By Marc Benjamin
The Fresno Bee
Copyright 2007 The Fresno Bee
FRESNO, Calif. — The North Central Fire Protection District closed one chapter and opened a new one Sunday, officially becoming part of the Fresno City Fire Department.
North Central’s firefighters on duty Sunday became Fresno city firefighters as the 8 a.m. shift started at North Central’s Kerman headquarters.
The district’s other firefighters will be sworn in at 9 a.m. today in the downtown Fresno Exhibit Hall. Altogether, 38 North Central firefighters will join Fresno’s firefighting force.
The merging of the departments came about because many of the district’s areas in northwest Fresno have been annexed into the city of Fresno, depleting North Central’s revenue and hampering its ability to provide a higher level of service.
In February, the district closed two North Central Fire Protection District stations in northwest Fresno and merged its dispatch staffing with the Fresno County Emergency Medical Services Department.
The northwest Fresno areas have been covered since then by five nearby Fresno city fire stations. But Sunday was the official start date for the merging of service by the two departments, because it marks the beginning of both agencies’ fiscal years.
With the northwest Fresno stations closed, the district and the city agreed to add firefighters at the district’s rural stations in Kerman, Biola and Kearney Park.
The district is paying the city about $5 million this year under its contract. The district’s board remains intact to negotiate future annual contracts, and voters will continue to vote for district board members.
“We are excited,” Wayne Van Ornam, the district’s fire investigator and deputy fire marshal, said of North Central’s firefighters.
Since February, the city and North Central have responded to emergency calls together, and North Central firefighters said they have been encouraged by what they have seen.
Van Ornam said North Central’s commanders, who are not accustomed to having more than a dozen firefighters at a scene, are often finding twice that number or more when the Fresno Fire Department responds.
The contract is what he calls a classic “win-win” for both agencies and, more importantly, for residents.
North Central Chief Lonnie Downs will be tying up loose ends before retiring in September and agrees with Van Ornam.
“This contract will provide for a higher level of protection for many years to come,” he said. “It provides for the future that a lot of times is very unpredictable.”
Fresno Fire Chief Randy Bruegman said longtime North Central firefighters will remain in the district’s stations until at least October 2008. He said younger firefighters will be placed throughout the city of Fresno’s system.