Salida to cut ties with Modesto, restart its own fire department

The Salida Fire Protection District is restarting its fire department and cutting its ties with Modesto, which has provided the district with fire services since July at a cost of $102,500 per month.

The district notified Modesto Fire Chief Sean Slamon that it is ending the agreement effective Dec. 31. District board Chairman Jerry DeBoer cited the cost of the service in his Oct. 31 cancellation letter.

“The Modesto Fire Department has provided excellent service to the residents of the district,” DeBoer wrote. “However, in light of funding constraints, and the board’s commitment to operating within its budget, it is necessary that the district take action.”

Salida is paying Modesto for nine firefighters to operate one fire station and staff the station’s fire engine with three firefighters per shift. That works out to an annual cost of $1.23million. Salida plans to operate the fire station with six firefighters and staff the engine with two firefighters per shift.

Modesto has been providing Salida with fire services as part of the July 1 breakup of the Modesto Regional Fire Authority, which Modesto, Stanislaus County and the Salida Fire Protection District formed in 2011. The fire authority was expected to provide greater efficiencies and service but was not able to achieve that.

Salida’s nine paid firefighters became Modesto firefighters as part of the creation of MRFA.

The agreement between Modesto and Salida calls for Modesto to provide Salida with fire services for six months through Dec. 31, with an option for a second six months through June 30.

Salida’s decision does not help the Modesto Fire Department’s wobbly budget, but Slamon said the department can absorb the blow.

He has not filled vacancies as firefighters have left the department. He has five openings and expects an additional two or three by the end of the year. He said the firefighters who had been assigned to Salida can fill those openings in January. Firefighters who don’t have a vacancy to fill can fill in for other firefighters who are not on the job because of vacations, injuries or other reasons.

The Modesto department started its fiscal year July 1 with a $22.6million budget, which was about $2million less than the previous year. The budget called for the closure of Fire Station 6 – near Vintage Faire Mall – but City Council members had second thoughts and directed Slamon and other city officials to find a way to keep the station open.

There has been no resolution, partly because the city is waiting for the final accounting of MRFA’s finances to learn how much money it will get back from the dissolution of the fire agency. The money is expected to provide the city with a one-time windfall. Slamon said he expects to know by the end of the month how much Modesto will get.

Slamon and other city officials are working on options to keep Modesto’s 11 fire stations open while balancing the department’s budget and not laying off firefighters. He said he and other officials could have a proposal for the council to consider by the end of the year.

Salida is hiring three fire captains, three fire engineers and a division chief, as well as a civilian administrative manager. Board member Emil Rusca said the district is not accepting more applications.

Rusca said it is his understanding that Dale Skiles – the county’s fire warden and assistant director of the Office of Emergency Services – will continue to serve as Salida’s part-time fire chief. “He’s on loan from the county, and we pay him for his time with us,” Rusca said.

Skiles was Salida’s fire chief before the creation of MRFA.

This story was originally published November 11, 2014 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Salida to cut ties with Modesto, restart its own fire department."