Cayucos residents will lose a little fire protection for a few weeks after Cal Fire announced it would close its Cayucos Station 11 on the south end of town.
Cal Fire/County Fire Chief Bob Lewin announced March 27 that the so-called “Amador” agreement with the Cayucos Fire Protection District had been ended early by the district and the station will close April 1.
“The Cayucos FPD is discontinuing this agreement early to save Cayucos FPD funds,” reads a news release from Chief Lewin. “Cal Fire will reopen the station on April 13 as part of the State’s fire season staffing plan.”
Cayucos and Cal Fire had been in the Amador agreement for several years. The agreement paid Cal Fire to man the normally seasonal station year-round to supplement the Cayucos VFD’s staffing. It was a relatively inexpensive way to increase service and coverage in town and satisfy safety regulations, in particular the “Two-in and Two-out” staffing requirement to fighting fires.
Such agreements are common throughout California.
Though the closure is schedule for just a couple of weeks, it might not even be that long. “As with all Cal Fire seasonal fire stations,” Chief Lewin said, “the Cayucos Fire Station may be staffed during the closure if fire conditions or weather patterns change.”
According to preliminary statistics on the Cal Fire website, the Cayucos station was pretty busy in 2014. It responded to a some 332 calls just in Cayucos, 18 in Morro Bay, 28 in rural Morro Bay, 32 to Los Osos, and 210 to the San Luis Obispo Cal Fire Unit’s area (County Airport area).
They went on 26 structure fire calls and 44 vegetation fire calls. They assisted in 320 medical aid calls, 62 traffic collisions and 11 rescues. They had 77 public assists, 38 false alarms, 20 “hazard” calls and a dozen “miscellaneous” calls.
The Cayucos Fire Department crews will continue to respond to all calls for service, with the mutual aid system in place for back up.