Alameda County absorbs Livermore Lab Fire Dept.

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Nov 11, 2007 | by Roman Gokhman

LIVERMORE -- It's been business as usual for the firefighters at the former Lawrence Livermore Lab Fire Department stations 1 and 2 near the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

However, on Oct. 1 the fire department officially ceased to exist, and fire protection service was replaced with contracted Alameda County Fire Department firefighters.

All uniformed employees of the former department were hired by the county fire department and have kept their same roles.

"The management structure is still the same, our chief is still the same and our battalion chiefs are the same," said firefighter Stephen Keating, who had been with LLFD for five years before it merged with the county department. "It's completely seamless in the job we do and the level of service."

The move to consolidate became necessary, former LLFD chief Randy Bradley said, after the Department of Energy awarded a contract in September to run the laboratory to Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, a private partnership of the University of California, Bechtel National, BWX Technologies, Washington Group International and Battelle.

Previously, UC was the sole operator of the lab.

Bradley, now a deputy chief with Alameda County, and other officials determined it would be too expensive to privatize the fire department as well.

"We believe (the consolidation) is a good thing for Lawrence Livermore, for Alameda County and for employees of both," Bradley said.

The Lawrence Livermore Fire Department was created in 1954 and operates out of two fire stations near the laboratory, as well as Site 300, the experimental test facility near the Alameda County line with San Joaquin County.

It protects a 2.5-square-mile area that includes the Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National laboratories.

The department had 42 firefighters and 25 nonuniformed staff members prior to the merger. The nonuniformed staff became employees of the privately run laboratory, while the firefighters were hired by Alameda County Fire.

Bradley said the department first considered consolidating with a larger department two years ago, when it became apparent that the new contract at the lab would be handled by a private consortium rather than just the university.

Alameda County Fire was interested and the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department was not, he said, and should provide better services because it has more equipment and resources.

"When (the LLFD) decided to contract with a fire department, we felt we should do it," Alameda County Fire Chief Sheldon Gilbert said.

In the merger, which was finalized in September, the lab will pay Alameda County Fire for the fire protection services, and the department will pay the employees.

Gilbert said it will take about a year for the new firefighters to learn all of the department's policies, and for the fire department to learn all of the lab's practices.

"The policies of Lawrence Livermore laboratory will be met by us," he said.

Roman Gokhman can be reached at 925-847-2164 or at rgokhman@bayareanewsgroup.com.