In the last few weeks Mariposa County Fire Chief Jim Wilson has gave two presentations before the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors. In his first visit he gave an overview of the problems with the fire department, then on his second visit he presented another Power Point demo on how to fix the fire department that he says is in "Critical Condition".

The Sierra Sun Times feels that this issue is so important to the residents of the county that we have put the full files online in a .PDF format. There has been a lot of misinformation presented to the public as far as numbers and dollar amounts. These files will set the record straight.

On the first file, State of the Fire Department, pay attention to page 5 where Mr. Wilson says that the fire department would be on life support if it was a patient, page 6 where four major problems are outlined, pages 16 and forward where the fire trucks and fire stations are discussed.

In the second file, State of  the Fire Department Part 2, on page 2, Mr. Wilson identifies four priority issues, then proceeds to work through those issues in the following pages. Fire Apparatus begins on page 7 and the replacement options begin on page 8. On Page 12 is the recommendation for going with option number 2 where 12 new fire trucks priced at $210,000 - $275,000 apiece and four new water tenders would be purchased.
The Fire Stations are discussed starting on page 19 and the following pages list each station and what should be done with that station. The Fire Marshall Program begins on page 46. On page 49 are listed some ideas to pay for this ambitious program.

This is a very important subject for Mariposa County residents as the equipment is old and outdated, very few volunteers compared to years ago, and inadequate fire stations. Something has got to change and the sooner the better as putting $20,000 or more to fix old pumps is just throwing new money away, along with trying to source parts for equipment that has not been made in many years. The State has already taken some pumps offline because they do not meet the required flow rates.