As Oakland shutters fire stations, firefighters ramp up campaign opposing cuts
The Oakland firefighters union, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 55, has one message for new city leadership: Keep fire stations open.
Roughly 50 members of the Oakland, Alameda County, San Francisco, Berkeley, and Richmond firefighters unions gathered outside City Hall before the first council meeting of the year to protest the temporary closures of two Oakland fire stations and the proposed brownouts of four additional firehouses.
Effective today, Fire Station No. 25 in Joaquin Miller Park and Fire Station No. 28 in the Chabot Park neighborhood are temporarily closed through the fiscal year ending July 1. They join Fire Station No. 10 in the Grand Lake neighborhood, which closed in November 2022 for renovations, though that station’s reopening date is unclear.
During Monday’s news conference, IAFF Local 55 President Seth Olyer said the new brownouts impact the following neighborhoods: Chabot Park, Sequoyah, Knowland Park, Joaquin Miller, Oakmore, Skyline, Grass Valley, Woodminster, Lincoln Highlands, and Crestmont.
