Work on the Lathrop Manteca Fire District’s newest fire station could begin as soon as two years from now.

And it won’t be the only new thing coming from the district, either.

According to a presentation that Fire Chief Gene Neely made to the Lathrop City Council on Monday night, the district is looking at beginning work on Fire Station 36 – located near the intersection of McKinley and Yosemite Avenues – as soon as March of 2023.

Around the same time, work on a new regional training facility for firefighters is also slated to begin the construction process in the same vicinity, and work is currently underway to cultivate ongoing partnerships with regional entities to build and maintain the complex.

The plans for the facility include a fire training tower and other training props that will be used by partner agencies and could include driving courses, rope rescue technician’s courses, and other technical rescue training facilities at the site as well.

Classrooms that could be used to foster multi-agency communication across the region are also part of the plan.

As part of the presentation, Neely also laid out where the district’s Measure C funds are currently being distributed in terms in personnel – a total of nine firefighters spread out amongst the three stations inside of Lathrop’s city limits, and two battalion chiefs that are currently located at Station 31 on J Street in Historic Lathrop.

The district has had an agreement in place with the City of Lathrop that guarantees that 40 percent of all money raised by the one cent sales tax boost will go to the agency since before the measure qualified for the ballot.

The Lathrop Manteca Firefighters Association backed the ballot measure and helped secure votes necessary to pass it – providing the agency with enough funding to replace the firefighters that were laid off during lean budget times as a result of reduced property tax revenue in the wake of the housing crisis.

The money that Lathrop Manteca receives has also been used to purchase apparatus including Rescue 30 and Truck 31.

Measure C funding is also being used to purchase full complements of ALS equipment for each engine and truck in operation so that when the firefighters currently in paramedic school – funded by a FEMA grant – earn their certification, they’ll be able to be deployed on engine and help provide advanced life support to the district.

That paramedic staffing is expected to be active by January of 2022.

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