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TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
 

State of California
 

JOHN K. VAN DE KAMP
 

Attorney General
 

:
 

OPINION : No. 86-403
 

:
 

of : JUNE 2, 1987 

:
 

JOHN K. VAN DE KAMP :
 

Attorney General :
 

:
 

CLAYTON P. ROCHE :
 

Deputy Attorney General :
 

:
 

THE STATE BOARD OF FORESTRY has requested an opinion on the 

following questions: 

1. Does the Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention have authority to 

provide hazardous material cleanup, rescue, first aid, and emergency medical services 

where the emergency is not related to a fire, threat of fire, or to an emergency declared 

pursuant to the California Emergency Services Act? 

2. To what extent is the Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention 

authorized to contract with a local fire jurisdiction (city, county or district) to provide the 

above enumerated services therein where the emergency is not related to a fire or threat 

of fire? 

CONCLUSIONS 

1. The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has no authority to 

provide hazardous material cleanup, rescue, first aid, and emergency medical services 

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where the emergency is not related to a fire or threat of fire, or to an emergency declared 

pursuant to the California Emergency Services Act. 

2. The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection may contract with a 

county pursuant to sections 55640-55642 of the Government Code to provide "rescue and 

resuscitator" services throughout the county. Otherwise, the Department has no authority 

to contract to provide the enumerated services within a local fire jurisdiction (city, county 

or district) where the emergency is not related to a fire or threat of fire. 

ANALYSIS 

1.	 The Power Of The Department, If Any, To 

Render The Specified Emergency Services 

Absent A Fire Or Threat Of Fire. 

The first question presented is whether the Department of Forestry and Fire 

Protection (hereinafter, "Department") may provide hazardous material cleanup, rescue, 

first aid, and emergency medical services where the emergency is not related to a fire or 

threat of fire, or to an emergency declared pursuant to the California Emergency Services 

Act (Gov. Code, § 8550 et seq.).1 

"[P]ublic officers . . . must keep within the limits of their power as 

prescribed by law." (Irwin v. County of Yuba (1898) 119 Cal. 686, 684, 

690. "[A]ny act of an officer to be valid must find express authority in the 

law or be necessarily incidental to a power expressly granted." (Bear River 

Etc. Corp. v. County of Placer (1953) 118 Cal.App.2d 684, 690.) 

Accordingly, whether the Department may, through its director and its 

other officers and employees, provide the specified emergency services 

absent a fire or threat of fire, or absent an emergency declared pursuant to 

the Emergency Services Act, is to be determined from an examination of 

the statutes which confer powers and duties upon the Department and its 

officers and employees. 

1 In 64 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 588 (1981) we concluded that the Department could provide 

rescue, first aid and emergency medical services in "state responsibility areas" (see Pub. 

Resources Code, §§ 4125-4128) where there was a fire or threat of fire as an incident to its fire 

protection and fire suppression powers and duties. 

We further concluded that it could provide those services even absent a fire or threat of fire 

pursuant to an emergency declared pursuant to the Emergency Services Act. 

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The powers of the Department with respect to the rendition of "emergency 

services" are found in sections 4111 through 4114 of the Public Resources Code. An 

examination of these provisions discloses that such "emergency services" relate only to 

the prevention and suppression of fires. 

Thus, section 4111 provides that the Board of Forestry "shall make and 

enforce such regulations as are necessary and proper for the organization, maintenance, 

government, and direction of the fire protective system for the prevention and 

suppression of forest fires. . . ." Section 4112 then requires the Department to "divide the 

state into a suitable and convenient number of administrative districts" and to "appoint a 

supervising forest officer for each district." Sections 4113 and 4114 then provide as 

follows: 

Section 4113. 

"The supervising forest officers shall, under the direction of the 

director, have charge of the firefighting system and men in such districts, 

and are charged with the duty of preventing and extinguishing forest fires 

and with the performance of such other duties as may be required by the 

director." 

Section 4114. 

"The department, in accordance with a plan approved by the board, 

shall do all of the following: 

"(a) Provide fire prevention and firefighting implements and 

apparatus, 

"(b) Organize fire crews and patrols, 

"(c) Establish observation stations and other necessary structures, 

"(d) Employ men to effect the plan, 

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"(e) Construct and maintain telephone lines and provide such other 

means of communication as are necessary to prevent and extinguish forest 

fires."2 

It is thus seen that the Legislature has provided that the Department's 

mission is to provide firefighting and fire suppression services. There is nothing in these 

sections from which one might infer that the Department's mission goes any farther than 

this. 

We do note that there are a number of provisions elsewhere in the codes 

which either require or encourage public safety personnel such as Department firefighters 

to become skilled in first aid and other emergency medical procedures. Those provisions 

also encourage personnel who have acquired such skills to use them. However, an 

examination of those provisions discloses that none of them purport to confer any new or 

additional powers on Department personnel with respect to providing rescue, first aid, or 

emergency medical services. Each provision is consistent with the notion that such 

services shall be provided only as an incident to the performance of the Department's 

basic duties of fire prevention and fire suppression.3 In fact, this was the basic reason for 

our conclusions in our 1981 opinion (see footnote 1, ante) that the Department could 

provide first aid, rescue and emergency medical services where there was a fire or threat 

of fire - that is, that such services were a component of the Department's firefighting 

powers and duties.4 

2 Assembly Bill 713 introduced February 18, 1987, would add a subdivision to section 4114 

to read: "Provide, where available, rescue, first aid, and other emergency services to the public 

in state responsibility areas." 

3 See. Health & Safety Code sections 1797.5, 1797.6, 1797.109, 1797.182, 1799.102, 

1799.104, 1799.106, 1799.107 and 1799.108. See also Civil Code section 1714.2. 

For example, section 1799.107 of the Health & Safety Code, enacted in 1984 (Stats. 1984, 

ch. 275) provides that "public entities and emergency rescue personnel should be encouraged to 

provide emergency [medical] services [and] [t]o that end, a qualified immunity from liability 

shall be provided for public entities and emergency rescue personnel providing emergency 

services." Department personnel would fall within the definition of "emergency rescue 

personnel." (Subdiv. (e).) However, the section specifically provides also that the immunity 

applies when "acting within the scope of their employment." (Subdiv. (b).) Nowhere does the 

section purport to expand their scope of employment or the nature of their duties. 

4 Any implication in our 1981 opinion that the Department has the power to provide its 

emergency medical services independent of its authority to prevent and extinguish forest fires, its 

authority under the California Emergency Services Act, or its authority to contract with a county 

for such services pursuant to Government Code sections 55640 et seq. is hereby disapproved. 

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Finally, as to question one, with the exception of Government Code 

sections 55640 et seq. (to be discussed, post), our research has disclosed no statutes either 

in the Public Resources Code, or elsewhere, which would empower the Department to 

provide the specified emergency medical services or hazardous material cleanups absent 

a fire or threat of fire, or an emergency declared pursuant to the Emergency Services 

Act.5 

2.	 The Power, If Any, For The Department To 

Contract With Local Fire Jurisdictions To 

Provide The Specified Services Independent Of 

Fire Suppression. 

The second question presented is to what extent the Department may 

contract with a local fire jurisdiction (city, county or district) to provide the specified 

emergency services therein, that is, hazardous material cleanup, rescue, first aid and 

emergency medical services, where the emergency is not related to a fire or threat of fire. 

The only provisions of law our research has disclosed which would permit 

the Department to contract with a local fire jurisdiction to provide any of the specified 

emergency services independent of fire prevention or fire suppression are sections 55640-

55642 of the Government Code.6 These sections specifically provide that a board of 

supervisors may contract with the Department for the providing of "rescue and 

resuscitator" services throughout a county upon terms agreed upon. If such a contract is 

entered into, the Director of the Department has the same powers and duties within the 

county for providing "rescue and resuscitator" services as are provided by law for county 

officers. No fire or threat of fire is required as a predicate for such a contract. 

5 With respect to hazardous material cleanup, the main provisions of law we examined were 

those contained in the Health and Safety Code relating to Hazardous Waste Control (see § 25100 

et seq.). 

6 Section 55640 provides: 

"The board of supervisors of a county may provide rescue and resuscitator 

services throughout the county, and to this end the board may contract with the 

state, through the Department of Forestry, for the providing of those rescue and 

resuscitator services within the county by the Director of Forestry, his deputies, 

and assistants, including volunteer firefighters." 

Section 55641 provides: 

"When a contract has been made, the Director of Forestry may exercise the same powers 

and duties within the county for the providing of rescue and resuscitator services which by state 

or local law are conferred upon officers of the county." 

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These provisions are to be contrasted with the other specific provisions of 

law which empower the Department to enter into contracts with local agencies for the 

provision of services to those agencies. Section 4142 of the Public Resources Code 

authorizes the Department to enter into cooperative agreements for fire prevention and 

suppression within any county, city or district. Section 4144 of the Public Resources 

Code is another specific, additional provision whereby the Department may also enter 

into cooperative agreements with counties for fire prevention and suppression within the 

county. And finally, with respect to specific provisions, Government Code sections 

55606-55609 additionally permit the Department to contract with a county to provide fire 

prevention and fire suppression services within the county. These special provisions 

would not, however, in any manner authorize the Department to contract to provide the 

specified emergency services where there was no fire or threat of fire. The contractual 

powers which are granted relate only to such situations. (See 64 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 588 

(1981), supra, at fn. 1.) 

Finally on question two, the Joint Exercise of Powers Act should be 

mentioned. That act permits two public agencies to agree to perform jointly, or one for 

the other, any power they possess in common. (See Gov. Code, § 6500 et seq. and 

particularly, §§ 6502 & 6506.) However, the Joint Exercise of Powers Act does not 

confer any new or additional powers upon any public agency. (See The City of Oakland 

v. Williams (1940) 15 Cal.2d 542, 549.) Since the Department has no statutory power to 

provide any of the specified emergency services absent a fire or threat of fire, the Joint 

Exercise of Powers Act would provide no authority for the Department to contract with a 

local fire jurisdiction to provide those services independent of fire prevention or fire 

suppression.7 

Accordingly, on question two, we conclude that the Department may 

contract with a county pursuant to sections 55640-55642 of the Government Code to 

provide "rescue and resuscitator" services throughout the county. Otherwise, the 

Department may not contract with a local fire jurisdiction to provide hazardous material 

cleanup, rescue, first aid and emergency medical services therein where the emergency is 

not related to a fire or threat of fire. 

***** 

7 See sections 6502.7 of the Joint Exercise of Powers Act, enacted in 1986, relating to 

contracts for hazardous materials controls, but as declarative of existing law. Accordingly, such 

section also would grant no new powers. 

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