An average of four to five buyers every week purchase a home in southwest Manteca where the safety of their families doesn’t come close to meeting the city’s targeted response time of five minutes in a medical emergency, an accident, or a fire.
There are now 2,000 plus homes — or more than 6,000 people — outside the targeted five minute response time that covers southwest of Airport Way and the 120 Bypass interchange.
Many of those homes are in reality 10 minutes or more in terms of response time even if the nearest engine is in place at the Union Road station and not out on a call.
That’s because of the road system now in place as well as numerous construction zones.
The construction activity is not letting up with Manteca adding 600 to 700 housing units year with the vast majority ending up in the southwest portion of the city.
The five-minute response time was re-enforced in the general plan update adopted nine months ago by the current City Council.
The time frame that references the minutes between a fire engine being dispatched and arriving on scene reflects the optimum response time when it comes to the best possible outcome.
In a stroke or heart attack victim, it can mean the difference between a catastrophic outcome and something much more manageable.
In a fire, it could be the difference between minor damage and major damage.
The city since 2018 when they were told by an outside consultant that a fire station was needed back then in southwest Manteca, has not committed in earnest to a course of action designed to actually, build equip, and staff a fire station in that area of the city.
*The general plan update adopted by the council in July 2023 did not include a site for a fire station.
*For at least the past three budget cycles, the council has chosen not to fund the nine needed fire firefighters for a sixth city fire station by filling three additional positions year until they were in place as was done more than a decade ago with the fire station on Lathrop Road next to Del Webb.
The inability of the city to make it known to developers they want a fire station site in southwest Manteca and where that might be, has created a situation where the city may not secure the most optimum site.
That is because almost all of the land centrally located to the entirety of southwest Manteca has been subdivided or designated commercial.
And unless the city is going to cannibalize a future park site, there is only one obvious choice — the Tara School site owned by Manteca Unified — assuming the city doesn’t want a less than optimum fire station location.
The City Council to date has made no official commitment to build the sixth station.
They have authorized a nexus study to be conducted on how to fund it.
But staff has not — at least in a public setting — been directed to secure a site.
Nor is a sixth fire station been identified on the top of the list of the city’s capital improvement projects despite the clear public safety implications involved.
And neither has the city moved an inch toward putting in place nine firefighters needed to staff a new station. It is $1.2 million plus reoccurring cost for nine firefighters.
Typically, cities have to work up to it adding perhaps three firefighters a year until nine are in place.
As such including three firefighters in the budget starting July 1 would show taxpayers and residents that the City Council is indeed committed to the sixth fire station.
It should be noted that adequate coverage in southwest Manteca means the fire department will need to continue pulling engines from other parts of the city creating emergency response issues elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the city keeps issues building permits in southwest Manteca.
To contact Dennis Wyatt@mantecabulletin.com
