There are only three firefighters guaranteed to respond to an
emergency between the peak business hours in San Juan Bautista, and
over the last year some calls have been passed over because there
are not enough people in the all-volunteer department, according to
the fire chief.
San Juan Bautista – There are only three firefighters guaranteed to respond to an emergency between the peak business hours in San Juan Bautista, and over the last year some calls have been passed over because there are not enough people in the all-volunteer department, according to the fire chief.
That and a dwindling number of volunteers – San Juan’s volunteer reserve of about 30 has dropped to only 18 because of the strenuous time and energy demands – has San Juan officials weighing whether to support a San Benito County fire district that would better protect their town and provide more efficient service to the county as a whole, said San Juan Fire Chief Rick Cokley.
“These people have no clue. We’re a volunteer company that can only be assured to have two or three people,” Cokley said. “Help’s a long ways away and everything is time critical. Every minute is closer to death if you’re talking about CPR.”
Cokley is part of the fire task force, assembled by former Hollister mayor Tony Bruscia in July, which has been looking at ways to provide better fire protection to the entire county. The task force concluded that to adequately protect San Benito County’s growing population, it will need at least five fire stations with about 60 paid firefighters on duty, Cokley said.
Currently the county has three stations – one being San Juan’s volunteer station – with about 15 firefighters on duty at one time, he said. However, Hollister is about to complete its second station on Union Road and San Juan Oaks Golf Course is offering to pay for another station in the county along with its new resort .
The task force has been tossing around the idea of a fire district that would combine all of the fire departments within the county into one large district – although each fire department would keep its autonomy, Cokley said.
In San Juan Bautista specifically, fire protection during the day is lacking because jobs in the city and the county are scarce, and most of the volunteers work outside of the area, Cokley said. Over the past year, fire volunteers have been unable to respond to several medical aid calls because there aren’t enough people to make it there, he said.
Two of the city’s public works employees respond to most of the calls during the day, but they didn’t join the force until about eight months ago. Before that, residents weren’t guaranteed anyone from the department would show up, Cokley said. Now a smaller number of volunteers are responding to a higher number of calls, about 300 per year, he said.
“The big thing is for our citizens to recognize how much time and effort their volunteers put forth,” Cokley said.
Father Edward Fitz-Henry, who was a volunteer with the San Juan department until he went on leave about a year ago, said there were times when only two people would be able to respond to a call. Because neither one could drive the fire engine there were calls they just couldn’t go to, he said. In those cases, an ambulance or fire engine from Hollister or the county responded, but not as quickly and efficiently if it was inside the city limits.
“If something major happened there would be a huge response. But a major catastrophe can happen to one individual,” Fitz-Henry said. “It’s not like San Juan Bautista is isolated from other cities. But it would be nice to staff the fire department within our city, because every minute counts.”
Having two or three guaranteed volunteers responding to calls during the day is a major improvement over the past couple years, said Mayor Arturo Medina.
“With any volunteer fire department there is no guarantee someone will respond,” Medina said. “In most cases we are able to respond to almost all the calls. On an average there could be six or seven (volunteers) responding, which is good. We haven’t been there in years. But there are the what-ifs.”
While a fire district wouldn’t necessarily be cheaper, pooling all the county’s fire resources and dispatching all calls out of one location would be a more efficient way to provide protection for all areas of the county, said Hollister Fire Chief Bill Garringer, who is also a task force member.
The task force is drawing up a plan to submit to the Hollister City Council and Board of Supervisors sometime this year and will present it to the public next year, said task force member and newly-seated Supervisor Anthony Botelho. If a fire district was approved by the boards, it would have to go to a vote of the people.
“They have a very dedicated volunteer fire department in San Juan,” Botelho said. “But there’s no reason in the world we shouldn’t look for ways to upgrade services. It could mean more tax dollars, but that’s why we’ll give the voters the opportunity to decide.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety and the city of San Juan Bautista. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
em*******@fr***********.com
