SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Over the past two days, it's been nonstop for Stockton firefighters with two large-scale fires starting within hours of each other.
The last fire, a six-alarm fire at a pallet company, forced nearly a dozen outside agencies to assist the Stockton Fire Department.
"The initial resources were already strapped before the initial resources got to the fire," Mario Gardea, who worked both of the fires, said.
Gardea is also the local union president for Stockton Fire Fighters Local 456. He said the fires were already so large in size, the Stockton Fire Department couldn't handle them on their own.
"We are by far the busiest 12 station department in the nation," Gardea said. "We go to as many structure fires as probably San Francisco city."
In 2018, the Stockton Fire Department had their busiest year on record with roughly 49,000 calls for service. This year, they'll likely top 53,000 calls. Plain and simple, Gardea says the department needs to restore what they once had. They're also facing an aging department.
"I believe in the next five years we could lose 60-70 percent of our department, based on age," Gardea echoed.
Major cuts happened to the department in 2011. Several stations were shut down and more than 30 firefighters were laid off. These cuts happened when the city was facing a deficit. One year later, the city filed for bankruptcy.
Stockton Fire Chief Erik Newman said because of Stockton's long-range financial plan, they are not able to get more money at the moment, but they are actively trying to find ways to increase resources.
"This problem is not going to go anywhere," Gardea said. "It's going to be an issue for the rest of my career because we are playing catch-up."
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