The Truth About Station 56 Firehouse

On September 22, during a public hearing to approve the county’s 2026/2027 budget, I moved to restore $2.6 million in funding to the Tuolumne County Fire Department. This money was cut from our fire department in April, resulting in the layoff of six firefighters and the closure of Fire Station 56 in July. At the time, three of my colleagues justified it by saying the county was broke,  and we couldn’t afford to maintain five full-time fire engines. Now, just a few short months later, those same three supervisors are bragging about “surpluses” that come largely as a result of cuts to fire protection, yet they refuse to restore any of those funds.

It is now painfully obvious that there was enough money to keep Fire Station 56 open all along, and the financial hardship claimed as the reason why we couldn’t afford five staffed fire engines was nothing more than smoke and mirrors.

Money previously allocated to the fire fund is now being allocated to roads and other projects promoted by supervisors. While I certainly think closing a fire station in a high fire-prone area to pay for road projects throughout the county is a bad policy decision, it could have been debated openly and honestly. But that’s not what happened. Instead, people were told there wasn’t enough money to support Station 56, or that not enough was done to prevent its closure. But the facts tell a different story.

Tuolumne County put forward a ballot measure in 2024 to collect sales tax revenue that would pay for fire, law enforcement, and roads. Two current board members at the time opposed it; they also voted to cut the fire fund. After the ballot measure failed, the county worked to set aside almost $800,000 in mutual aid funds collected by the Tuolumne County Fire Department to help keep all stations funded and reduce the impact on the General Fund. I helped organize two open house events at Station 56 in 2025; I held three town hall meetings focused on the need for fire protection; and I met with each homeowner’s association in my District, with CalFire and the County, to develop a plan to keep the fire fund healthy. Additionally, while there were discussions about how to cover the $1.8 million funding gap for Tuolumne County Fire, closing Fire Station 56 was never discussed until January of this year, sparking understandable outrage in the community. Closing the fire station was a spur-of-the-moment choice, not a long-term necessity.

Many in the community told me it seemed the three supervisors who voted to cut Fire had already made up their minds. The reasons for this are now clear. Despite numerous viable plans to keep Fire funded before January and in the intervening months, they voted NO on all of them. The intent all along seems to have been to cut a fire station and shift those funds elsewhere.

I have consistently voted to protect fire resources, and I stand by my opposition to closing Station 56. My motion on Tuesday, September 22, was to give the Board of Supervisors another chance to correct their mistake, but sadly the vote came down along the same 3-2 line.

Learn more about Ryan Campbell: CSAC Member Spotlight