A vacant fire station in the Central California city of Ripon was filled with people Wednesday evening who were concerned about their fire district’s personnel being understaffed.
For the Ripon Consolidated Fire District, it’s quite simple: Their district is understaffed, and one of their buildings is empty daily because they need money. The district also needs a new fire truck. In the meantime, they are trying to find ways to respond to 911 calls quickly.
The district covers 56 square miles with a town of almost 20,000 people. Yet, because they’re not a city fire department, but a special independent district, they have just one fire engine with two firefighters on shift at all times…