HollisterFreelance.com | Fire station closures result in slow response times for south county

Fire station closures result in slow response times for south county

Dec 3, 2004
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Hollister - Thanks to cuts that slashed the county's fire budget by 50 percent, two fire stations in south county will be closed for the winter months and it will take emergency personnel at least an hour to respond to some locations as a result, according to the California Department of Forestry.

CDF stations Beaver Dam and Bear Valley, both located in south county, closed at the beginning of October and will reopen again in May and the beginning of fire season, said Battalion Chief Don Lawler. The county has contracted with CDF for about 12 years and this is the first winter they will be closed because of budget cuts, Lawler said.

"I wouldn't recommend getting hurt in south county," Lawler said. "The public needs to be aware that we don't have the resources to protect them the way we would like to."

Beaver Dam is located 57 miles south of Hollister, and Bear Valley is located 25 miles south of the city, Lawler said. Beaver Dam's response area covers all of San Benito County south of Highway 146, and Bear Valley covers Highway 156 north to Paicines, all of Clear Creek Management Area and New Idria, he said.

Bear Valley has some people working during the weekdays, but on a limited basis depending on training schedules, vacation time and other factors, Lawler said.

"It's not technically open, but we will go to calls if we're there," he said. "After 5pm nobody responds."

Without personnel staffing the stations, emergency response will come either from Hollister or King City and will take at least an hour, if not more to respond to those areas, Lawler said.

However, even with the stations up and running many response times to some remote areas of the county still take up to a half an hour, he said.

When the county budget was approved in August and officials learned the stations would have to close for the winter, Lawler said he only received one complaint by a south-county resident.

"They're used to living out there by themselves and they know how to take care of themselves," he said. "(But if somebody has a heart attack) they better hope somebody around them knows CPR because we won't be able to get to them in time."

Supervisor Reb Monaco said the cuts were made to balance the county's budget, and that after researching the volume of calls the station receives during the winter it didn't warrant keeping the stations open.

"I realize that has upset a lot of people in those areas, but there was no other option," Monaco said. "We have to cut somewhere and that was the choice that was made."

Lawler said the stations receive about 30 calls a year, and during the winter most of them come out of Clear Creek from motorcycle and off-road vehicle accidents.

Anyone frequenting Clear Creek needs to be aware that help could be up to two hours away, he said. Clear Creek has become one of the state's most sought-after locations for off-highway vehicle use and is most heavily used during the winter months.

Lawler is working on mapping out the exact locations of the approximately 500 structures in his jurisdiction, so if someone needs quick emergency response he can tell a helicopter where to go, he said.

He estimated it will take all winter to complete the project .

"If we can get close at least we can get them some help," Lawler said. "We have to do something for them - try to get help as fast as possible."