Grant Allows New Metro Fire Units, Not Stations Yet

Since the February $5.4 million federal grant awarded to Sacramento Metro Fire Department, the department has been mulling the best ways to spend the money.

The Fair Oaks community as well as its neighboring communities, including Orangevale and Citrus Heights, will likely see the most significant of impact in response time and available firefighters on the scene, Sac Metro Fire spokesman, Christian Pebbles said in an e-mail.

“It will put two additional truck companies in our district and will allow current truck companies to stay closer to their assigned response area,” Pebbles said. “It will not leave a hole in truck response areas.”

It’s been nearly two years since Sac Metro Fire was forced to shut down two local fire stations due to budget cuts. For Fair Oaks, it meant the closure of station 32, located 8890 Roediger Ln. while Orangevale’s station 33 at 5148 Main Ave. was also shut down. Neither station appears to be reopening any time soon, though, Pebbles said.

“Station 33 was closed,” Pebbles said. “That decision came from an outside agency recommendation that evaluated the entire districts call volume and response times.”

“Reopening station 32 is not in the near future.”

At one point, Fair Oaks was home to three separate Sac Metro Fire stations, including station 31 at 7950 California Ave. while station 108, located on Winding Way, has doubled for both the Carmichael and Fair Oaks area, said Pebbles.

For now it would appear there are plans to build a new company, though the Metro Department’s operations division is still evaluating that process. It hasn’t seemed to negatively impact the department’s ability to continue operation, Pebbles said.

“It has no impact,” Pebbles said. “In fact, during these tough financial times we have been able to put a paramedic unit on every fire engine.”