SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — With wildfires this week in Rancho Bernardo and Mission Valley, is the City of San Diego ready for the next one?
City officials said they're prepared to give even more support for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, but there might be a problem with the city facing a deficit of over $250 million.
Staffing, strategies, and what's expected for the 2025 fire season is what the SDFD officials presented to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, and with multiple fires hitting San Diego County this week, SDFD Assistant Chief Dan Eddy said firefighters are still ready to fight back.
"On the multiple fires over this last week, whether they be the Lilac, whether it be the Mission Valley fire, the fire today in Rancho Bernardo, we had multiple strike teams already pre-positioned that we were pulling from that could get there right away," said Eddy.
Right now, Eddy said there are 1,000 personnel who are on the job, but with the multiple fires breaking out throughout the area, members of the committee suggested funneling more resources into the fire department.
Eddy said he's grateful for any additional support.
"Any time we can add fire stations, of course that covers the growth of our area, quicker response times, our key is that we want to be there in under 8 minutes and 30 seconds to your house once you call, so the more fire engines that we can gather, the more stations we can gather," said Eddy.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said locals can do proactive things to prepare in case a fire happens.
"The best thing that an average San Diegan can do is to make a plan today, right now when there isn't a fire around for what would happen if there was one," said Gloria.
Eddy said along with larger wildfires, San Diego Fire-Rescue still gets about 600 calls a day about fires, which includes high-rise fires, structure fires, and normal interior fires.
