The Big Bear Fire Department could soon close its Sugarloaf station, which is one of the four fire stations in the Big Bear Valley. It's an effort to balance its budget, which has been operating in the red for years.
Sugarloaf is made up of around 2,000 people, many of whom are elderly. So the thought of losing their fire station right around the corner is a big worry for people like Patrice Duncan.
"I have a neighbor behind me who is part time, but she's in a wheelchair. In a medical emergency every minute counts," said Duncan.
But Duncan's not just worried about the medical side of things, because when you live in the forest, a simple grass fire can spread quickly to the towering pines, just like it did in this area back in 2007. That fire ripped through 14,000 acres, but Duncan fears something even worse.
"This could become another Paradise, California," Duncan said.