Fresno budget proposals raise concerns about funding and fire response

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — As the weather warms, we have seen several intense and fast-spreading fires.

So, as the city of Fresno negotiates its budget, talk of reducing fire department funding is causing concern among the Fresno Firefighters Association.

“These are certainly reductions that are going to be felt by both our members and the public,” said Dean Sanders, president of the Fresno Firefighters Association.

Fire Chief Billy Alcorn said the department had to defund 13 positions to stay within budget.

The reductions come just a year after Fresno City Fire received a federal SAFER grant to add 45 firefighters.

Now, the city is responsible for funding these positions.

Some of the cuts being considered include reducing staffing levels from four to three firefighters at Station 16 in west-central Fresno and eliminating a team dedicated to medical calls.

At Wednesday's council meeting, council member Mike Karbassi suggested cutting two medical teams instead of reducing staff numbers.

City Manager Georgeanne White expressed concerns given the number of calls medical crews are responding to.

“The reason we went with the SAFER grant was also firefighter fatigue, due to the high volume of calls,” White said. “These squads received seven thousand calls. Seven thousand calls from the stations.”

White said removing the two medical crews would put those calls back on the engines, adding to firefighter fatigue and equipment wear and tear.

Fresno Firefighters Association President Dean Sanders said those squads also keep engines available for larger calls.

However, he also said reducing personnel assigned to an engine was a bad idea because it limited their ability to respond when they had to go to a burning building.

“That only leaves one person outside versus two people outside, and my biggest concern about that is if you send the engineer and the firefighter to go get the person, the captains are going to stay behind. “Outside, that means no one is handling anything water related at this point,” Sanders said.

Karbassi hopes they can avoid cutting fire or medical crews, and is looking at other areas where reductions could be made.

“We have a very strong and robust funded pension system and it is overfunded by about 16% above its full funding,” Karbassi said. “If we can come to an agreement with our pension board and be able to reduce that funding, it could bring in millions of dollars not only to shore up our fire department, but other departments as well.”

The city declined to comment on the budget, saying it would not comment during negotiations.

A fire department spokesperson asked Action News to contact the city when asked for an interview.

Negotiations continue. The budget must be adopted before June 30.

For updates, follow Kate Nemarich on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.