Neighbors in Manteca pleading to city for new fire station
MANTECA - Is the Manteca Fire Department stretched too thin? That's the question neighbors are asking as the city grows almost every day.
Neighbors say the city needs to build a fire station closer to the new homes as the city expands to the southwest.
In south Manteca on the other side of Highway 120, there are about five to 6,000 people and thousands of homes, but neighbors feel ignored by the city and want first responders closer.
"They're putting human lives at risk either way," Mike said.
Mike lives near the newest homes in Manteca, just on the other side of Highway 120.
He feels his house and his neighbors are almost out of reach of the city's fire and police departments.
"There's no patrolling, there's just no coverage out here," he said. "It just doesn't give me any confidence that we're being taken care of."
The typical response time for a municipality is five minutes or less anywhere in their coverage areas.
But the nearest fire station is this one on Union Road, which is three miles away, and it's making neighbors there feel ignored.
"There's like 5,000 people on this side of Woodward and if something were to happen," Mike said.
So what is the city doing to fix this issue? Manteca City Manager Toni Lundgren sent us a statement saying, "Having a fast and responsive fire department is a priority because they have a contract. It's on [my] List of duties to look into and evaluate alongside city leaders."
She said that the contract has one more year left, and then the city can negotiate with city fire leaders.
But it's not just the lack of fire stations that is worrying neighbors like Mike, it's the construction.
"Since that's been blocked we've had a massive amount of traffic here," Mike said.
Major road McKinley Ave at the Highway 120 bypass has been closed for months, directing traffic into his neighborhood and adding another challenge for first responders.
"There's no way they can respond fast enough," Mike said.
Caltrans says the Highway 120 bypass on McKinley Ave, has been causing a lot of congestion and delays, they say they are getting close to the ribbon cutting come the first week of June.
