The Chico Fire Department just added five new recruits to its team, but Chief Steve Standridge says this still doesn't solve the staffing issue his department has had for years. The chief said the issue has become worse since the Camp Fire.
"Oh absolutely, it's not questionable whether we need it or not," said Standridge.
Standridge said he's benchmarked Chico with other cities with similar size and call volume.
"And clearly we're well below what would be an adequate level of staffing for our call volume, level of risk and population size," said Standridge.
The population size has increased in Chico since the Camp Fire, putting pressure on an already existing problem.
"There's been a bump, an increase in call. We've made some adjustments with Butte EMS that have helped mitigate that to a certain extent," said Standridge.
He says he hopes this pattern continues.
"Otherwise if we can't we'll definitely see a spike or increase," said Standridge.