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Calif. chief says brownouts had ‘negative impact’ on choking toddler response

The death of Bentley Do reignited public uproar over so-called brownouts within San Diego’s Fire-Rescue Department

UPI

SAN DIEGO — San Diego’s fire chief says he can’t be certain a 2-year-old boy could have been saved from choking to death had his department been at full strength.

The death of Bentley Do earlier this week reignited a public uproar over so-called brownouts within the fire department that have left some stations undermanned, requiring personnel to cover larger service areas.

Although there is a fire station a block away from the Do residence in the Mira Mesa district, its one operational fire engine was off on a call that normally would have been handled by another station, The San Diego Union-Tribune said Thursday.

“Brownouts had a negative impact on our ability to provide service in this case,” said Chief Javier Mainar. “What I cannot say is whether we could have been able to save Bentley’s life had we been there sooner.”

The Union-Tribune said the brownout strategy, which was enacted in response to the city’s long-running budget crunch, has left some stations with one truck or engine manned instead of the normal two. The result has been that only about half of the department’s calls are answered within five minutes, which is the national average response time.

The city said police got to the Do home first about five minutes after the 911 call was received. An ambulance showed up more than four minutes later.

Copyright 2010 U.P.I.