Lompoc Firefighters Association

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Lompoc Firefighters Association

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The firefighters of Lompoc City are represented by the Lompoc Firefighters Association, Local 1906 of the International Association of Firefighters.

10/15/2026

On 10/10, Lompoc faced six simultaneous emergency calls, including a vehicle rollover requiring extended patient extrication.

With only two staffed engines, Lompoc had to request fire engines from all over the valley, and ambulances from Vandenberg Village, Buellton, and Santa Maria.

Sick and injured residents were left waiting. Neighboring communities like Vandenberg Village were left without their own emergency resources.

These are the lives and safety of you, your family, and your neighbors. How many more incidents like this will it take to show that the current level of staffing and resources is not enough?

What happens if staffing levels drop even further and we have to brown-out another fire engine?

Lompoc deserves better.

KSBY Lompoc Record News Channel 3-12 Noozhawk Santa Barbara Independent Edhat Santa Barbara Santa Barbara News-Press Santa Maria Sun

10/11/2026

On 10/8, Lompoc faced multiple simultaneous critical incidents: a diabetic emergency, a vehicle-versus-motorcycle resulting in a fatality, and a structure fire.

With Lompoc units committed to the medical emergency and vehicle collision, response to the structure fire was delayed until engines arrived from Vandenberg Village and Buellton.

Fortunately, during the delay, the fire did not spread to other units, and no occupants were trapped inside.

Yesterday, Lompoc got lucky.

With limited personnel and resources, simultaneous emergencies can overwhelm our ability to respond. It’s situations like these where the consequences of a small department with inadequate staffing become harder to ignore.

Next time, the City might not be as lucky.

Lompoc deserves a Fire Department prepared to respond when its community needs it most.

KSBY Lompoc Record News Channel 3-12 Santa Barbara Independent Noozhawk Edhat Santa Barbara Santa Barbara News-Press Santa Maria Sun

09/27/2026

Lompoc is growing. Is the Fire Department?

City development data shows at least 1,084 new residential units in active development across the community, with 2248 new units planned in the next 5 years.

At the same time, Lompoc Fire has lost more than 20 firefighters in the last 10 years and cannot fully staff all of its emergency response vehicles.

The City is expanding. The Fire Department is shrinking.

More homes means more people to help, more property to protect, and a greater demand for emergency services.

At what point do fewer firefighters and fewer available emergency units become an unacceptable risk to the City and the people who live here? You tell us.

Santa Barbara News-Press Santa Barbara Independent Lompoc Record News Channel 3-12 Noozhawk Edhat Santa Barbara KSBY

09/20/2026

A few days ago, Engine 52 responded to a fully involved RV fire.

With additional personnel and resources unavailable, Engine 52 remained on scene for an extended duration to complete overhaul and extinguish remaining hot spots.

We are proud of the hard work of our members and remain committed to advocating for our department.

09/15/2026

Our members recently participated in Local 4148 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb to honor the 343 firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11, 2001.

Participants climbed the equivalent of the World Trade Center’s 1,980 steps while wearing up to 45 pounds of gear.

Proceeds benefited the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation supporting child burn survivors.

08/24/2026

How much does firefighter turnover cost YOU, the taxpayer?

Using a standard employee turnover cost formula, the City’s failure to retain firefighters has cost the taxpayer an estimated $4.2 MILLION. This estimate does not include the cost of regular wages, or the overtime costs required to fill the vacancies left behind.

These costs include recruiting, hiring, training, protective equipment, certifications, and years of professional development. Every step is paid for by Lompoc taxpayers.

When experienced firefighters leave the department, years of your investment leaves with them.

Replacing experienced firefighters is costly. Keeping them is far less expensive. The price of turnover is ultimately paid by the taxpayers of Lompoc.

Retention isn’t just about staffing, it’s about protecting the public’s investment.

KSBY News Channel 3-12 Noozhawk Lompoc Record Santa Barbara Independent Edhat Santa Barbara Santa Barbara News-Press

08/02/2026

Over 100 years.

That’s how much firefighting experience the Lompoc Fire Department has lost to neighboring fire departments over the last 10 years.

Over the last decade, Lompoc has lost more than a CENTURY of firefighting experience that can’t be replaced overnight. Every firefighter who leaves takes with them emergency response experience, local knowledge, and technical expertise.

Hiring a new firefighter fills a vacancy, but it doesn’t replace experience. Experience in the fire service is built one emergency call at a time.

Former Lompoc firefighters now hold some of the highest ranks in neighboring departments. Lompoc Fire doesn’t struggle to produce excellent firefighters, it struggles to keep them.

The loss of experience has real consequences on the community. Without experienced firefighters to promote, Rescue 51 sits empty. When that happens, Lompoc residents wait longer for help.

The question isn’t “Why don’t they just hire more firefighters?” The question is “Why are so many experienced firefighters leaving?”

KSBY Lompoc Record News Channel 3-12 Noozhawk Santa Barbara News-Press Santa Barbara Independent Edhat Santa Barbara

07/28/2026

Our department has a retention problem.

For years, experienced firefighters have left Lompoc for better opportunities at neighboring fire departments.

The facts speak for themselves:
▪️Over the last four years, the department hired 13 new firefighters to keep just 9 budgeted firefighter positions filled.
▪️In the last ten years, 21 firefighters have left the Lompoc Fire Department- a department of approximately 30 personnel.
▪️These departures span the ranks from Firefighters to Fire Chiefs.

The numbers tell a clear story- our department has become a revolving door.

This isn’t an isolated trend, it’s a pattern we’ve watched for years.

Our turnover rate is so significant that we can no longer staff one of our frontline response vehicles.

Lompoc Fire does not struggle to produce excellent firefighters, it struggles to keep them.

KSBY Lompoc Record News Channel 3-12 Noozhawk Santa Barbara Independent Edhat Santa Barbara Santa Barbara News-Press

07/21/2026

That’s how many Engineer positions are currently vacant in our department. More vacancies are expected this year, which would increase that number to nearly half of all Engineer positions.

Most people think an Engineer’s job is simply driving the fire engine, but it’s much more than that.

Engineers are the department’s technical specialists responsible for operating the vehicles and equipment that protect Lompoc residents.

Becoming an Engineer takes years of experience, extensive training, and a rigorous promotional process.

They must be qualified to operate every emergency vehicle and be able to navigate to any address in the city, day or night, from memory.

Engineers aren’t hired. They’re developed internally over years.

When experienced Engineers leave faster than they can be replaced, the knowledge they’ve built isn’t replaced overnight.

That’s why retention matters.

This is the primary reason Rescue 51 remains browned out.

07/15/2026

🚨When you call 911, you expect the fire department to respond immediately.

When Rescue 51 is unavailable, you might be left waiting.

To be clear, Rescue 51 is not broken. It’s sitting at the station without the qualified personnel needed to put it in service that day.

This is called a “brownout”.

The fuel tank is full. The equipment is on the truck. But the seats are empty.

A brownout occurs when an emergency response unit cannot be placed in service because there aren’t enough qualified personnel available to staff it.

The brownout isn’t the problem, it’s the symptom of years of firefighter retention challenges.

It’s a clear sign that those challenges now affect the level of emergency service available to Lompoc residents.

With Rescue 51 unavailable, Lompoc is relying on two fire engines to protect more than 45,000 residents.

When every second counts, you shouldn’t have to wait.

Santa Barbara News-Press Edhat Santa Barbara Santa Barbara Independent Lompoc Record KSBY News Channel 3-12 Noozhawk

Address

115 S G Street
Lompoc, CA
93436

Website

http://lompocfirefighters.com/

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