Not likely to be a good relationship between the central Santa Clara county fire district and CALFIRE after this move. The county is spending a pretty penny to try to force CALFIRE out, but still wants to rely on them for resources like dozers, aircraft, and crews since they have none. Too bad their plan is to staff engines out of hotels and temporary stations for likely years until they can secure land and build stations. I feel terrible for their personnel.
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Too bad those resources aren’t free.
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Does the dstrict fall under SRA or LRA?
LRA, it’s been a Calfire contract since the 80’s
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Although a Local Government provider isn’t the South Santa Clara Fire District predominantly SRA ? The State providing State wildland fire protection and the District providing the municipal fire service?
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A lot of the remote areas of the district are SRA, yes. But there’s a lot of LRA in the hills surrounding Morgan hill, San Martin and Gilroy.
Here is a district map:
Here’s a map that the county made with their district logo on it before LAFCO even approved the merger:
https://files.santaclaracounty.gov/exjcpb1611/2025-02/socofire_sra-map.pdf?VersionId=Ck5DPr1QwDKrmxWYZnQVbeNIRGobtfnF
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Continuing the discussion from Santa Clara County ends Cal Fire contract for rural communities:
Thanks for the map. I’m reminded how long it’s been sine my last fire there … many years have changed the map more than a bit😊
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Clearly CAL FIRE is too expensive.
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It has nothing to do with cost. The alternative is far more expensive.
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Was being facetious, CAL FIRE is double the apparatus at half the cost based on your chart.
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hard to tell these days! Some people are really that dense!
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That’s interesting I know alot of rural districts still fall under SRA for wildland.
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The Santa Clara County LAFCO voted to approve the dissolution of the South Santa Clara Fire District and annexation of the affected territory into the Central Fire Protection District (Santa Clara County Fire) earlier today.
https://www.youtube.com/live/adjun0giTSw
Meeting here.
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Good luck providing identical service in 3 months! Their report said they wouldn’t have the staff in place until September, and that was with Calfire continuing an Amador agreement, which they stated they will not.
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I appreciate the video. Morgan Hill city manager Christina Turner laid some dirty laundry in her 3 mins on the floor, she starts at 30:00 or so. Notably watching the Santa Clara FD chief in the background with wandering eyes and facial expressions had me rolling while she was at the podium. Also allegedly all communication with Calfire stopped evidently, Months ago.
Sounds like bad relationships over anything fiscal. Heard some rumors, but that’s all they are and we’ll never know. Nothing is certain, hope all the Schedule A staff land where they can hope at this point.
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Hello All!
Long time member, just getting back after a long, very long, hiatus. Was interested in this thread because our small rural, San Diego County community went thru this very same thing some years ago. Our local paper did an extensive write up about the separation of Cal-Fire from the community. I’ll see if I can find the story. Stand by one…
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Trying to understand your post. San Diego County Fire Protection District accepting responsibility for a large portion of the unincorporated areas of county and providing 24/7 ALS staffed stations with 100% staffing paid for by the county is totally different than a fire district assuming assuming responsibility for an area with no plan or money, or infrastructure. The residents of the San Diego back country made out big. The residents of Santa Clara County lost big time. Control and money always seem to poke their ugly heads out when it comes to doing the right thing.
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There is a huge difference between San Diego County fire district and Santa Clara. SD Incorporated the volunteer stations into full time, ALS providing department and Santa Clara is essentially downgrading services. Santa Clara has no plans on staffing, equipment or any infrastructure in place whereas SD had all that in place prior to taking over . The folks in SD County essentially had a major upgrade to services whereas the folks in Santa Clara essentially downgraded.
They ( Santa Clara) has essentially asked the state to stay in place and provide coverage while the figure it out on the infrastructure wise. The area being taken over by the fire district has almost no tax base if any to support the operations, no agreements in place. .
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Done and dusted.
CAMPBELL – With the conclusion of today’s LAFCO protest hearing before the Santa Clara County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) Executive Officer, the proposed consolidation of the South Santa Clara County Fire District (SCFD) into the Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District (County Fire) will proceed to the next step in the process. The LAFCO Executive Officer has 30 days following the conclusion of the protest hearing to assess the written protests submitted and make a determination. The transition is still expected to take effect as early as July 1, 2025, at which time County Fire will assume responsibility for fire protection and emergency medical services in the area currently served by the South Santa Clara County Fire District.
This milestone follows a 6-1 vote by LAFCO on April 2, 2025, to approve the fire district reorganization application, and a unanimous vote by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in January of this year to initiate the reorganization application. This reorganization ensures the sustainability of fire protection services in the areas served by SCFD and addresses longstanding fiscal challenges in the South Santa Clara County Fire District, including a multi-year structural budget deficit and lack of capacity to meet long-term facility, apparatus, and staffing needs.
Under the new structure, County Fire will deliver the same service level community members have received from SCFD, with the added enhancements of County Fire’s all-risk, all-hazards model, which includes a Type 1 Urban Search and Rescue Team and a Type 1 Hazardous Materials Team. Emergency response times are anticipated to improve, as Santa Clara County 9-1-1 Communications, which currently answers the 9-1-1 calls within the SCFD, will assume dispatching responsibilities in the area. This change reduces the existing call-transfers between public safety answering points and allows dispatchers to directly and immediately dispatch resources from County Fire in the current South Santa Clara County Fire District area.
The current area of the South County Fire District will be served by year-round, 24/7 staffing at the Masten and Treehaven fire stations, as well as at the Vineyard station, a new temporary fire station located at 16075 Vineyard Boulevard in Morgan Hill beginning July 1, 2025. County Fire will prioritize building a permanent fire station that is strategically located to provide optimal response times to emergency calls in the fire district’s expanded service area.
The CAL FIRE Pacheco Station, which currently provides year-round emergency response in SCFD’s Local Responsibility Area (LRA) along the Highway 152 Pacheco Pass corridor, as well as in a larger swath of State Responsibility Area (SRA), is anticipated to be staffed by CAL FIRE firefighters during declared fire season. The County of Santa Clara has been officially notified by CAL FIRE that the proposed Amador Agreement to continue year-round staffing at the CAL FIRE Pacheco Station with firefighters capable of providing Advanced Life Support (ALS) services has been rejected by CAL FIRE. With CAL FIRE’s denial of the Amador Agreement continued year-round fire protection and EMS response, including ALS services will be provided by Santa Clara County Fire Department.
County Fire looks forward to maintaining and strengthening existing partnerships and relationships within the South County community during the transitional period and beyond. South County residents and community members will benefit from access to a fully accredited fire agency with extensive capabilities, including a robust community education unit, fire prevention services, and vegetation management efforts through County Fire’s Pre-Fire Management and Wildfire Resilience unit.
County Fire will continue its leadership role throughout the County and the Region as the Operational Area and Regional Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid Coordinator. CAL FIRE’s Santa Clara Unit continues to have responsibility for wildfire protection and suppression in the SRA in Santa Clara County.
For more information about the transition and ongoing updates, visit www.sccfd.org/southcounty.
“As Fire Chief, I’m deeply grateful for the confidence placed in our department by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Santa Clara County Fire Department leadership and its members look forward to extending our longstanding tradition of professional and courteous service to community members and businesses in San Martin and the surrounding area. County Fire has a long history of responsibly managing district funds, maintaining financial transparency, and is committed to ensuring district funds continue to be spent and invested responsibly with a goal to ensure the safety of every community for which we provide services. We look forward to continuing and building upon the strong public safety partnerships that contribute to the safety of the entire county.”
– Santa Clara County Fire Department Fire Chief Suwanna Kerdkaew#
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