Page 15 - Mid Valley Times 8-13-20 E-edition

Thursday, August 13, 2020
Fire on railroad bridge
Firefighters from multiple agencies successfully ex- tinguished a blaze that broke out on the north side of Manning Avenue west of the Kings River the afternoon of Aug. 4. Fire crews fought the blaze from the railroad bridge and were able to preserve the railroad bed. There was no damage to the trestle, which remained safe for train travel.
ABOVE: Firefighters spray water onto the bridge to prevent flames from spreading during the Aug. 4 fire.
Juanita Adame / Mid Valley Times
RIGHT: Smoke drifted skyward from the west end of the bridge trestle before flames were extinguished.
Danny Jimenez / Photo Contributed
| A15 | Mid Valley TiMes
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ley,” said Justin Watson, battalion chief for the Reedley Fire Department.
Agencies from across the region including the Reedley Fire Depart- ment’s water rescue team, Fresno County’s Eagle 1 helicopter, and a couple of boating units from Fresno County Fire responded. In addition, a number of ambulance, fire, and law enforce- ment personnel an- swered the call of mul- tiple people in the water who were struggling to stay afloat.
“The victims were in the water at the Reed- ley Beach area and did travel downstream,” said Watson. “We had crews who were already here training on scene and one victim [Samantha] was removed from the water and was transported.”
“A little bit later we received word of a sec- ond victim and their last
known location,” Watson continued. “After about one hour we located that victim [Singh] down- stream of the Reedley boat launch.”
Initial reports indi- cated that Samantha, and a couple of children with her at the beach that day waded out too far into the river and were swept downstream.
Two children made it out of the water, but Sa- mantha was pulled under by the current. Singh, who was nearby, imme- diately jumped in to help but was swept in as well.
Samantha was pulled out after 15 minutes un- derwater. Singh was found nearly an hour later.
“I looked and I saw someone who seemed to be in danger,” said Albert Garcia, a civil- ian who frequents the river. Garcia said he was on the shore when he heard what sounded like screaming coming from the water.
“I came running down
the bridge,” he said. “I came running, and by the time I got halfway I threw my backpack down and they pulled out a little girl, there was someone who had her, her head was tilted [and] she was unconscious.”
Authorities said there will be talks about in- creasing the safety of the river.
“There will definitely be conversations regard- ing signage and regard- ing life vests,” said Joe Garza, Reedley Police Chief. “Or, whether life vests should be put out, if buoys should be put out.”
A petition to change the name of the Reedley Beach area also is cur- rently circulating online.
Petitioners want to honor the memory of Manjeet Singh by chang- ing the name of the lo- cation to Manjeet Singh Memorial Beach.
As of Aug. 11, more than 2,000 people have signed the petition.
FIRE STATION Continued from page A1
city, which will then pay the debt services on the bond in the form of lease payments. It is expected to cost the city approximately $415,000 per year.
To pay for the bond, the city will use Intergovern- mental Transfers (IGT) funds, funds used in balancing reim- bursement rates for Medic- aid. Those revenues, which are based on call volume, are received by the city of Sanger and can only be used for Fire and EMS expenses.
In addition, the city will be getting a favorable rate of no
more than 3.5 percent. “We’re in the prime posi-
tion to take advantage of the rates right now,” Harmon added.
But the decision to take out the bond was not seen fa- vorably by some citizens who were admittedly in ‘sticker shock’ after seeing the price tag and wondered if it was something that should be put off due to the uncertain times.
Some citizens even felt the move was sudden, to which Sanger City Manager Tim Chapa responded to.
“Staff has provided infor- mation along the way over the last year,” explained Chapa. “Staff has connected the dots
through regular meetings and I know that some folks may not have connected the dots or weren’t here at every meet- ing. But on our end, this has been an issue that has been in front of you (directed to coun- cil) for the last year.”
Also taking exception to the city’s decision to move forward with the project was councilmember Eli Ontiveros, who suggested the city should instead be looking into fund- ing a sports complex.
“This is not the will of the people,” he exclaimed. “This is an internal agenda.”
His comments caused Mayor Frank Gonzalez to chime in. “That’s not even
true,” Gonzalez snapped.
He added, “These IGT funds area source of revenue and they are not for sports complexes and play equip- ment. This is specifically set for this. I don’t understand the apprehension in doing something when we can do it. I think it’s a good thing for the
city of Sanger.”
Council member Humberto
Garza also spoke in favor of the project, saying, “We’ve been planning this for over a year. Those of us who want to see the city grow, we need to have the infrastructure to go with it.”
The bond resolution passed with a 4-1 vote, with Ontiveros abstaining.
To go along with the bond resolution, later in the meet- ing the city council also ap- proved the purchase of a new ambulance through the use of Measure S funds. The am- bulance, which will cost the city approximately $300,000, will be an additional unit – the city’s fourth ambulance.
The purchase was approved by a split vote, with Ontiveros and Gonzalez voting no after expressing they felt they city should wait to see what Mea- sure S funding looks like after the economic downturn.
The city’s Measure S Citi- zen’s Oversight Committee reportedly approved the pur- chase with a unanimous vote.
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