Study: Chula Vista has fewest firefighters for its population; San Diego also rates poorly

Fact Check: Fewer Firefighters Than Other Cities
Voice of San Diego
Keegan Kyle
Aug 19, 2010

"San Diego already has the lowest firefighter to population ratio of any major metropolitan city in California," Frank De Clercq, president of the San Diego firefighters union, said Aug. 5 at a press conference supporting a half-cent sales tax increase.

Determination: True

Analysis: For years, some firefighters, researchers and residents have called for San Diego to build its firefighting arsenal. Now, the city's mayor is forecasting even fewer firefighters.

If the city faces a more than $70 million budget shortfall next year, Mayor Jerry Sanders has promised to cut the number of firefighters and police officers. That focus on public safety is part of the campaign to increase the city's sales tax by a half cent.

At a press conference alongside Sanders and other sales tax supporters, De Clercq tried to put those potential cuts in a comparative light. Even before the cuts, he said, San Diego has fewer firefighters per resident than the state's largest cities...