Merced County supervisors vote to close 2 fire stations, merge others

MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Merced County Board of Supervisors has voted to close two of the community's CAL FIRE fire stations.

In addition to the closures, some of the other fire stations will be consolidated.

McKee Fire Station 85 will close on October 1, 2024. Stations 81 in Merced and 86 in Planada will now cover the service areas.

Station 92 in Ballico and Station 64 in Cressey will merge to the Ballico location, while Cressey will be repurposed as a volunteer-only station.

Station 96 in Livingston will also close on October 1, 2024. The staff will be sent to different locations. Station 92 in Ballico, Station 91 in Delhi and Station 95 in Hilmar will cover the areas impacted.

Station 76 in Dos Palos and Station 75 in Dos Palos Wye will also merge to the Wye location.

One of the options was to keep all 19 stations open, but county leaders reported 27 new hires would have been needed. That would have cost Merced County nearly $7 million.

All of this comes after the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection notified officials in February of last year about a staffing requirement.

There must be two fire personnel on duty 24 hours a day at each station.

Right now, Merced County is the only jurisdiction in the state using CAL FIRE services that's still operating below that level, with just one person staffing three of the 19 stations.