Politics

San Diego's Fire Pits Rescued Again

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published May 10, 2010 at 9:43 AM PDT

This story was published more than 13 years ago.

Private Donations Keep Fires Burning

The concrete fire rings at San Diego city beaches and parks have been saved by public donations again.

The city cut the maintenance of 186 fire pits in 2008 to close its budget deficit.

But an anonymous donor rescued the fire pits with a donation to keep it going through the end of this June.

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San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders provided more good news on KPBS Radio's These Days Program.

"Some more donors have stepped up to fund the fire pits, probably for the next year, year-and-a-half, maybe longer than that," said Sanders.

Without the private funding, the public fire pits were going to be removed.

"It's kind of a funny thing, you talk to people about fire pits, I don't talk to many people who use them, but they like the idea of them, it's kind of San Diego," said Sanders.

The city staffs two full-time positions to take care of the pits.

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Critics say the city should pay for maintenance because residents already pay with their taxes.

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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