As district grows there is need for paid firefighters to
staff second station
by COREY YOUNG, Staff Writer
The Windsor Fire Protection District, which has seen a steady
increase in calls as the town grows, may ask voters to boost the
assessment it uses to operates because it needs more full-time
firefighters.
The district is considering a vote-by-mail election on September
16 that would ask voters in the 30-square-mile area to increase the
special tax that funds its $1.4 million operating budget. As
currently planned, the increase for a parcel with a single-family
home would be about $100 per year, from $67.50 to $168.
The increase is needed to hire more firefighters in order to
staff the district’s new station near downtown Windsor full time,
said Fire Chief Ron Collier. There are no regularly assigned
firefighters at the station on the southwest corner of Windsor Road
and Windsor River Road.
“It has a truck in it, but it doesn’t have a body in it,” said
District Board President Pat McDowell. “We need to get some bodies
over there.”
A staffed station will cut down on response times to areas in
west Windsor and the outlying areas of the district beyond, and
will allow more firefighters to reach an accident or fire scene
quickly, the district said.
The district responded to 1,700 calls last year and wants to
maintain a maximum four-minute response time when a call comes
in.
The district currently has six full-time firefighters at its
main station on Old Redwood Highway and Hembree Lane, along with 27
volunteer firefighters.
If passed, the special tax increase would double the number of
full-time firefighters so that the second station could be staffed
during the day.
“We need to double that to support a second location,” said
McDowell.
The two stations would have a minimum of two firefighters on
duty at all times.
The district has operated on a special tax since 1986 and hasn’t
had an increase during that time, said Collier. A recent survey of
460 residents of the district has encouraged the district to try
for the September vote.
The proposed vote, which will cost the district about $30,000 to
put on the ballot, hasn’t been officially approved by the
district’s board of directors. At a joint meeting last week with
the Windsor Town Council, McDowell said council members can help
the effort by endorsing the proposal collectively and individually
when it is officially put forward.
The district said it is putting together a factual publication
on the tax increase proposal and why it is needed, and is planning
a public education campaign to raise awareness of the issues
involved.
The recent survey conducted by the district showed that some
residents were unaware that the district is separate from the town
government, that it is funded through a special tax or that the
second station is not staffed.
The fire district board and the Town Council also discussed the
need for a ladder truck, a fire sprinkler ordinance for new homes
and a planned property swap between the town and the district.
The district currently relies on ladder support from the cities
of Healdsburg or Santa Rosa for fire calls, said Collier. As the
town grows and high-density, three-story buildings are developed,
the district may need its own ladder truck, said Collier.
The district is putting a portion of the mitigation fees it
receives from the town as new development occurs into a fund for
the ladder truck, said Collier. Such vehicles can cost upwards of
$500,000 depending on the size and features included.
Collier and Battalion Chief Matt Gustafson also discussed the
issue of required sprinklers in new buildings. Gustafson said the
district will be making a presentation to the town in the next few
months on the importance of sprinklers.
“Nobody has died in a fire that’s been protected by an automatic
sprinkler system,” said Gustafson. “I’m really passionate about
fire sprinklers. I’ve seen over a 22-year career how they preserve
life, how they preserve property, and I’m a real proponent of
them.”
Collier said a recent fire at the Brooks Creek senior community
could have been worse if it was not for sprinklers in the
homes.
“We had a save out there with a disabled lady, and she would
have been a fatality if those sprinklers hadn’t been there,” he
said.
“She said the words I hear on every fire: ‘The fire moved
incredibly fast,'” added Gustafson.
There is a concern in the building industry that sprinkler
systems can add costs to development that will make homes more
expensive, but Gustafson said the increased cost is minimal.
“It does cost money to put sprinklers in a new house, but its
fairly minimal in the big picture of things,” he said. “I call it
the silent knight — the guard that’s watching over you all the
time.”
The district also updated the council on its plans for a new
fire station on Windsor Road across from Windsor High School. The
station would be built on 1.26 acres of land next to the town’s
corporation yard — land to be acquired from the town in exchange
for the current downtown fire station property.
That building doesn’t meet earthquake standards and has no beds
or adequate living areas, so firefighters can’t sleep overnight
there, said Collier. If the proposed special tax increase passes
and full-time firefighters are assigned there, they will stay at
the Old Redwood Highway station at night until a new second station
is built, he said.
“Replacing station no. 2 is one of our priorities,” he said, and
“I know the town wants that corner lot.”
The town may sell the corner site as an area for future
redevelopment of the old downtown.
A preliminary plan for the new station on Windsor Road includes
a training room, firefighter sleeping areas, offices and an
apparatus bay. It is expected to cost about $2 million.
