Canyon Lake Reaches Deal On Fire Station

CANYON LAKE, CA — The city of Canyon Lake and the gated community's Property Owners Association announced this week that an agreement was reached on the final purchase terms for the Canyon Lake Fire Department Station 1.

The agreement is another step forward for the now-city-owned fire department at 28730 Vacation Drive. The POA was leasing the property to the city as a fire station, but in January the city initiated the $1.39 million purchase. The offer was accepted after the POA determined the sale was “in the best interests of the Association” and the fire station was “a necessary public use that greatly benefits the members.”

The nearby Canyon Lake POA parking lot and launch ramp to the North Ski Area were severed from the agreement, so they remain as POA property, according to a news release issued Tuesday.

The sale is expected to close by early 2024.

“This is a first for our City and once again demonstrates our commitment to ensure greater local control over the quality and cost of public safety services for our community," Canyon Lake Mayor Jeremy Smith said.

Canyon Lake's fire protection services' history has been bumpy at times. The firehouse was shuttered in July 2015 after the city and county became embroiled in legal wrangling over nearly $2 million in unpaid service bills from Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.

Canyon Lake representatives at the time blamed it on increased firefighter staffing that the city could not afford. California cities must provide fire protection services to residents. Canyon Lake was contracting that service through Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.

The result was a breach of contract lawsuit in which the county alleged that, beginning in the last half of the 2013-14 fiscal year, Canyon Lake stopped making payments under the fire protection contract that went into effect on July 1, 2011.

The suit was resolved in the fall of 2015 when Canyon Lake agreed to reimburse the county $1.7 million. However, the Canyon Lake City Council kept the local fire station closed while examining the prospects of establishing its own city-run fire department.

Between July 2015 and May 2017, the city paid for fire protection on an as-needed basis, with fire trucks from Lake Elsinore and Menifee responding to 911 calls in Canyon Lake. (Both Lake Elsinore and Menifee contract fire services through Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.) Response times ran as long as 15 minutes, and Canyon Lake, through the offices of Supervisor Kevin Jeffries, eventually reached a compromise agreement with the county to reopen the on-site fire station in June 2017 using Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department personnel.

Initially, the city only paid for a two-person crew on one fire engine, which is below county-mandated minimum staffing. Three-person staffing was restored under a 2018 contract.

On Jan. 1, 2022, Canyon Lake finally launched its own fire department. It still contracts with the county for dispatch services, however. Under the contract approved in Sept. 2021, Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department is authorized to manage 911 calls for the independent Canyon Lake Fire Department between Jan. 1, 2022 and June 30, 2024, at a cost of $273,808.

The Canyon Lake Fire Department is led by Fire Chief Jeff LaTendresse, who played an integral role in building the new agency, according to the city.