Frustrated by rising bills from the Orange County Fire Authority, Placentia is poised to consider creating its own fire department and contracting with a private ambulance company for emergency medical services.

The Placentia City Council will discuss the idea on Tuesday, June 4. The proposal comes after detailed research and recommendations from a panel of experts, City Administrator Damien Arrula said Friday, May 31.

It would be a momentous change for Placentia after more than two decades of contracting with the fire authority, but Arrula said that whatever the council decides, the goal is to provide residents with top quality emergency services while keeping costs manageable.

“We value and appreciate OCFA as a partner and will continue to do so regardless of the decision that’s being made on Tuesday night,” he said, adding, “at the end of the day we need to do what we believe is best for our community.”

Fire authority spokeswoman Colleen Windsor wrote in an email Saturday that OCFA officials would be disappointed to see Placentia leave because “the services provided in and out of the city are part of a larger system that affords continuity of excellent fire and EMS care.”

She added that the city has not sought to renegotiate the terms of its contract.

The fire authority serves 23 cities in Orange County, with Garden Grove set to join this summer.

Last June, considering fire service cost increases that far outpaced the rest of the city budget, Placentia officials gave the authority the required year’s notice that they might withdraw from the contract.

In the decade since 2009, Arrula said, the city saw its bills from OCFA go up nearly 47 percent for the same service while the general fund budget overall rose less than 10 percent and the cost for the city’s police department decreased.

His report to the council notes that, based on data for fiscal 2017-18, nearly 80 percent of the calls OCFA handled that year were for medical issues rather than fires, a trend many departments have seen as building code updates and other advancements have decreased the incidence of fires in developed areas.

Still, OCFA’s protocols dictate that a fire engine staffed with firefighter/paramedics is the first vehicle dispatched with lights and sirens to all calls, the report said.

Windsor said costs for all members of the authority have gone up because of contract changes they agreed to, and due to pension expenses, which have been a concern for nearly every public agency in the state.

Also, Windsor said, two years ago the authority increased service to Placentia by adding three firefighter/paramedics at one of the city’s stations. For every dollar OCFA spends on service to the city, Placentia only pays back 57.5 cents, she said.

Arrula’s analysis found that forming a new department to focus on fire protection, hazmat and rescue services, and hiring Lynch Ambulance for emergency medical and transport services, would carry one-time startup costs projected at $1.5 million. Once established, a typical year of operations would run about $5.7 million, versus the annual $7.4 million the OCFA contract would cost, Arrula said.

Lynch was the only bidder on the emergency medical services side. Anaheim Fire and Rescue and the Fullerton/Brea Fire Department made proposals for the fire protection side; in a letter, OCFA declined to submit a bid, Arrula’s report said.

The city owns the two fire stations within its boundaries that OCFA operates from now, but would have to purchase equipment and hire staff. One potential cost saving measure would be supplementing professional firefighters with trained reserve personnel, who could move onto the career track as positions open up, Arrrula said.

Because Placentia operates its own police department, it already has 911 dispatchers, so they could handle fire and medical calls rather than transferring them to the fire authority.

If the council chooses the route of a city department, it could take nine months to a year to establish.

Based on the city’s research, Arrula said, the proposal is expected to help reduce costs and response times while also providing more local control over fire and emergency services.

The City Council meets at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 4, in the council chambers at Placentia City Hall, 401 E. Chapman Ave.

The agenda and reports on the fire service proposal can be found at www.placentia.org.