Ground breaks for San Mateo’s Fire Station 25 relocation project

Designed to house a three-person crew and captain, the new station will feature an office, kitchen, dining area, day room, exercise room, private sleeping quarters, bathroom and storage areas as well as an emergency generator, according to the release.

San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department Chief John Healy noted the city’s fire stations require more space today than they did in the past because firefighters use more types of equipment to address an increasingly diverse set of calls, adding the department also didn’t have paramedics on staff in the past as it does now.

“When the original station was built in 1954, we didn’t respond to medical calls or hazmat calls,” he said in the release. “Each of those tasks requires specialized equipment, which requires bigger apparatus, and more storage space in the station itself.”

Healy noted the new station will include more private sleeping and living quarters, which he expected will help meet the needs of the department’s diverse staff.

One among several projects proposed in recent years to improve the city’s emergency response facilities, the relocation project has been in the works since 2016 and was approved by the City Council in November of 2018, according to the release.

In October, city officials approved an additional $1.4 million requested for the project estimated to cost more than $9 million, which includes a $6.1 million construction bid, soils disposal costs and contingency funding.

Construction is set to begin next week and the station is estimated to open in 2022, according to the release.