Emergency and fire response times in Orcutt could improve in the future as the Santa Barbara County Fire Department begins the process of adding a new fire station in the unicorporated area.
Fire Chief Mark Hartwig and county 5th District Supervisor Bob Nelson hosted a community meeting on March 1 at the proposed site for Fire Station 25 so residents could learn more about what’s happening.
“The interest was high, a little higher than we thought, although not completely unexpected,” Hartwig told the Sun. “Mostly we discussed the layout of the timeline for the new station and talked about what it’s like to have a fire station as a neighbor. There were questions about details, staffing, and space for community purposes.”
The land—purchased in 2020—is a 5-acre lot that sits on East Union Valley Parkway. Hartwig estimated that it will cost between $9 million to $11 million but said he wouldn’t be sure of the numbers until the planning and design phases are complete. Hartwig and his team will begin conceptual drawings over the next three months, followed by a 12-month design process, which will include construction-ready plans, prior to actually breaking ground, he said.
“It depends on the construction industry at the time, but we’d be looking at a 12- to 18-month construction timeline with the station ready two-and-a-half to three years from now,” Hartwig said. “It always takes a little longer than we wish it did, but the best part of this process is that it’s coming. It’s just going to take a little longer than we want.”
The new station coincides with a larger movement to improve overall fire and emergency services in the county, he said, with the recent approval of a universal dispatch center which would deploy the closest fire engine to the scene, dissolve service borders, and improve response times.
“It’s much needed, our response times in that area are longer than what the guidelines the national fire protection agency guidelines call for. Now, with the station, we’ll be able to meet those response time guidelines or best practices,” Hartwig said.
According to a 2020 Citygate Associates study, county fire’s response time—from answering a 911 call to arriving on the scene—is 2 minutes and 22 seconds slower than Citygate-recommended best practices, according to previous Sun reporting. Orcutt currently has two county fire stations, but three crews are needed for structure fires or rescue operations, Hartwig explained.
“That area’s gotten more populated and bigger; it was identified as a place for more service so we identified it as an ideal location,” Hartwig said.
The future fire station site’s location sits in a triangle of unincorporated area with the Santa Maria Fire Department on either side, which will help the Santa Maria Fire Department in responses, Santa Maria Fire Chief Todd Tuggle said.
“The city and county borders are definitely not straight lines. To have them build another station in the location they chose strategically helps the county protect the community of Orcutt, but with the mutual aid relationship we have it adds additional resources to help all of us,” Tuggle said.
Approximately 150,000 people live in the Santa Maria Valley. The city has six stations and the county has two serving the area. An additional station would mean more hands on deck for the residents, he added.
“I think it’s good to see county fire making a commitment in our area, and we’re very happy to see their commitment to providing this level of service in the county,” Tuggle said. “It supports the overall effort to take care of each of our respective areas while also having units available to assist other communities while also having units available to assist other agencies.”
This article appears in Mar 10-17, 2022.