Over the past two days, it's been nonstop for Stockton firefighters with two large-scale fires starting within hours of each other.
The last fire, a six-alarm fire at a pallet company, forced nearly a dozen outside agencies to assist the Stockton Fire Department. "The initial resources were already strapped before the initial resources got to the fire," Mario Gardea, who worked both of the fires, said.
Gardea is also the local union president for Stockton Fire Fighters Local 456. He said the fires were already so large in size, the Stockton Fire Department couldn't handle them on their own.
"We are by far the busiest 12 station department in the nation," Gardea said. "We go to as many structure fires as probably San Francisco city."
In 2018, the Stockton Fire Department had their busiest year on record with roughly 49,000 calls for service.