The Ripon Consolidated Fire District officially ends its mobile app for Apple and Android devices as of Wednesday, New Year’s Day.

Instead, the local fire district will implement several alternative communication strategies including use of social media platforms such as Facebook coupled with ‘The Torch’ newsletter – distributed to 1,400-plus addresses in the Ripon area or available online at www.riponfire.com – in an effort to maintain a strong community engagement.

According to Chief Eric DeHart, RCFD’s discontinuation of the mobile app was due to budgetary constraints.

Launched in 2022 through a strategic partnership with OCV, LLC, a specialized developer of mobile applications for first responders, RCFD, under this collaboration, was allowed to participate in feature development and testing while serving as a regional model for first responder mobile apps and the technology involved.

This successful partnership helped influence the Ripon Police Department to adopt this same mobile app during the past year.

RCFD decided to cut ties with OCV due to recent cost increases necessitated with the implementation of annual service fees.

With the change to social media platforms and the distribution of the newsletter, RCFD is inviting community members to share suggestions for improving communication channels.

Contact RCFD at info@riponfire.com or call 209.599.4209 for ideas and suggestions.