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EL CAJON — El Cajon is contracting out more of its paramedic services with a private company. The City Council unanimously agreed last week to an expanded deal for five years with American Medical Response Ambulance Service Inc. for transporting patients to hospitals. As part of the contract, AMR will pay the city nearly $1.5 million over five years. The city also anticipates overall savings based on a decrease in personnel costs, capital costs, such as fuel, and for vehicle upkeep. Read the entire article here

Thank you "firepost"...that is some really great information! San Diego Fire (city), now San Diego Fire-Rescue, had some snorkels too. Here's one for an example, a 1975 Crown, served as Truck 4, and had a 75 foot boom.

The Los Angeles City Fire Department had owned 6 Snorkels. Two of them were full sized 85 footers and were painted yellow which was the color of the Specialized Apparatus which is also why the Heavy Utility rig which years later was renamed the Heavy Rescue was initially painted yellow. The two 85 foot Snorkels were assigned strictly as Snorkel companies. One was located at old Station 3 and the other was located at the old Station 27. After Snorkel 3 had flipped over in an unfortunate accident and firefighter Thomas Collier died on July 6th 1970. Both of the large Snorkels were taken out of service. It was found that the reason for the accident was improper use of the outriggers. The LA City fire department also had four 50 Snorkel/Pumpers that were built onto Crown Engines, the 4 Snorkel Pumpers had run as the Wagons of several Heavy Duty Task Forces which ran with an Aerial Ladder unit a 2 piece Engine company and a Single piece Engine company. LA City had been running with 5 Heavy Duty Task Forces however the 5th Heavy Duty Task Force had run with a 50 foot Squirt as opposed to a 50 foot Snorkel which ran on the other 4 Heavy Duty Task Forces. The four Heavy Task Forces that had run with 50 foot Snorkels were Task Forces 27, 61,11 and 3. The fifth Task Force was Task Force 9,however Task Force 9 ran with a Squirt. There was another Task Force that wasn't a Heavy Duty Task Force that only ran with a 2 piece Engine and the Wagon was a Squirt that had run on Task Force 29. In 1978 due to a major statewide reduction in property tax rates which was known as the Jarvis amendment or Proposition 13 the city of LA had to make cuts in the fire department so all of the Heavy Duty Task Forces were down graded to regular Task Forces so the 50 foot Snorkel Pumpers and the Squirt Pumper were removed from the Heavy Duty Task Forces. A few of the Snorkel Pumpers were reassigned to a few other fire companies for a few years however by the mid 1980's most of them were taken out of service. Two of the four 50 foot Snorkels had been removed from the Engines that they were on and the Engines had received new bodies and were put back in service with out the Snorkels.One of the Squirts had been assigned to Task Force 73 until the mid 1980's and one of the Snorkels had been assigned to Task Force 95 at the airport. Another Snorkel had been reassigned to Engine 40 at LA Harbor and one of the other units was reassigned to Engine 13 however they were out of service by the late 1980's.