The Stinson Beach Fire Protection District, which receives more calls than any other volunteer fire department in the county, has outgrown its headquarters. This month, the district received its first allotment of county funds to build a new headquarters three lots to the north.
“We’re extremely happy to get the support from the county on this project,” fire chief Jesse Peri said. “In the unincorporated areas of the county, these public facilities are a great benefit.”
In 2019, the district purchased the lot up the street with private donations and $400,000 of its own reserves. The recent $100,000 grant from the county will help pay for the design for a new fire station, which the district hopes to complete by 2028.
The project’s soft costs, including the architectural designs, are estimated at $5 million, while construction costs are estimated at over $11 million. The station will feature a kitchen, washrooms and up to five dorm rooms that may double as offices. It will also house a dedicated training area, a medical room and a command post for multi-agency response—a need underscored by last January’s storms that inundated low-lying neighborhoods and prompted a countywide response. The station will also feature a public assistance spot offering aid to motorists facing car troubles, and a community room will serve as a hub for CPR classes and youth programs, such as the local junior lifeguard program.
The current firehouse, built in 1949, is owned by the Stinson Beach Community Center, which leases it to the fire district. In the summertime, when Stinson Beach is at its busiest, the Marin County Fire Department provides for an additional ambulance in town and staffs it. But Stinson’s fire station is too small for modern fire trucks and emergency vehicles to fit comfortably.
Todd Overshiner, a battalion chief for Marin Fire, said adding a full-time ambulance in Stinson Beach is “of the utmost importance,” given the nearest fire departments are 25 minutes away in Mill Valley and Point Reyes Station.
“Our ambulance in Point Reyes goes to Stinson and Bolinas probably just as much if not more than Point Reyes and Inverness,” Mr. Overshiner said.
Emergency medical calls make up almost 80 percent of the Stinson Beach Volunteer Fire Department’s annual volume of around 300 calls.
In the last year, the station brought on three new staff members from Petaluma, Morgan Hill and Bodega Bay, relieving a staffing shortage the station has felt for years. Now, a captain and engineer are always onsite, and one volunteer is on call.
Mr. Peri said a new station would accommodate a larger staff.
“In the last five years, we had a mass exodus of volunteers that were at a [high skill] level due to retirement and people leaving town because of high rents,” he said. “This is a part of a broader issue in the workforce. It takes 10 to 15 years to properly hire and train a firefighter.”