South San Francisco is planning construction of a larger, modern fire station at 71 Camaritas Ave. to improve fire and emergency response to the city’s mid-city area, including the El Camino Real corridor.
“It’s important for the city to provide the Fire Department a new stand-alone, fully self-contained, secure and larger station in nearly the same location,” South San Francisco Mayor Mark Addiego said in a statement. “This new location will allow space for training, give needed storage for equipment and prevent our firefighters from having to leave the district to resupply.”
The current station, Fire Station #63, is located in the basement of the Municipal Services Building at 33 Arroyo Drive. It is the city’s smallest station and was originally temporarily located there in 1981. The proposed new location will be across the street from the current fire station which will have more space and allow for better access to Westborough Boulevard and El Camino Real.
Jess Magallanes
“Currently, we just don’t have that space,” said South San Francisco Fire Chief Jess Magallanes. “So if we have to refill our SCBA (air supply) bottles, we’d have to leave that district, go to a different station in a different district that has a refilling station. Or has enough room to store those extra supplies that we just can’t keep in that station.”
It has five personnel in the current station. It can only house an ambulance, a fire engine and a limited supply space. The goal is to move from what is currently more than 5,000 square feet into a facility that’s more than 8,000 square feet to give them an extra apparatus bay, allowing for more storage for supplies and equipment, he said.
“If there’s a disaster, we can add additional resources to that location. And the fact that it’ll be a right-sized station, we would be able to house all of our equipment,” he said. “It definitely would give us more operational flexibility.”
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In its parking lot, there is no space to do any training outside of its current station. If they need to do any company training, they have to go to the main station. In its new location, it will have the space for training.
“It’ll make a significant difference in being able to maintain a mandated training without having to leave that district,” Magallanes said.
The new station will have all of its own utilities, mechanical systems and backup emergency power supply. The building is expected to be constructed in two years in 2023. The land at 71 Camaritas Ave. was recently put up for sale by the owner, who acquired it in 2016. Currently, the site is home to rental tenants Buri Buri Liquor and Ongpin Restaurant, both of which will be allowed to stay until the start of construction.
Purchase of the property by the city will be considered by the South San Francisco City Council July 28.
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