RIPON, Calif. — With fires ravaging parts of Southern California, Los Angeles’ fire department funding has been in the spotlight amid revelations that its budget was cut in the weeks before the infernos. In San Joaquin County, at least one fire district says it barely has the funds to keep its doors open.
Of the three firehouses serving the more than 20,000 people in the Ripon area, only one is open due to budget constraints, the Ripon Consolidated Fire District says. It’s been the status quo for years. But for Ripon residents like Scott Moulyn, seeing the devastation happening 300 miles south draws up images of what could be.
“The footage of everything getting burned out is awful,” Moulyn said. “Nobody wants what’s happening down there to happen in their neighborhood.”…