The Fire Front Newsletter

ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVENTH EDITION

Tentative Agreement Reached

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

California state firefighters could get three raises and reduced hours all within the next year after a new tentative contract was struck Thursday with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration.

View the news clip HERE.

**This is a tentative agreement, it still needs to go through the ratification process.

IAFF Convention 2022

The 56th IAFF Convention was held the week of August 8th in Ottawa, Canada.

Top Left: CAL FIRE Local 2881 delegates

Top Right: President Edwards on a panel discussion about wildland firefighting.

Left: Joe Ten Eyck, Tim Edwards, and Pete Munoa

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IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial

Saturday, September 17, 2022

Colorado Springs, CO

CAL FIRE Local 2881 is now on TikTok!

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Love wine? Buy a bottle and support the CAL FIRE Benevolent Fund!

Josh Cellars and the CAL Fire Benevolent Foundation have partnered to say thank you to firefighters. For every bottle sold in California, Josh Cellars will donate $1 to the CAL Fire Benevolent Foundation. Visit the Josh Cellars store locator to support the cause and find a store near you.

PORAC Benefits

As you know, open enrollment for healthcare for CAL FIRE is right around the corner. Being a member of CAL FIRE Local 2881 allows you an additional choice of healthcare benefits through our affiliation with PORAC.

If you are interested in taking a look at the PORAC Insurance plan during open enrollment, please make sure CAL FIRE Local 2881 has your date of birth so your selection process goes smoothly.

Please see this list of CAL FIRE Local 2881 members with missing DOB information

If you want to access the health plan provided by our affiliation with PORAC and your name is on this list, we need your birthdate. This health coverage targets common health concerns for first responders (such as heart problems, certain types of cancer, etc.) and includes a full body scan every three years.

If you are an ACTIVE member and you are considering the PORAC healthcare option at open enrollment, update your DOB information HERE or email Danielle at dkelsch@l2881.org. Updating your information does not enroll you in the PORAC health plan. You still need to select the plan and follow the steps during open enrollment.

If you are a RETIRED member who is interested in this health coverage as a PORAC RAM (retired active member), please email Danielle at dkelsch@l2881.org and she will get you the information needed to become a RAM member. Emailing Danielle does not enroll you in this coverage. You still need to select the plan and follow the steps during open enrollment.

Registration for the World's Strongest Firefighter is now open! Did you know that the first winner of the World's Strongest Firefighter was a CAL FIRE firefighter? In 2023, that could be YOU! Click HERE to sign up and get more information. If you have any questions, you can email John Byrne at johnbyrne2881@gmail.com.

From Your State Retiree Director,

Brian Burger

I have recently been assisting a retiree with recalculating the single highest year, which CalPERS obtained from the Controller Office. He believes it was too low. This may be a common problem for many employees on EIDL or IDL as payments from SCIF apparently do not get sent to or entered into the Controller’s system as SCIF pays them. CalPERS then used an earlier year to calculate his pension.

Even though the retiree was on EIDL for a year and then temporary disability until his retirement was approved, he had pay raises in his last twelve months of State employment. These increased and made his last year his single highest year of compensation by several thousand dollars.

The retiree sent me copies of the last 13 work periods of employment with Cal Fire. These show his monthly salary used to calculate his EDWC and when his pay raises occurred. Because he was on leave, they clearly show the total EDWC amount for each of the final thirteen work periods since he had no unplanned overtime due to his disability. When EDWC is added to his salary, CalPERS could easily access the retiree’s single highest year from the SCO records.

Retirees that accept CalPERS figures without totaling the EDWC from their final 13 work periods and adding to their last 12 months of salary may be missing higher amounts of income that lower their pension year after year. You can use the monthly figures shown on your timesheets or copy and print your Retirement Benefit Statements on your myCalPERS account.

Once we sent the timesheets to CalPERS, they reviewed the retiree’s account. They stated, “there is almost a year’s worth of payroll that has not been reported by the employer. We are hoping when that’s reported, it may more accurately reflect the expected benefit amount. We will be working with the employer to get it resolved, but that can take some time.”

This is where the issue becomes more complicated as the chief of CalPERS pension unit said, “we cannot do anything until the State Controller has updated the information in their system.” After writing the State Controller, they stated that we had to work with our local HR Department to resolve the issue. CAL FIRE stated that the Controller had all the information they needed to determine his single highest year.

The retiree’s record finally got updated, and CalPERS updated and retroactively paid for the missing amounts.

Everyone retiring should double-check their own figures against any estimates or the final figures from CalPERS.

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I also wanted to mention a new benefit I discovered regarding the CalHR Delta Dental PPO plans. CalHR may have sent a notice to employees last year, but as a retiree, I never saw or heard any mention that CalHR had a new payment option for the Delta Dental PPO plans in January 2022. For years the benefits for Delta Dental had a yearly maximum of $1000 for dependents. In 2022 the Delta Dental PPO Plus Premiere Basic now has a $1500 yearly maximum for dependents and the $2,000 maximum for the employee or retiree. I would compare the two PPO plans to see which best fits your needs as the price difference is small. If you already have the PPO Plus plan, take note of the higher benefit maximum for dependents, should it be needed.

These are the premiums for the two PPO plans, and you can view and compare all retiree plan prices & benefits in this link to the 2022 Dental Benefits Handbook for Retired Employees. (There is no 2023 handbook at this time and may not be one if there are no changes from 2022)

Join the CAL FIRE team for the

Heart and Stroke Walk

STRONGER TOGETHER

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP

HELP MAKE CHANGE - GET INVOLVED

Did you know the

CAL FIRE Benevolent Foundation is on Instagram?

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Water Safety Tips

Spring. Summer. Fall. Winter. Regardless of the season, in Southern California we’re constantly surrounded by bodies of water. And that means the dangers of drowning are omnipresent, year-round.

While drowning is the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 4, according to the CDC, there is some good news — most of these tragic accidents are completely avoidable. Here’s some advice to keep you and your loved ones safe, whether pool- or beachside:

1. Toss those floaties

Water wings, puddle jumpers — whatever you call them, just stop putting these on your little swimmers. Why? These floatation devices are dangerous for multiple reasons:

They create a false sense of security — children think they can swim when they cannot, and parents are less vigilant. Of course, supervision may seem more difficult when children are wearing these devices, but parents are less likely to take their eyes off their littles and “trust,” that floaties will ensure their safety.
Water wings place children in an unnatural vertical swimming position. By doing so they interfere with a child’s ability to float on their backs and muddle their muscle memory.
They make you think you can bob in the water. Children don’t understand that you will simply sink to the bottom of the pool
When using a life jacket (on boats, etc.) ensure that it fits properly. And most importantly, remember that the purpose of wearing a life jacket is for when children are “around” water not to “swim” in water.

2. Not all swim lessons are created equal

It’s critical to understand the difference between “high- quality swim lessons,” and regular swim lessons. Survival swim lessons are the highest quality, safest and most effective available. Yes, you can teach an infant to swim.

Unlike traditional lessons which focus on swimming skills, short ten-minute lessons called IA (Infant Aquatics) or Infant Swim Rescue (ISR) both focus on teaching an infant to survive in the water until rescued.

“Give yourself peace of mind”

Knowing that your child is equipped with the skills to save themselves in the water lets you breathe a sigh of relief. And that makes all the time and money you devote to swim lessons worth it.

3. Make a life-saving investment for your child

Devote as much time to researching your child’s swim instructor as you do their pediatrician — and choose wisely. There are only two legitimate networks of certified survival swim instructors and that includes IA and ISR. Before enrolling your child in

lessons, verify and confirm that the instructor is listed on one of these two websites: Infant Aquatics or Infant Swimming Resources.

4. Ensure all the layers of protection are in place

These include maintaining a fence that surrounds the entire perimeter of your pool, confirming someone is always supervising your child when they’re in a body of water and enrolling them in high-quality swim lessons.

Also, keep life-saving equipment around your pool area.

5. Don’t ever assume someone else is watching your kids at the pool

A total of 88% of childhood drownings occur with at least one adult present.
If everyone thinks someone else is watching the pool … that means NO ONE IS.
Always a designate a “Water Watcher,” when you’re around a body of water with children present.

Article from SoCal Survival Swimming

Update your physical or mailing address HERE.

CAL FIRE ESS 24hr Helpline: (916) 445-4337

EAP 24hr Helpline: (866) 327-4762

FIREFIGHTER ADVANCEMENT AT

CSU SAN MARCOS

With Personal Exposure Reporting from California Professional Firefighters, firefighters can document exposures to toxins that can produce job-related illness.

Check out the Exposure Reporting section on the L2881 Member Benefits page. It has tons of links and information on the importance of reporting, how to report, and historical air quality data for to use in your reporting.

Check it out now and document your exposures!

Lemon Bars

Ingredients:

for the crust

2 cups flour
1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon
2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, cut into cubes

for the filling

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
4 large eggs
zest and juice of 4 medium sized lemons
powdered sugar, for sifting

Directions:

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350˚. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan with butter. (Use an 8 x 10 pan if you'd like the layers to be a little thicker.)
Stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter to the bowl and use a pastry cutter to cut it all together until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Press into the prepared pan and bake until golden around the edges, about 20 minutes.
For the filling: Stir together the sugar and flour. Crack in the eggs and whisk to combine. Add the lemon zest and juice and mix until combined. Pour over the crust and bake about 20 minutes.
Allow to cool in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, then sift powdered sugar over the top before cutting into squares.