Fire funding: Fresno County to reimburse Shaver Lake Fire for new building

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Shaver Lake Volunteer Fire Department is getting the greenish airy to physique a caller occurrence station.

The caller gathering is thing those successful the section accidental is agelong overdue.

The section is preparing for the adjacent steps aft they got the bully quality from the Fresno County Board of Supervisors this morning.

An aged gathering built successful the 1940s, and not arsenic a firehouse, is 1 of 2 buildings Shaver Lake Volunteer Fire Department telephone home.

Captain Brad Craven said the bays are acold excessively tiny for the ample truck,s and getting the vehicles retired isn't speedy oregon easy.

"In bid to exit this building, we person to travel retired crossed some lanes earlier we tin commencement our crook oregon other we volition deed the doorway truthful that's a existent information with the dense postulation we get present successful the summertime," said Craven. "We person to travel retired with lights and sirens on... A slowed effect clip tin mean the quality betwixt beingness and decease oregon nonaccomplishment of property."

However, the section got immoderate bully quality Tuesday, they're 1 measurement person to a caller gathering arsenic the Fresno County Board of Supervisors is crafing a declaration with the department.

The statement would person the region reimburse the section the costs of a caller gathering planned for Highway 168 and Bretz Mill

According to Supervisor Nathan Magsig, determination are immoderate funds already successful place.

"Back successful the precocious 70s, aboriginal 80s, the region of Fresno created immoderate antithetic fees that they collected from developments up successful the Shaver Lake area," said Magsig. "One of those interest categories was for a caller occurrence station... People who unrecorded successful the shaver country came to my bureau and said, Look this, there's this cookware of wealth retired there. It's got a small implicit $200,000 successful it."

Initially, assemblage funds volition beryllium utilized aft the section raised astir 150 1000 dollars successful 2024.

The combined funds are conscionable a fraction of the estimated 750 1000 dollars Fire Chief Steve McQuillan expects the section volition need.

"We person a plan, we person a contractor, we're acceptable to go. We conscionable request further fiscal support, but with this ingestion of further funds I deliberation we'll beryllium capable to make immoderate further ample donors who volition yet spot this task arsenic really moving forward," said Chief Steve McQuillan, Shaver Lake Volunteer Fire Department.

McQuillan says the further abstraction volition besides assistance them summation their unpaid staff.

Right now, they person astir 24 firefighters, but helium said they person had to crook distant 15 different volunteers due to the fact that determination isn't abstraction to location the archetypal responders.

The caller gathering volition person 2 bedrooms for volunteers to enactment successful overnight.

During the Creek Fire, they lone had 11; of those, lone six were determination the full time.

Chief McQuillen says much volunteers mean a amended occurrence effect successful situations similar the Creek Fire.

The groundbreaking is expected wrong six months and the last gathering to unfastened by precocious adjacent year.

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