PETALUMA, Calif. (KRON) – Precautionary steps are being taken to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19 at a North Bay Fire Station. This comes in the wake of a firefighter testing positive for the virus.
A firefighter at Petaluma Fire Station 3 has tested positive for COVID-19.
The fire station was temporarily closed but has since reopened after undergoing decontamination.
“So last week on Thursday, we found out one of our firefighters received a positive COVID test. At that point we closed the station. We’re still finishing up our COVID testing but right now we assume that it is work related,” Petaluma Fire Marshall Jessica Power said.
In fact, she says throughout the pandemic Petaluma firefighters have responded to several calls involving people infected with the coronavirus.
The harsh reality is even with their personal protective equipment first responders are still vulnerable.
“It still happens, yup. It’s especially scary for us as a fire department family to think about how many people are possibly affected. As a smaller sized department, not a major metropolitan department, we have just over 60-people. That means when 14 are out that is a significant number of our workforce,” Power said.
The one firefighter who tested positive and 14-fellow firefighters have been quarantined separately at different locations.
The fire marshall explains the steps taken to continue coverage in this area.
“Because we have three shifts we have members from other departments to cover on their off days. So they’re working overtime. New firefighters were sent to a local hotel and we have our ambulance from Station 1 to still provide coverage to the city. So we were back pretty quickly to our normal daily staffing numbers,” Power said.
She says the firefighter who tested positive is still exhibiting some symptoms but otherwise…
“Today he is doing ok,” Power said.
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