California city's massive $130M deficit threatens dangerous cuts to its firefighting capacity

Oakland's $129.8 cardinal fund shortage could eradicate up to 30% of its firefighting capacity, depleting a strapped section already stretched bladed by presumption closures, according to sources connected the ground.

Fire effect times successful the Democrat-controlled California metropolis are already 3 times the nationalist mean aft fund cuts that precocious closed 2 occurrence stations and kept a recently renovated presumption from reopening. 

City Councilmember Zac Unger, who was an Oakland firefighter for 27 years, told Fox Digital that 4 much stations could look closures due to the fact that of deficits.

"We person 3 firehouses presently closed and different 4 slated to adjacent ... which would correspond astir 30% of our firefighting capableness present successful Oakland, an perfectly catastrophic imaginable for the metropolis of Oakland," Unger said. "We simply cannot spend to suffer 30% of our occurrence and exigency aesculapian response."

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Firefighters and metropolis officials person been moving overtime successful "an all-hands-on-deck moment," Unger said, to place disposable funds successful the city’s fund and support Oakland’s firehouses open. Fire Chief Damon Covington told Fox Digital inroads person been made to forestall the further 4 occurrence stations from closing, but that's not to accidental closures won't travel down the road.

Firefighters ticker h2o drops connected the Palisades Fire successful Mandeville Canyon, Jan. 11, 2025, successful Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

"Seven firehouses would correspond astir 30% of our occurrence department," Covington said. "It's a tremendous menace because, ultimately, we request much occurrence work to screen our metropolis adequately, and to suffer 2 firehouses and a 3rd that was nether renovation, it taxes our workforce."

The occurrence department’s constricted capableness has slowed effect time, creating the imaginable for a catastrophe similar the Palisades and Eaton wildfires, President of Oakland Firefighters Local 55 Seth Olyer said.

"We had a location occurrence successful the extremity of eastbound Oakland successful Engine 28's area," helium said. "Normally, that motor would person been capable to get to the occurrence wrong 4 minutes. The closest occurrence motor took astir 11 minutes to get there. With a occurrence doubling successful size each minute, you tin bash the math. This went from a tiny occurrence wrong the location to a full nonaccomplishment and astir threatening the surrounding country and perchance starting a wildland fire, overmuch similar successful L.A."

"Our firefighters bash unthinkable work, and they volition marque bash with immoderate hard circumstances you springiness them, but yes, we person seen slowed effect times," Unger told Fox Digital. "There's simply nary mode to adjacent firehouses and expect to person the aforesaid level of service."

The interim mayor's bureau did not respond to a petition for comment. But successful its existent fund proposal, the metropolis cites one-time COVID-19 pandemic costs and status benefits, including OPEB liability and CalPERs benefits costs, arsenic the "fiscal challenges starring to [a] projected deficit" of $129.8 million. Oakland’s 2024-2025 fiscal fund projected occurrence presumption "brownouts" for six months opening January 2025 to prevention the metropolis $5.5 million. 

But section firefighters accidental brownouts could travel astatine a overmuch higher cost. 

A partition mural depicting Altadena, Calif., is seen adjacent to the destroyed Altadena Hardware store aft the Eaton Fire connected Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

"When you adjacent firehouses, it creates a domino effect," Covington said successful an interrogation with Fox Digital. "It's not conscionable the firehouse that you're closing, it's the surrounding jurisdictions, the different firehouses that are adjacent to that firehouse that person to screen the crushed of that station."

Oakland firefighters accidental they look the aforesaid cuts that the Los Angeles Fire Department warned astir up of the devastating Palisades and Eaton wildfires successful January. Oakland is nary alien to occurrence devastation itself. The Oakland firestorm of 1991 killed 25 people, injured 150 and destroyed much than 3,000 homes. Olyer said the 1991 occurrence fundamentally changed occurrence section effect tactics and however occurrence crews cooperate with surrounding agencies.

"That occurrence was truthful monolithic it took a herculean effort by the Bay Area and fundamentally occurrence departments from each implicit the occidental U.S. to control," Olyer told Fox Digital. "You’re seeing the aforesaid happening with Los Angeles. It’s not realistic to deliberation that immoderate occurrence section would beryllium capable to halt immoderate benignant of immense fast-moving wildfire with hurricane unit winds successful conditions similar that."

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A quick, businesslike and collaborative firefighting cognition is imaginable with ample resources. In October, Olyer described however due staffing and practice with CAL FIRE prevented the Keller Fire from becoming different California catastrophe. 

"The Keller fire, which happened past October, was a cleanable illustration of what a decently staffed occurrence section and aboriginal intensive enactment tin bash to truly halt a occurrence earlier it gets retired of control," Olyer said. The event, helium said, showed what "cooperation among agencies looks like, with CAL FIRE doing h2o drops connected top, chopper drops connected it and monolithic amounts of resources precise aboriginal on."

(CAL Fire San Diego County)

"The section has been moving bare bones successful Oakland for decades," Olyer said. "We person occurrence engines driving astir with astir 300,000 miles, and they're virtually falling apart. It’s conscionable a substance of clip until Oaklanders’ luck runs out."

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"We're each pushing successful the aforesaid direction. Everybody wants those firehouses open. It truly does travel down to dollars and cents," Covington said.