La Habra Heights Pays Tribute to Firefighters killed in the 1955 "Hacienda Fire"

The La Habra Heights & Los Angeles County Fire Departments are dedicating a monument and plaque to the six firefighters who lost their lives on September 2, 1955, while fighting the “Hacienda Fire” in the City of La Habra Heights. The Dedication will be on January 7, 2017 at 11:00 a.m.

Lunch will be served after the ceremony at the La Habra Heights City Hall and Fire Station #1.

All are welcome! 

City Hall and Fire Station #1 are located at 1245 N. Hacienda Road La Habra Heights, CA 90631.

Preparing for Winter Storms with Sandbags

Even though the start of winter is right around the corner, La Habra Heights’ residents can pick up sandbags at the Fire Department or City all year round. The sandbags will need to be filled. Sand is available at the back parking lot at The Park. Residents will need to bring a shovel to fill bags. 

Sandbags, when properly filled and placed, will redirect storm and debris flows away from property improvements.

Filling

1. Fill sandbags one-half full. Sand is suggested if readily available; however, sand is not mandatory, and any local soil may be used.
2. For a more durable bag with increased effective life, mix 10 parts of sand or soil with one part of cement. The materials can be mixed and placed dry. After all bags are in place, a light sprinkling of water is recommended. This technique is only effective with burlap sandbags and will not work with plastic sandbags.

Placing

Fold top of sandbag down and rest bag on its folded top as shown in the illustration on the right.

It is important to place bags with the folded top toward the upstream or uphill direction to prevent bags from opening when water runs by them.

Stacking Sandbags

Care should be taken to stack sandbags in accordance with the illustrations. Place each sandbag as shown, completing each layer prior to starting the next layer. Limit placement to two layers unless a building is used as a backing or sandbags are pyramided (see illustrations below).

Sandbag Stacking Against Buildings

Pyramid Sandbag Stacking

Directing Debris Away From Buildings 

Limitations

1. Sandbags will not seal out water. 
2. Sand and soil filled burlap sandbags deteriorate when exposed for several months to continued wetting and drying. If bags are placed too early, they may not be effective when needed. 
3. Sandbags are basically for low-flow protection (up to two feet). Protection from higher flows requires a more permanent type of structure.

Controlling Debris or Storm Flows in Streets 

Directing Flows Between Buildings 

Building Protection

   Sliding Glass Door Sealing

                                                                      

Caution

Do not use straw or bales of hay in lieu of sandbags. They do not perform as well as sandbags and may be washed away.

Brush Clearance: An Investment towards a Safer Community

Courtesy of txdot.gov

Prevention, early detection, and rapid response against invasive plants are investments to you and your neighborhood. Control costs increase exponentially over time if infestations of invasive plants are allowed to persist. 

One mature tumbleweed, for example, can spread up to 250,000 seeds and germinate with very limited amounts of moisture. This allows tumbleweeds to dominate other vegetation and can become even a greater nuisance during the worst of droughts. 

Invasive plants such as tumbleweeds should be abated quickly and aggressively to prevent infestations and to reduce the risk of a fire endangering you and your loved ones.

Major Quake in San Andreas Fault Could Be Twice as Damaging as Previously Thought

A newly released analysis from CoreLogic reveals that a major earthquake along the San Andreas fault could damage twice as many homes as previously thought.

The global property information and analytics firm based its data on revised earthquake risk science from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast.

The forecast concludes that a large temblor could occur simultaneously in Northern and Southern California. READ MORE

A map shows California's topography, including areas along

 the San Andreas fault.        SILVIA FLORES, FILE PHOTO

Driver Transported to Trauma Center in La Habra Heights Traffic Accident

On Saturday October 29, 2016 the driver of a vehicle traveling Southbound on Hacienda Rd. near West Rd. lost control of his car and went off the roadway striking a tree with the driver side of the vehicle.

The force of the impact pushed the car back into the roadway, coming to rest in the Northbound lane. The driver suffered serious injuries and was treated and transported to a local trauma center by La Habra Heights Firefighter/Paramedics.

The cause of the accident will be investigated by the L.A. County Sheriffs Department.

La Habra Heights Appoints New City Manager

On October 13, 2016, the La Habra Heights City Council confirmed the appointment of Jarad Hildenbrand as the new City Manager.

Hildenbrand will replace Interim City Manager Thomas Robinson effective December 16, 2016.



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La Habra Heights Fire Department Awarded $870,000 SAFER Grant

La Habra Heights, California

An $870,000 grant has been awarded to the City of La Habra Heights Fire Department by the United States Department of Homeland Security.

The funding was provided via the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER)grant program.

“We are very pleased to see the Federal government actively supports the excellent work being done by the La Habra Heights Fire Department,” says Mayor Kyle Miller.  “The residents of La Habra Heights are very proud of the cost-effective work our volunteer Fire Department has done for many years to keep our community safe.”

The SAFER grants program provides funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations throughout the nation to help increase or maintain the number of trained, "front line" firefighters available in their communities. The goal of SAFER is to enhance the local fire departments' abilities to comply with staffing, response and operational standards established by the National Fire Protection Association.

The La Habra Heights Fire Department provides Firefighters the opportunity to work on a fire engine, as a firefighter, responding to 911 emergencies in a professional setting. This experience helps them transition to a paid, career fire department with greater success. For this reason other fire departments actively recruit from La Habra Heights. 

Of the roughly eighty firefighters working for the Department, over 60% are successful at achieving their goal of becoming a career paid firefighter each year.

The grant duration totals of $870,000 over a four year period to assist the Department with Recruitment and Retention efforts for Firefighters and Paramedics. There are no cost match requirements or long term obligations for the City.

The grant provides funding for one Recruitment and Retention Officer to coordinate both recruitment and retention duties. This Officer will not have emergency response obligations. In addition to covering salary and benefit costs for this officer, the grant also includes funding for recruiting costs and equipment.  

The grant provides funding over the next four years to offset the costs of hiring new recruits; $104,000 for structural personal protective equipment valued at $4,000 per firefighter, $80,000 for medicals exams, $100,000 for training, $18,000 for new uniforms, and $16,000 for website development. 

“We intend to use these Federal funds very prudently as we continue working to provide the highest level of professional fire protection services to the La Habra Heights community,” says Fire Chief Doug Graft.

The grant award comes just days after the La Habra Heights Fire Department was rated in the top two percent of the 48,000 departments across the nation by the Insurance Services Office (ISO).  The organization upgraded the La Habra Heights Fire Department from a Class 5 ranking to a Class 2 effective September 1, 2016.  Areas included in the ISO evaluation included: 911 dispatch capability, Fire Department command staff, apparatus, automatic and mutual aid agreements, staffing levels, training, and fire prevention activities.  In addition, the water supply and fire hydrant system was evaluated.