La Verne Fire Station No. 3 at 5100 Esperanza Drive, which serves neighborhoods in the area, will be closed for about six weeks until the city can hire more firefighters, Mayor Don Kendrick said Monday, Jan. 20.
La Verne Firefighters’ Association, Local 3624, posted information about the closure Friday on social media. The Facebook post, which received hundreds of comments and nearly 150 shares, did not mention that the station would reopen in a few weeks but suggested that it was permanently closed.
That’s because there is no guarantee the station will reopen, said Andy Glaze, the union’s president and a captain at the La Verne Fire Department. Three new recruits are not going to fix the problem of sagging morale, lack of a safe work environment and a failure on the city’s part to retain firefighters, he said Monday.