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- The Sutter County Fire Department ended rotating closures at two of its three stations.
- Closures began Aug. 25 at Oswald Station 8 and Sutter Station 6 every 48 hours.
- The department hired three extra-help firefighters and staff on leave returned to duty.
The Sutter County Fire Department on Thursday had all three of its fire stations open, ending temporary rotating closures at two stations that were implemented last month due to low firefighter staffing levels.
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The temporary closures, which began Aug. 25, were rotated every 48 hours at the Fire Department’s Oswald Station 8 at 1280 Barry Road in Yuba City and Sutter Station 6 at 2340 California St. in Sutter. County officials said at the time the closures would continue until staffing increased enough to safely resume operations at all three fire stations.
The department’s Live Oak Station 5, at 2745 Fir St., remained open throughout the rotating closures.
The county’s Fire Department had four vacant fire engineer positions, and five additional firefighters were on leave. County officials said this left the department’s staffing at critically low levels.
At the time, county officials said the temporary closures were “a last-resort staffing measure,” and the county would maintain emergency response coverage for rural residents through other available resources.
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The fire station rotating closures ended Thursday morning, 16 days after they started.
County officials said they moved quickly to recruit and interview additional personnel, expediting the hiring process to restore staffing levels. The Fire Department since has hired three “extra-help firefighters” to bolster its team, county officials said in a news release, and firefighters who had been on leave have returned to duty.
“We appreciate the public’s patience and understanding as we worked through this staffing challenge,” Sutter County Fire Chief Kyle Long said in the news release. “Our priority throughout this process has been to maintain safe staffing for our firefighters while providing the best possible emergency response coverage to the community.”
County officials said the Fire Department did not anticipate any other rotating station closures “barring any unforeseen circumstances.”
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