By Mark Prado
The Marin Independent Journal
MARIN COUNTY, Calif. — The firehouse in the Marin Headlands across from Rodeo Beach is scheduled to close for good Wednesday morning.
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is eliminating the Presidio Fire Department, which includes closure of Station 52 at Fort Cronkhite.
The station and its personnel served Rodeo Beach, the Marine Mammal Center and Headlands Institute. But as of 7 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10 it was scheduled to close, officials said.
The Southern Marin Fire Protection District will take over fire protection duties but will not occupy the station, according to park officials.
The GGNRA and the Presidio Trust have shared the cost of operating the Presidio Fire Department. A 2007 efficiency study noted neighboring fire departments could provide fire service at Fort Baker and the Marin Headlands on a contract basis, saving as much as $750,000 annually.
But a GGNRA memo in September said cost was not the issue and that agreements with Southern Marin Fire, the San Francisco Fire Department plus additional park service and ranger and fire management staffing would end up costing the same. The change was made because other agencies could provide a “superior breadth and depth of services.”
A trained emergency medical technician will be deployed to the Headlands on a daily basis to handle medical problems and all of the GGNRA law enforcement officers and rangers have first-aid training, park officials said.
The park service said an average response time without the Headlands station would be five to 10 minutes.
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