Manteca Fire, starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, will be deploying a sixth three-man company to effectively increase frontline medical and fire emergency response capabilities by 20 percent.

The ladder truck will be relocated to the Union Road headquarters station alongside an engine company.

The Powers Avenue station, where the ladder truck had been assigned, will be staffed with an engine company.

“This operational enhancement represents an important step forward in strengthening fire protection coverage, improving response efficiency, and enhancing service to our community,” the fire department noted in a statement.

The decision to house two apparatus — an engine company and ladder company — at Union Road station reflects the growing demand for service in rapidly developing southwest Manteca.

That said, the positive impact on response times to medical emergencies and fire will be felt citywide.

That’s because on concurrent calls there will be an additional engine company.

The mid-term goal will be to shift an existing company to the new fire station on Joshua Street west of Atherton Drive when it is built and opened roughly in three years.

The southwest Manteca station has a current price tag of $12 million.

The long-range goal is to have a manned engine company at every station plus a manned ladder truck.

That would require 63 firefighters.

The department now has 54 frontline firefighters thanks to a $2.5 million federal grant that allowed nine to be hired at once with the three-quarter Measure Q sales tax in the initial mix and then picking up 100 percent of the tab after three years.

Those nine new firefighters have completed training and three or so weeks dispersed with the five companies that currently exist.

New staffing of the current companies and the new firefighters will allow a mixture of existing and new firefighters when there are six companies ready to answer calls on Saturday at 8 a.m.

Manteca Fire responded to 11,582 calls in 2025. Of those, 31 percent or 3,561 calls — an average of just under 10 a day — were handle by the Union Road station where there will now be two six-man companies.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com