Escondido, Rincon Reach Accord on Fire, Paramedic Protection

Warring factions in a battle over fire and paramedic services have approved a pact that will give about 13,500 Escondido-area residents uninterrupted emergency services from now on.

The rural residents who live outside Escondido city limits faced the loss of city fire services after the Rincon Del Diablo Municipal Water District requested, and the Escondido City Council approved, cancellation of a five-year pact under which the city provided the emergency services along the city’s southern boundaries and in unincorporated residential pockets to the north of town.

The water district’s board and council members unanimously approved the new agreement Wednesday night after residents in the outlying areas had told both bodies in angry terms that it was time to forget their differences and strike a compromise.

Both the City Council, which last week had voted to cancel the fire services contract, and the Rincon board, which earlier had requested the contract cancellation, expressed satisfaction with the new pact.

Voice in the Operation

Fred Adjarian, water district general manager, said the agreement will allow water board members to have a say in the operation of the city’s fire-paramedic services to their rural customers and to arbitrate any major problems that may arise.

Without that, Adjarian explained, the rural residents would be subjected to “taxation without representation.” Rural customers pay $72 a year for city emergency services, but have no vote in city elections.

Another issue that had separated the two agencies was settled when Rincon agreed to withdraw from an automatic aid agreement with several other fire departments, including Deer Springs. Escondido fire officials had requested the cancellation of all automatic aid pacts because it requires city firefighters to respond to distant rural fires, leaving urban areas of the city unprotected.