These Fresno County fire stations will now be fully staffed all year

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Four local fire stations will now be fully staffed all year.

The Fresno County Board of Supervisors approved the funding to staff Yokuts Valley, Piedra, Blasingame, and Shaver Lake on Tuesday.

It’s part of the Amador Plan, a decades-old agreement allowing local government agencies to work with Cal Fire to make sure fire stations are fully staffed all year. Officials say it is especially important as the term “fire season” becomes a thing of the past.

“What we’ve seen over the course of the last six or seven years is fire season doesn’t stop. It goes year-round,” Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig said.

Cal Fire Captain Zach Irion says disaster does not discriminate between certain months of the year. He says it can strike at any time.

“Although our main mission is to mitigate wildland fires, we’re also an all-risk department. So that means that we’re responding to medical aids, motor vehicle accidents and all kinds of incidents,” Irion said.

Until now, the previously mentioned Fresno County fire stations were only fully staffed between March and October.

“A lot of the calls that these fire departments go out to aren’t just fires. Some of them are emergency medical aid calls or car accidents,” Magsig said.

So, in a unanimous vote Tuesday, the supervisors agreed to open the county’s wallet and work with Cal Fire to increase staffing at local stations during the winter months.

“We passed an item which allows for up to $1.5 million to be billed back to the county,” Magsig said. “These are property taxes, sales taxes, vehicle license fees.”

He says $1.5 million is a lot of money, especially considering the county’s current $16 million budget hole. He says this project is worth it, though.

“I’m committed because I don’t want to see another Creek Fire happen under my watch,” Magsig said.

Irion says, now, whether Eastern Fresno County is under clear skies or feet of snow, fire crews will be on stand-by.

The contract takes effect July 1 and lasts through June 30, 2026.

Magsig says the county will reevaluate the spending annually.