From the outside, fire station four is like just about any in the country. But as the daylight floods in, it's clear to see something is missing.
"We are standing in a hole where a fire engine used to exist. This station used to be eight people," said Fresno Fire Department Spokesman Koby Johns.
Now there are only four. Their lockers surrounded by the emptiness that has become a permanent part of the Fresno Fire Department. The department has sixty nine active fire fighters ready to go around the clock, the lowest number since 1955.
"We have obviously had to shrink the size of our organization but we are at the point now were if we have to make cuts someone is going to get hurt and it's not the right direction for our city," said Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin.
Budget cuts have forced the fire department to reduce the number of firefighters by nearly twenty percent since 2009, leaving them understaffed in ways that hit home on Tuesday.
"We had six fires going on within in a thirty minute period. if we would have had a large commercial fire come in the middle of that we simply didn't have the resources to cover that," said Johns.
At one point, every single firefighter in the city was out fighting a fire but the same can't be said for their equipment.
"This truck it's breaking down, the maintenance costs are going up on it," said Johns.
So while six fires burned across the city, truck six stayed put, unable to start. One of the many inconveniences firefighters have learned to deal with and inconveniences they fear may one day turn deadly.
"We are standing in a hole where a fire engine used to exist. This station used to be eight people," said Fresno Fire Department Spokesman Koby Johns.
Now there are only four. Their lockers surrounded by the emptiness that has become a permanent part of the Fresno Fire Department. The department has sixty nine active fire fighters ready to go around the clock, the lowest number since 1955.
"We have obviously had to shrink the size of our organization but we are at the point now were if we have to make cuts someone is going to get hurt and it's not the right direction for our city," said Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin.
Budget cuts have forced the fire department to reduce the number of firefighters by nearly twenty percent since 2009, leaving them understaffed in ways that hit home on Tuesday.
"We had six fires going on within in a thirty minute period. if we would have had a large commercial fire come in the middle of that we simply didn't have the resources to cover that," said Johns.
At one point, every single firefighter in the city was out fighting a fire but the same can't be said for their equipment.
"This truck it's breaking down, the maintenance costs are going up on it," said Johns.
So while six fires burned across the city, truck six stayed put, unable to start. One of the many inconveniences firefighters have learned to deal with and inconveniences they fear may one day turn deadly.