Ripon residents come together to fundraise for understaffed fire district
RIPON — If you drive past Fire Station 3 on the northern edge of Ripon, a big sign reads, "Station Unstaffed. In Case of Emergency, Call 911."
That's been the case now for over 10 years.
"When you're waiting and told by the dispatcher on the phone that it may be 15 to 20 minutes and to just keep them stable, that's pretty scary," Doug Brodie said.
Brodie is one of the 20 key members of their community group called "With Ripon Fire."
Their goal is to get their fire district the staff it has needed for years.
"We came together as a group of retirees and people that are still working, just to say that we can't do this," Brodie continued. "We just started last Saturday going door to door, and it was very successful. Probably one of the first things that people didn't realize was the staffing, that there is just one truck."
Currently, Ripon Fire District has one engine, one ambulance and one battalion chief on staff at all times.
For a department that covers 56 square miles with 2,600 calls a year and nearly a thousand of those calls coming in at the same time, it puts a major strain on the current staff.
The chief says only luck has been on their side. They don't want that to run out.
"If we can leave the call we're on, get it wrapped up, and then move on to the next one, that's obviously the best of the scenarios," Ripon Fire District Chief Eric DeHart explained. "If we can't, then we have to rely on our neighbors to come, which has proven that on average it takes them between 12 and 14 minutes to get from the time they dial 911 until that fire engine arrives on scene."
Fire Station 3 is ready for a crew. It is fully operational with another engine waiting to respond to the call. It was completed in 2014 with redevelopment funds that needed to be used.
The issue now is funding. That's where the district needs to turn to the community to vote on a benefit assessment.
"If this passes, we will staff this fire station with two people that will be on per day and that will then give us two fire engines on any given day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Chief DeHart shared.
That's where Brodie and his group at "With Ripon Fire" are trying to advocate for, going door to door every weekend, spreading information and connecting the community with their local fire department.
"You're here to protect and serve, you're here to help, you're here to maintain the status quo and the healthiness of your city," Brodie continued. "We're not getting any smaller."
The benefit assessment would cost single-family homeowners about $249 a year, or $21 a month.
Ballots will be given out two months before the vote, which is set for Aug. 14.