FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THREE DAYS, a substantial fire broke out in Sacramento, California, just down the street from a firehouse that was closed for 48 hours to “save money.”
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The fire broke out at 2:40 pm Pacific time Sunday in an apartment building located less than half a mile away from fire station 16. But none of the firefighters were in the station because it was vacated by the fire chief as part of Sacramento’s “firehouse roullette” scheme. The first-in engine came from station 12 which was 2½ miles away.
Sunday’s fire destroyed two apartment units and damaged three others. Battalion Chief Jonathon Williams wasn’t shy about describing the outcome due to the closure. “The fire did get going a little bit more than it usually would have,” Williams said. “If (Engine 16) had been here, there would have been a lot less damage. They may have stopped it at one (unit) instead of two and a half.”
This followed Friday’s fire where a house burned out and spread to the home next door while the neighborhood fire station sat empty. (See Firegeezer report HERE.) In that case, the nearest engine was seven minutes away instead of one.
Channel 10 has this video report:
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