L.A. Fire Company Fined For Skipping Toll Booth En Route to Palomar

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published November 30, 2007 at 3:23 PM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

October's California wildfires took a toll on firefighters: a $100 toll to be exact. The Transportation Corridor Agencies, which operates a network of toll roads in Orange County, sent Los Angeles Cou

October's California wildfires took a toll on firefighters: a $100 toll to be exact. The Transportation Corridor Agencies, which operates a network of toll roads in Orange County, sent Los Angeles County Engine Company Number 116 the $100 ticket for not paying a toll while it headed to San Diego County to fight wildfires near Palomar Mountain. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce picks up the story from there.

The engine company is based in Carson and apparently skipped the Route 133 toll booth on its way to San Diego County. Los Angeles County fire Capt. Bob Viers says he assumed the fine was a mistake and called a toll road representative -- but the agency insisted the engine company pay up.

Become a KPBS sponsor

“You know this is a fire truck,” Viers told the representative. “I can't believe you're fining us.”

The captain then talked to a manager, who said the firefighters had to pay $20 instead of $100. Ultimately, the fine was knocked down to $5 and the captain charged it to his own personal credit card. A woman who answered the phone at the toll agency on Friday said all employees had the day off and no one was available to comment.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

twitter

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.

See stories by Ed Joyce