Chester is facing the unsettling reality of losing its fire department. Fire Chief Balzarini announced during a recent Public Utility District Board meeting that the department is operating on an unsustainable budget of around $2 million. Since a decision in November to transition to a volunteer department, staffing has been dwindling to the bare minimum.
Currently, Chester Fire operates in three shifts, with the first and third shifts covered by a captain and FF Paramedic and the mid-shift staffed with only one FF EMT. During this shift, the fire department’s engine cannot operate, forcing them to respond to medical calls in a pickup truck and rely on mutual aid for paramedics. Balzarini emphasized that this is how the department will run until February, until the full transition to a volunteer department.
Yet still, with what funds the department has remaining will run dry in one year, closing the doors of the department for good, unless a tax assessment is passed.
In a more alarming development, Chester will be without ambulance services as of January 1st.
The CPUD board was presented the option to place two measures on a ballot for a special election in May: a $450 per parcel tax to maintain a volunteer department and a $1,500 per parcel tax to fund a 24/7 fire department with at least 2 to 3 full-time firefighters.
General Manager Adam Cox said If both measures aren’t approved, there will be no fire department in Chester.
However, during the CPUD board meeting, which lacked a fifth member due to a recent resignation, the resolutions to get the measures to the ballot failed in a 3/1 vote, with Steven Graffwig as the sole dissenting vote—leaving the Chester community not even the slightest ability to vote to save their department.
Cox Suggested appointing a new board member and holding a re-vote during a special meeting on December 26th, yet the board will proceed without the new appointment. It will take a second attempt to approve the ballot measures for May.
Cox and Balzarini’s resignations also loom heavy and, per Cox, remain contingent on CPUD’s future outcomes. The potential loss of crucial emergency services casts a shadow over Chester, leaving its residents in a state of uncertainty and vulnerability.
