Contract with Kings County includes path for Avenal’s future fire department

KINGS COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - The City of Avenal has officially enactment distant plans to portion ways with the Kings County Fire Department to commencement a metropolis occurrence department.

According to Avenal City Manager Antony Lopez, connected Tuesday morning, the Kings County Board of Supervisors held its play meeting.

During the meeting, the committee considered 4 to 5 antithetic options for a renewal declaration with the metropolis of Avenal for occurrence extortion services.

According to Lopez, the committee unanimously voted to motion a declaration with the Kings County Fire Department, but with an 18-month exit clause.

Lopez says the caller declaration volition proceed with communal knowing betwixt Kings County and the City of Avenal that erstwhile the occurrence section is acceptable and susceptible of opening occurrence protection, the region and the metropolis volition renegotiate.

"There is simply a declaration up until July oregon June of 2028," Lopez said. "If the metropolis wishes to exit, with nary cause, they would person to supply a six-month pre-notice and then, astatine the extremity of those six months, past supply a one-year notice."

Lopez says the metropolis doesn't mean to invoke an exit clause until it has a occurrence section acceptable to go. Lopez says the anticipation is that if that is the case, sooner than 18 months oregon sooner than the 3 years, the metropolis would successfully renegotiate the declaration with Kings County.

Until then, Lopez says the city's archetypal steps are to place the city's needs, including a spot for the occurrence presumption and occurrence engines oregon trucks.

"The infirmary territory leases abstraction to the city. Half of the gathering that they person is utilized arsenic our constabulary department, and we mean to usage the different fractional for our occurrence department," Lopez said. "Identifying the equipment, uncovering a abstraction for our firefighters, uncovering a abstraction to location the equipment, and past identifying the talent."

Lopez says the metropolis hopes to prosecute radical who person acquisition and are certified successful a wide scope of emergencies, including those much applicable to Avenal, similar wildland and gathering fires.

"This volition instrumentality immoderate time," Lopez said. "We anticipation that everyone looks astatine it successful a affirmative way."