By Darrell Smith
Merced Sun-Star
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — Metro Fire’s Station 41 in North Highlands holds a special place for the men and women who have passed through its doors. For many, it was their first stop in the fire service, the proving ground that readied them for life as firefighters.
But increasingly the 1950s-era building on Thomas Drive at Elkhorn Boulevard has become a symbol of the fire district’s aging inventory. From station houses to engines to equipment, Metro fire officials say its age is showing at precisely the time when the agency’s costs and demands are greater than ever.
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District is sounding the alarm. Metro Fire is asking voters to approve a bond Nov. 5 it says is needed to provide firefighters with new engines and equipment, while refurbishing decades-old station houses and building new ones in the neighborhoods that need them most.
“We have stations that are 40-50 years old. Some are 80 years old. They’re not set up for modern fire services,” said Parker Wilbourn, a Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District battalion chief and spokesman.
The call comes with a cost: $415 million over 35 years — the bond expires in 2061 — but Metro Fire officials and the bond’s supporters say Sacramento County’s Measure O is the best chance yet to replace what they say is outdated and deteriorating equipment.
“We’re up to about a 40% increase (in calls) over the last 10 years. We’re doing a lot more with less,” Wilbourn said. “We’re doing what we can but with the increase in population, we have to have the infrastructure to support that. We’re not in a position to do that without (funds).”
Measure O would cost $19 per $100,000 of assessed value, about $78 per year, for the typical property taxpayer, say Metro Fire officials. No money goes to pay salaries or meet pension obligations.
Sacramento Taxpayers Association is typically skeptical of bond measures but is neutral on Measure O. In a statement, the local taxpayers’ advocates called the costs Metro Fire face “substantial,” saying fire district officials were “forthcoming” in answering its concerns about the ballot measure.
“Sac Tax has verified none of the funds for this bond measure will be used for salaries or pension obligations. Sac Tax has also reviewed the costs of new facilities and equipment which are substantial,” the statement read. “Sac Tax believes Metro Fire has been forthcoming about providing answers to the questions Sac Tax asked in our ballot argument. Sac Tax’s position on Measure O is neutral.”
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District is one of the largest fire agencies in California. Its 41 stations serve more than 720,000 people across 359 square miles of unincorporated Sacramento County, the cities of Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova as well as a portion of Placer County.
Metro crews responded to some 110,000 calls for service last year, a 40% increase in fire emergencies and a 30% increase in medical emergencies from 10 years ago, say officials. About 5,000 of those came out of North Highlands’ Station 41 alone.
The increased demand, officials said, has pushed one of the state’s largest fire agencies to its limits.
“Our demand has overstretched revenues,” Wilbourn said. “What we take in, these monies are not keeping up with inflation.”
Examples are easy to cite, Wilbourn said.
Metro Fire purchased 20 engines in 2011. More than a decade later, many of those have reached 200,000 miles or more. Fire officials say nearly three of every four of the rigs will reach the end of their lifespans in the next three to five years but the cost to replace them continues to rise.
The typical cost of a fire engine in 2019 was about $750,000, Wilbourn said. The same engine five years on ranges from $1.2 million to $1.5 million a piece. The size of today’s engines and apparatus, larger and more technologically advanced, are also an issue.
“The amount of technology and size of engines has changed drastically. The challenge is to find apparatus to fit into these smaller bays,” he said.
Painted stripes on the cement floor of Station 41’s engine bay resemble a baseball diamond’s batter’s box. In a different era, engines could fit into the striped-off spaces.
But Station 41 is 70 years old. Crews shoehorn modern rigs like Engine 41 into bays designed for engines built in the 1950s. Wilbourn squeezed sideways to walk between the tail end of the fire engine and the station house wall to demonstrate. The engine partially blocks the door from the engine bay to the station inside.
The demonstration became a metaphor.
“We’re literally up against the wall,” he said.
Wilbourn said it’s not just about fire readiness for older stations like 41. It’s also about modernizing workplaces with additional restrooms and quarters to better accommodate the numbers of women in the fire service. Modern wiring to ensure safety at the firehouse.
“This is a workplace. There is a lot of work to do. We have to make it a safe workplace. We’ve really reached a breaking point.”
Metro Fire’s $304 million 2024-25 operating budget put a fine point on the challenges ahead.
Officials at the agency say Metro Fire needs another $41.5 million a year to fund capital needs for the next 10 years and account for inflation.
The district was forecast to top $381 million in expenditures; but take in nearly $330 million — a $50 million gap — with expenses continuing a multiyear climb. That is before considering a long list of planned capital projects totaling nearly $202 million and a deferred maintenance backlog of more than $80 million.
The project list includes erecting new fire stations in North Highlands, Rancho Cordova and Vineyard and expanding or relocating aging stations in North Highlands, Rancho Cordova, Mather, Citrus Heights, Florin and Carmichael.
“The district is sufficiently funded for current spending levels, but lacks the financial resources to address long-term liabilities and capital priorities,” Metro Fire officials said in the budget document presented to Sacramento County leaders.
“We’re 41 stations. We’re a massive piece of the overall emergency system in Sacramento County. It’s what the community has equated with us,” Wilbourn said. “That is the service we provide. We’re good partners in the region.”
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