Manteca’s Louise Avenue fire station isn’t closed. It just looks that way.
Several Manteca residents questioned whether an announcement nine days ago that an engine company was back at the station after safety issues with the roof forced the vacating of the fire facility.
It’s a conclusion one could reach based on paper placed across the windows on the doors to the two bays and because a fire engine hasn’t been spotted in the driveway for weeks.
There is actually an engine parked outside to the rear of the building in the area that was secured by fencing over a year ago to prevent the homeless from sleeping in the area.
The area housing the crew quarters has been deemed safe to occupy.
That said, there are still concerns with the roof that spans the area where two engines would normally be housed.
City Manager Toni Lundgren said staff is evaluating what the best options are to bring the station up to standard.
The station was closed after the discovery upwards of a thousand gallons of rain water had pooled on the roof and stayed there for months.
Previous fire chiefs have repeatedly pointed out other structure issues they called “pressing” that they felt should be addressed when the annual budget workshop with the City Council was conducted.
Another issue is the crew quarters were designed for only two firefighters and not three.
Back in 1985 when the station opened two-man engine crews were standard in Manteca,
As for the engine being out in the weather, the original engine stationed there was the city’s last open cab engine.
That meant firefighters responded to emergencies exposed to rain, fog, the cold, and — when it happened — lightning.
It was the engine and station that Dave Marques, who retired last month as Manteca’s 12th fulltime fire chief, was assigned to when he started in 1999 with the fire department.
The other half of the engine company at the time was Dave Breitenbucher.
Breitenbucher, who has since retired, is in his fifth year as a Manteca City Council member.
River Islands: Land of palm
trees and roundabouts
Make no doubt about it.
The most impressive “driveway” at the front of a high school in the Northern San Joaquin Valley is at River Islands High.
The four-lane road with median is lined with more than 60 palm trees.
There are also other palm trees throughout the campus that serves as home to the Riptide.
River Islands has a bunch of other palm trees gracing public facilities include the Lathrop Police station and the baseball field.
The football stadium breaking ground this year will also have palm trees.
The football stadium will be unique for several other reasons as well.
Seating will be much closer to the field given there is no track.
That is because of two things. A track facility is being out in place at River Islands High. Also, the town square stadium is designed to handle other events ranging from concerts to car shows.
The other unique feature is that it is a community stadium maintained by a homeowners’ assessment.
And while it is snuggled against the San Joaquin River — which is unusual — it not is the only high school that can make such a claim. The other is Lathrop High.
River Islands also has a lot of roundabouts.
Dozens are already in place with much more on the way as the 15,001 planned community continues to develop.
They are part of passive efforts to keep people safe and neighborhoods livable by slowing down traffic.
It is also a reason where there are already 12 intersections with traffic signals on main arterials when there were none just over a year ago.
The installation of traffic signals was accelerated to not just keep traffic under the posted speed but to also discourage cut through traffic by those trying to avoid commute snarls on nearby Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 as well as on the 120 Bypass.
The development firm has also kept four-way stop signs in place at location on arterials for the same reason.
When everything is said and done, there wil; only be three ways on an off the island by vehicle.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
