By Ishani Desai
The Sacramento Bee
FOLSOM, Calif. — Folsom firefighters’ response times to incidents may fluctuate after the city’s fire department determined they will remove a fire truck from service this week, a move by city officials approved to balance a budget deficit.
The fire truck assigned to Station 38 will be taken out of service by Oct. 1, according to a Sept. 8 department memo obtained by The Sacramento Bee, and its firefighters will be reassigned to another location. The Folsom Fire Department will adjust its resources as service levels change, according to a news release issued Wednesday.
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City Council members approved last month cutting five employees, eliminating 15 vacant positions and other maneuvers to close a $3 million budget deficit. The Folsom City Council voted to approve a $266 million budget in June and promised to revisit its budget deficit in the following months.
Removing a fire truck from circulation will save the city $1 million annually by reducing overtime costs, according to the news release. The city’s six stations will remain open, and only an ambulance will run out of Station 38.
“This realignment allows us to operate as efficiently as possible given the necessary staffing reductions,” Interim Folsom Fire Chief Jason Solak said in the news release. “These changes enable us to deploy resources where they’re needed most while keeping public safety at the forefront of every decision.”
The decision to remove a fire truck was unwelcome news for some firefighters.
The delayed response times stemming from removing a fire truck could decrease the likelihood of recovering a victim from a fire and containing the flames quickly, said Dan Carson, a firefighter and paramedic who is a representative from the Sacramento Area Local 522 union for the Folsom Fire Department.
“It’s a guaranteed disservice,” he said.
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