Bill
AB 1283
AB 1283 would formalize a Firefighting Mutual Aid and Prepositioning Program within OES to bolster mutual aid, expand engine prepositioning, and reimburse deployment costs.
AB 1283 (AB1283) — Office of Emergency Services: firefighting mutual aid
Overview
- This bill would create a Firefighting Mutual Aid and Prepositioning Program within the California Office of Emergency Services (OES). The program is intended to support existing state and local mutual aid arrangements for firefighting, enhance the Mutual Aid Fire Engine Program, and establish reimbursement mechanisms for costs incurred when deploying resources under mutual aid agreements.
Purpose and intent
- Strengthen coordination and resource sharing among local agencies and CAL FIRE during emergencies by formalizing a dedicated program to preposition firefighting assets and reimburse deployment costs.
- Improve the availability of fire engines and related resources for mutual aid responses, multi-alarm fires, and temporary equipment substitutions or training needs.
Key provisions
- Establishment of the Firefighting Mutual Aid and Prepositioning Program (Government Code §8619.6).
- Program purposes:
- (a) Support the implementation of the state fire service and rescue emergency mutual aid program.
- (b) Support the Mutual Aid Fire Engine Program, which allows an engine to be used for mutual aid responses, local multi-alarm fires, temporary engine replacement, training, or other local needs; the engine must be dispatched with the required personnel to the emergency.
- (c) Augment the program by reimbursing costs to staff, train, and acquire additional fire suppression resources (e.g., super hose tenders, deployable/water suppression systems, mobile hydrants) for local agencies and CAL FIRE.
- (d) Create a reimbursement program to pay for deployment costs under the Master Mutual Aid Agreement when agencies assist others, including salaries, overtime, backfill, lodging, meals, fuel, PPE, and specialty equipment.
- Relationship to existing law: Builds on the California Emergency Services Act, the OES, and the state’s mutual-aid framework, including the Master Mutual Aid Agreement and the existing state fire service and rescue emergency mutual aid plan.
Affected parties
- Local firefighting agencies (cities, counties, districts) that participate in mutual aid.
- CAL FIRE and other state fire resources.
- Agencies deploying or receiving mutual aid under the Master Mutual Aid Agreement.
- OES, through its Fire and Rescue division, to implement the program.
Fiscal and procedural notes
- The bill contemplates reimbursement of deployment and resource costs but does not itself create a new appropriation.
- Legislative actions indicate it is a new measure under the Committee on Emergency Management, with reporting and potential budget implications to be determined as the bill progresses.
Timeline and status
- Introduced: February 21, 2025
- Read first time: February 24, 2025
- From printer; may be heard in committee March 24
- Referred to Committee on Emergency Management: March 10, 2025
- Version corrected: March 3, 2025
Summary
AB 1283 would formalize a Firefighting Mutual Aid and Prepositioning Program within OES to bolster mutual aid capabilities, expand the Mutual Aid Fire Engine Program, and establish reimbursement mechanisms for deployment costs to support state and local firefighting responses during emergencies.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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