Fairview Valley Fire v. CA Dept. of Forestry
Annotate this CaseThe California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) responds to a wide variety of emergencies throughout the state, including more than 5,600 wildfires each year. Although Cal Fire itself owns and operates more than 3,000 fire and emergency response vehicles, it also depends on the availability of equipment and services it hires from private vendors. Fairview Valley Fire was a vendor of emergency vehicles and services, which it provided to Cal Fire and other governmental agencies for a number of years. Cal Fire sent Fairview a letter that suspended Fairview's right to provide emergency vehicles and services. The suspension was based on Cal Fire's investigation of a 2006 incident in which a Fairview employee impersonated a high-ranking fire department officer at a morning briefing being conducted at a fire incident and thereafter contacted Cal Fire personnel and, in violation of Hired Equipment Policies and Procedures (HEPP), was able to have Fairview vehicles and personnel hired outside the normal Cal Fire rotation. Cal Fire's investigation also disclosed that Fairview personnel falsified shift tickets so that Fairview was paid for two operators of a vehicle in instances when it was only entitled to payment for one, resulting in a $6,433 overpayment to Fairview. The investigation also found that, during the incident, Fairview employees obtained several hundred gallons of diesel fuel and then attempted, unsuccessfully, to avoid paying for the fuel. Fairview appealed its suspension to the Cal Fire regional chief; the appeal was ultimately rejected. Fairview then filed a civil complaint against Cal Fire alleging: one cause of action for breach of contract arising out of a dispatcher's request for two water tenders during the Witch Creek fire; a cause of action for declaratory relief challenging Cal Fire's decision not to use its services; and a cause of action for declaratory relief challenging the lack of competitive bidding under the HEPP. After review, the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's judgment in favor of Cal Fire: the Court agreed with Cal Fire that the agency was not required to employ the formal competitive bid process set forth in the Public Contract Code. Under the express terms of Cal Fire's written policies and procedures, no binding contract arises between Cal Fire and an equipment vendor until a vendor's equipment is actually dispatched by Cal Fire in an emergency. Further, the Court of Appeal also found the trial court properly dismissed Fairview's causes of action challenging its suspension as a Cal Fire vendor. Moreover, Fairview had no claim related to the underlying suspension because, while the case was pending in the trial court, Cal Fire lifted the suspension.
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