A new study says San Diego needs to build 10 new fire stations if it wants to reach acceptable response times in emergencies.
The city-commissioned study was cited Monday by the San Diego Union-Tribune.
But the cash-strapped city is unlikely to come up with well over $100 million to build new stations. It's already struggling to deal with a nearly $57-million budget shortfall.
The Fire Department currently is operating under a "brownout" policy that calls for sharing engines among stations to save money. That leaves as many as eight of the city's 47 stations without an engine at any time.
Fire Chief Javier Mainar says restoring engines to current stations must take priority over building new ones.
