A court hearing will be held Wednesday regarding the recent dissolution of the county's last volunteer fire department in the mountain community of Julian, where local residents and supporters of the volunteer firefighting district protested the decision by arranging a sit-in at the town's fire station earlier this week. Volunteer firefighters have been barricaded inside Fire Station 56 since Monday in protest of San Diego County’s effort to take control of and dissolve the force.
Volunteer firefighters told News 8 on Tuesday night that the reason they are holed up and blocking their doors is so that Cal Fire cannot come and take their equipment, fire trucks, which they believe belong to them. Members of the Julian Cuyamaca Fire Protection District will ask a San Diego judge to continue allowing them to oversee firefighting operations in Julian, despite a special election that saw nearly 56 percent of voters approving handing firefighting duties over to the county.