BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, FINANCE,
AND INSURANCE
Senator Ronald Calderon, Chair
AB 1214 (Nava) Hearing Date: June 17, 2009
As Amended: April 15, 2009
Fiscal: No
Urgency: No
SUMMARY This bill will requires any privately owned or
operated resources hired by an insurer to protect structures
threatened by fire or to perform firefighting duties to report
to and follow the direction of the Incident Commander as that
term is used in the California's Standardized Emergency
Management System (SEMS). Insurance adjusters with special
training or equipment relative to fire protection or fire
fighting, as certified by the Insurance Commissioner, are also
required to immediately report to the SEMS Incident Commander
upon arriving at a fire site, and will be permitted to enter an
evacuated area as soon as practical.
DIGEST
Existing law
1. California's Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS)
Act was developed as part of the Emergency Services Act adopted
after the devastating Oakland Hills Fire (1991) to overcome
problems of incompatible equipment and inadequacies of resource
mobilization, communication and command structure.
2. SEMS is a system to facilitate effective emergency response by
establishing a structure with a clear and consistently applied
organizational structure to facilitate setting of priorities,
interagency cooperation, and the efficient flow of resources and
information in emergency situations.
3. State agencies, counties, cities, special districts and
agencies such as the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and
other Community-based organizations are required to operate
within the SEMS system.
AB 1214, Page 2
4. The SEMS system is built around the nationally recognized
Incident Command System (ICS) to provide for unified direction
of all responders through a single unified command structure
designed to maximize efficiency within the identified incident
priorities.
AB 1214, Page 3
This bill
1. Requires any privately owned or operated resources hired
by an insurer for the purpose of protecting structures
endangered by fire or performing firefighting duties to
immediately report to the Incident Commander or his or her
designee upon arriving at the site of a fire. All such
insurer hired resources must obey all directions, including
evacuation orders, given by the incident commander or his or
her designee.
2. Also requires insurance adjusters with special training
or equipment relative to fire protection or firefighting
services as certified by the Insurance Commissioner to
report to the Incident Commander or his or her designee
immediately upon arriving at the site of a fire. After
reporting to the incident commander, and as soon as
operationally practical, the insurance adjuster shall be
allowed into an evacuated fire area.
COMMENTS
1. Purpose of the bill This bill is jointly sponsored by the
California Division of Forestry Firefighters (CDF), the
California Professional Firefighters, and the California
State Firefighters Association
2. According to the sponsors, California's Incident Command
System (ICS) is recognized as the best in the world but it
only works when every entity responding to a fire
understands completely the importance of adhering to the
incident response plan and following the direction of the
Incident Commander or their designee.
3. AB 1214 is intended to clarify that privately owned
resources must obey all direction, including evacuation
orders, given by an Incident Commander or their designee.
To facilitate the coordination of such resources within
California's Standardized Emergency Management System, all
such privately owned or operated resources hired to protect
structures or perform firefighting duties are required to
immediately report to the Incident Commander upon arriving
at the fire site.
AB 1214, Page 4
4. The provisions allowing specially trained and certified
adjusters into a fire response area are similarly designed
to subject them to oversight by the Incident Commander
throughout the event, subject to the prospect of being able
to enter evacuated areas as soon as operationally practical
.
5. Background California's Standardized Emergency Management
System is built around a unified command structure utilizing
an identified Incident Commander whose job is to organize
the disaster response in a way that makes efficient use of
resources, minimizes resource conflicts, and maintains a
steady focus on the top priorities of the emergency response
effort as circumstances change and the event fluctuates.
6. The introduction of personnel into a disaster response that
are not subject to nor operating within the SEMS framework
introduces the possibility of confusion, resource conflicts,
and disruption of the ICS command structure in ways that
undermine its effectiveness or the ability of its managers
to focus fully on the immediate demands of disaster
response.
7. The emergence of private firefighting services present a
challenge to California's public disaster response
capabilities to the extent that they lead to the
introduction in a fire or other disaster event of personnel
who are entering the site of the disaster but are not
trained to understand and operate within the SEMS framework
nor accountable to the SEMS Incident Commander.
8. Supporters of this bill have noted that the emerging private
fire protection industry is not regulated and has no local,
state or national standards nor any enabling legal authority
to follow while deploying staff or responding to incidents.
9. Supporters note that continued adherence to the SEMS
Incident Command structure requires that Incident Commanders
be able to consistently and adequately account for all
resources under their command. This includes having clarity
among all personnel within a disaster zone, public and
private, of obligations when an evacuation order is issued.
AB 1214, Page 5
10. Support . California Division of Forestry Firefighters
(CDF)
California Professional Firefighters
California State Firefighters Association
11. Opposition None
12. Questions If the private personnel authorized by AB 1214 to
contact Incident Commanders or their designees do so when a
fire event is rapidly escalating, that may be found to be a
source of disruption to SEMS procedures, particularly if the
use of private fire fighting resources escalates and these
teams are not trained and SEMS certified so as to understand
how their objective fits in the larger structure..
13. Suggested Amendments . None
14. Prior Legislation In 1992, SB 1841 (Petris) was passed
adding Section 8607 to the Government Code to improve the
coordination of State and Local Emergency response in
California. This measure resulted in the creation of the
SEMS system which has continued to evolve and be refined to
strengthen California's disaster response capabilities.
POSITIONS
Support
California Division of Forestry Firefighters (CDF)
California Professional Firefighters
California State Firefighters Association
Oppose
None
Consultant: Kenneth Cooley, (916) 651-4102