By JASON CAMPBELL   

The Bulletin 

Ever wanted to see the inside of a fire station or learn about how firefighters do their job?

Now is your chance. 

The Lathrop-Manteca Fire Department is currently in the middle of a four-station open house tour that gives people in the community to learn about the tools used on the job and give children a chance to go inside of fire engines and vehicles and even spray water from a hose. 

The next open house will be held at Fire Station 33 – located at 9131 Lathrop Road in Manteca – on Sunday, July 19 from noon to 5 p.m. The final station open house will be held on Sunday, July 26 at Fire Station 34 – located at 460 River Islands Parkway – from noon to 5 p.m. 

Tours of fire stations in Lathrop are common, but the open house aspect gives the department, which covers a massive amount of land including Lathrop, and most of rural Manteca stretching clear out to Ripon, a chance to showcase all four of its houses in the same month. 

While money concerns that were spurred by the massive revaluation of the properties that the district depends on for operating revenue at one time threatened the temporary closure – a strategic “browning out” – of one of the two rural stations, the overwhelmingly-approved one-cent sales tax increase that voters approved in 2012 has provided stability as Lathrop’s overall economy and the housing market rebounds. 

According to a report for the first five months of 2015, Lathrop-Manteca Fire District responded to a total of 543 EMS calls and a total of 71 fires. The average response time of engines varied from less than four minutes per call to just over eight minutes per call depending on the location. 

For more information visit www.lmfire.org.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.