The Ripon Consolidated Fire District responded to nearly 2,400 calls during the past year.

Of that, 22 percent were concurrent, meaning those calls occurred while the local fire department was already responding to a previous call, in turn, leading to RCFD’s reliance on nearby departments such as Manteca or Escalon.

Fire Chief Eric De Hart mentioned that during his report at the Feb. 11 on “the district’s capabilities of responding to large-scale fire emergencies.”

Councilman Michael Restuccia requested the update following the devastating recent Palisades fire.

RCFD, which is responsible for a large coverage area consisting of 56 square miles – bounded by the river to the south and stretching far to east, west, and north – currently operates with three stations, but only Station 1 is staffed will all personnel being assigned to the downtown location.

Station 2, which was traditionally a volunteer station, is under contract with AMR, which plans to convert the 18800 Murphy Rd. facility into a dispatch center.

Station 3 at 1705 N. Ripon Rd. is faced staffing challenges. “We’re working to raise funds for that purpose,” De Hart said.

When it comes to large-scale emergencies, RCFD will typically respond to structure fires.

“While a house fire may not be considered a large-scale emergency in many communities, it remains a critical operation in the department,” said De Hart, who noted that a house fire ideally requires a minimum of 15 personnel.

RCFD has automatic aide agreements with neighboring cities such as Manteca and Escalon to ensure meeting these staffing requirements.

Meanwhile, Public Works Director James Pease mentioned that he recently met with De Hart and City Administrator Kevin Werner to review Ripon’s water system while running scenarios to model potential issues by using assumptions consisting of the average mainline size and daily water usage.

“(We’ve) analyzed how the hydrants would affect the water pressure system, especially during peak summer usage,” Pease said.

Ripon’s SCADA – Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition – system, in an emergency situation, would alert public works of any pressure fluctuations, with staff and RCFD working closely to monitor tank levels and optimizing hydrant usage where possible.

The City of Ripon, Pease noted, has a non-potable water system capable of providing an additional 3,000 gallons per minute and storing up to half a million gallons, which could be utilized in such situations.

De Hart added that his takeaway from the Southern California fires consists of early fire detection and prevention. This includes households having properly functioning smoke alarms, fire sprinklers, and doing yard maintenance on a regular basis.

“All this is critical to stopping fires before they become unmanageable,” he said.