Editing Stockton, California (section)

=== Fire department ===

The Stockton Fire Department was first rated as a Class 1 fire department by the [[Insurance Services Office]] in 1971. In 2005, all 13 of the city's stations met the [[National Fire Protection Association]] standard of a 5-minute response time.<ref>{{cite web|title=California Response Times Investigated {{!}} Firehouse|url=http://www.firehouse.com/news/10503917/california-response-times-investigated|website=Firehouse|date=November 17, 2005 |publisher=KCRA|access-date=November 3, 2016}}</ref> In 2009, it had 13 fire stations and over 275 career personnel.<ref>{{cite web|title=City of Stockton, CA Homepage- Official City Government Website|url=https://user.govoutreach.com/stockton/faq.php?cid=3541|website=user.govoutreach.com|access-date=November 3, 2016}}</ref> Due in part to staffing levels that placed five staff on ladder companies and four staff on engines, it was one of only 57 departments among 44,000 to receive the Class 1 rating in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=Central Valley Business Times|url=http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=15231|website=www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com|access-date=November 3, 2016|date=May 19, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104075939/http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=15231|archive-date=November 4, 2016}}</ref>

The department maintained this rating until 2011, when during the city's Chapter 9 bankruptcy proceedings and following a Civil Grand Jury investigation, the city reduced staffing levels from 220 full-time staff to 177, and the 2011 budget from $59 million to $40 million. The department was cut by 30%.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Funkhouser|first1=Mark|title=Sharing the Burdens of a Broken City|url=http://www.governing.com/gov-institute/funkhouser/col-stockton-california-bankruptcy-stakeholders-negative-fiscal-spiral.html|website=www.governing.com|date=April 8, 2013}}</ref> The bankruptcy was due in part to a 1996 decision made by the city to provide firefighters with free health care after retirement, which they later expanded to all city employees. The benefit gradually grew into a $417 million liability.<ref>{{cite web|last1=C. Johnson|first1=Steven|last2=Francescani|first2=Chris|title=Public Safety Compensation|url=http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/firefighter-staffing/|website=www.firefighterclosecalls.com|access-date=November 3, 2016}}</ref>

{{as of|2016}}, the department consists of 12 firehouses that house 12 Engine Companies and three Truck Companies. In 2015 the Fire Department responded to over 40,000 emergency calls for service, including more than 300 working structure fires. The department is one of the busiest in the United States. The Stockton Fire Department is assisted on medical emergency calls by American Medical Response.<ref>{{cite web|title=2015 Stockton Fire Department Year In Review|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnwHaD18NV4| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/WnwHaD18NV4| archive-date=October 30, 2021|publisher=2015 Stockton Fire Department Year In Review|access-date=November 3, 2016|date=February 27, 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref>