By DANIELLE McNAMARA
Contra Costa Times (California)
PITTSBURG, Calif. — Two fire stations will be relocated in hopes of improving emergency response times in growing areas of the city.
Station 85 on Harbor Street is the busiest station in the city with 2,916 calls in 2005 compared with the 1,207 calls Station 84 received, Contra Costa Fire District Assistant Chief John Ross said. Station 84 is at 200 E. Sixth Street.
Fire stations are positioned to accommodate a 1.5-mile coverage radius. Moving station 84 south of Highway 4 should make its response times more efficient.
“By moving 84 away from the river, we’re expanding its coverage area. By doing that we can move 85 more southeast, making it closer to the people in southeast Pittsburg,” he said.
The district’s goal is to arrive at emergency calls within four minutes. Station 84’s average response time is 3 minutes, 57 seconds, while the average for Station 85 is 4 minutes, 53 seconds.
“Station 85 is the busiest and that’s because part of 84’s response area includes the Sacramento River. By moving the stations, in the next few years we should see those times decrease by about 15 to 30 seconds,” Ross said.
District officials hope to begin building the new Station 85 on Loveridge Road by the end of this year. Construction on the new station 84 is scheduled to begin in early 2007.
Construction of the new stations could cost up to $2 million each, district facilities manager Ron Guelden said. Selling the old stations will recoup some of the money, but there are additional costs such as engineering and architectural fees and infrastructure installation.
In 1999, the district put together a plan to relocate stations 84, 85 and 86 to improve response times and shorten distances that fire teams had to travel to calls. Station 86 is in Bay Point, but half of its calls respond within Pittsburg.
Pittsburg Mayor Michael Kee said the station transplants will benefit all residents.
“It will help make sure the city is covered with adequate response times as we grow in the southwest hills area as well as other areas of the city,” he said.
Both stations are not up to earthquake standards, are not able to accommodate both sexes and do not meet the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
The City Council voted Monday to uphold a planning commission decision to allow the station to be moved.
The Contra Costa County Fire District serves 10 cities and five unincorporated areas in the county.