ADVISORY/Baker CCF: Safety of Los Angeles To Las Vegas Drive In Peril

    The Only Emergency Response Fire Crew On I-15 Between Barstow and
    Stateline Goes Out of Existence Midnight, Sunday, June 9, 2002

    --

	   Who:    Baker Community Correctional Facility (CCF) Emergency
            Response Fire Unit 
                (Contact: Kathleen Bonine, 760/733-4356, 
                 will be available all weekend.)

	   What:   San Bernardino County Fire and Sheriffs say eliminating
            the Baker CCF fire crew will increase the time it takes to
            get accident victims to a hospital by 45 minutes to an
            hour and a half. SB County Sheriff's Captain Toby Tyler
            warns that if Baker CCF closes, "We may not need
            ambulances ... it may be that we'll need more hearses,
            because I think there'll be a lot more people who die as a
            result of not receiving emergency medical treatment in a
            timely fashion."
                The prison inmate fire crew, supervised by the San
            Bernardino County Fire Department, has helped hundreds of
            motorists and saved many lives during its 13 years of
            service. Sunday is the fire crew's last day.
                This stretch of Highway 15 is the most dangerous
            highway in the state. It's the "Number One" highway for
            traffic fatalities in the state according to the CHP.
            Nearly a 1000 people have died on I-15 between Barstow and
            Stateline since 1998 according to CALTRANS. Local
            residents call it: Blood Alley.

	   When:   The inmate fire crew will remain on call until midnight
            Sunday.

	   Place:  Baker CCF, Baker California

	   Why:    Governor Davis took a $251,000 in campaign contribution
            from Don Novey, head of the state prison guards union just
            weeks after agreeing to close the privately run Baker
            Community Correctional Facility (CCF) and give the guards
            a 34% pay hike. If a single person dies as a result of
            "not receiving emergency medical attention in a timely
            fashion", the $2.5 million in prison guard financed TV
            advertising for the Governor's November election will be
            Blood Money, says Marvin Wiebe, Cornell Companies
            (805/650-1985).

    Additional contact numbers for accident victims and others directly affected by the closure of Baker CCF are available at 1-800/449-3395. The Joint Assembly - Senate Conference Committee on the Budget is expected to take up this issue Saturday in Sacramento.