<\/p>\n
Kings County Superior Court denied\u00a0the City of Avenal\u2019s\u00a0application for temporary restraining order to force Kings\u00a0County\u00a0to\u00a0continue fire services\u00a0to the city\u00a0during a hearing Wednesday morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
HANFORD<\/p>\n
Kings County Superior Court denied the City of Avenal\u2019s application for a temporary restraining order to force the county to continue fire services to the city.<\/p>\n
Avenal took legal action after the county termination of fire services, seeking prompt resolution to protect the safety of its residents.<\/p>\n
The court did not issue a temporary restraining order on Wednesday, but it set the matter for a full hearing on April 22.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to making our full case on April 22,\u201d said mayor Alvaro Preciado in a statement following the court proceedings.<\/p>\n
Preciado said the safety of Avenal\u2019s residents is top priority.<\/p>\n
The board of supervisors unanimously voted on March 28 to end the county\u2019s fire protection services with Avenal, effective immediately, citing a breach of contract.<\/p>\n
Avenal filed a lawsuit on April 1 against the county seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) to force the county to provide fire services to the city for a period of six months.<\/p>\n
In a press conference the same day, county officials stood by their decision to close the only fire station in the city of Avenal and said residents will still receive fire services from the county, though response times may take longer<\/p>\n
City officials said the issue in question is whether the county can terminate fire services without providing the required notice under the agreement and without a responsible transition plan.<\/p>\n
On March 30, Avenal City Manager Antony Lopez said the city has requested the county \u201chonor its obligation to provide appropriate notice and continue fire protection services to the city for a six-month transition period\u201d under their existing agreement.<\/p>\n
City officials said that while the city sought immediate relief, it respects the court\u2019s decision to allow the matter to proceed through a full hearing, remaining committed to resolving the issue as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
Kings County District Attorney Sarah Hacker sued the city of Avenal in December for alleged Brown Act violations over closed meetings in which officials discussed forming their own municipal fire department.<\/p>\n
The county\u2019s decision to terminate the contract took place after a public safety disagreement between the city and the county fire chief over the occupancy safety of Avenal\u2019s community center ahead of a scheduled boxing event.<\/p>\n
County fire Chief John Chamberlin said last week that the fire services will be provided to Avenal on a mutual aid basis, meaning \u201cthe Kings County Fire Department will continue to respond to the city of Avenal, albeit from a slightly further location and a more stringent determination of needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
City officials had said the county\u2019s decision puts more than 13,000 residents at risk, calling the county\u2019s actions \u201cbullying tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n
On April 1, the city welcomed its new fire chief Jacob McAfee through a social media post video and held a town hall meeting on Tuesday, April 7 for residents to meet McAfee in person, learn about the new fire department and ask questions. The city said it is working \u201cquickly to build a modern, professional and community centered department that serves our residents effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n
County officials said the county\u2019s fire department will continue to respond to emergencies in Avenal based on dispatch criteria, with additional support available through partner agencies across Kings and Fresno counties, including Cal Fire and Fresno County Fire. Emergency medical services remain unchanged through American Ambulance.<\/p>\n
Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n
Mar\u00eda G. Ortiz-Briones<\/a><\/p>\n The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n Mar\u00eda G. Ortiz-Briones is a reporter and photographer for McClatchy\u2019s Vida en el Valle publication and the Fresno Bee. She covers issues that impact the Latino community in the Central Valley. She is a regular contributor to La Abeja, The Bee\u2019s free weekly newsletter on Latino issues. | Mar\u00eda G. Ortiz-Briones es reportera y fot\u00f3grafa de la publicaci\u00f3n Vida en el Valle de McClatchy y el Fresno Bee. Ella cubre temas que impactan a la comunidad latina en el Valle Central. Es colaboradora habitual de La Abeja, el bolet\u00edn semanal gratuito de The Bee sobre temas latinos.
\n
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
\n Support my work with a digital subscription<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kings County Superior Court denied\u00a0the City of Avenal\u2019s\u00a0application for temporary restraining order to force Kings\u00a0County\u00a0to\u00a0continue fire services\u00a0to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-258700","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}