They don’t have backups of any equipment, so if something breaks down, they have to rely on LA County Fire, which is not ideal.”
The Avalon Fire Department has 10 full-time employees and 25 community volunteers.
After assessing their needs, Edison International committed to purchasing the city a new type 3 fire engine — funded by shareholder dollars from the 2017/2018 Southern California fires regulatory settlement — which would give the department off-roading capabilities and add a much-needed engine to their arsenal.
“This will help tremendously,” Alegria said. “There are spots in the outskirts of the city we currently can’t reach but with this new engine we will be able respond to off-road calls as well as city fires.”
Due to supply chain shortages, fire departments across the country are facing massive delays in receiving needed equipment. The truck that the Avalon Fire Department needs was already ordered by another organization but cancelled, which made it possible for Avalon to obtain instead. The fire engine will be delivered by the end of the year.
In the meantime, SCE is presenting the city with a check for $654,000 to cover the cost of the new fire engine.
“We hope this donation will make a difference in creating a more resilient community and help protect the people of Avalon,” said Whitman. “We’re proud to able to partner with the city to make this happen.”
For more information on SCE's wildfire mitigation efforts, visit sce.com/wildfire.
