Santa Clara County Fire takes over service territory from Cal Fire
Changes coming Tuesday to fire service in south Santa Clara County
Fire service in a large portion of south Santa Clara County will be transferred from CalFire to Santa Clara County at 8am Tuesday morning.
MORGAN HILL, Calif. - Residents in southern Santa Clara County will see a major change in fire service beginning Tuesday.
The Santa Clara County Fire Department is taking over a large portion of service territory that had been under contract with Cal Fire. The shift marks the end of a long and often contentious process.
Starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday, fire and medical calls in much of the unincorporated south county area will be handled directly by Santa Clara County Fire.
The transition has been decades in the making.
In 1980, the county established a special fire protection district for South County and contracted with Cal Fire to serve the largely rural area. But beginning Tuesday, the county will assume direct responsibility for fire service in nearly all of the unincorporated areas outside the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy.
"So that means moving forward on July 1, anybody who lives in a fire district throughout the county will have the same level of service," said Fire Chief Suwanna Kerdkaew of Santa Clara County Fire.
Santa Clara County ends Cal Fire contract for rural communities
A significant change is coming for fire protection in the southern part of Santa Clara County.
When the county Board of Supervisors voted in January to end the contract with Cal Fire, officials noted the fire district had been operating at a loss due to the smaller tax base in the rural areas it served.
Deputy Chief Brian Glass said both agencies have worked cooperatively to ensure a smooth transition.
"Meeting multiple goals to try to make sure that we have fire stations available and ready, apparatus ready to go, our communications, and most importantly to make sure we have the staffing to fulfill the personnel county in these fire stations," Glass said.
SEE ALSO: These new laws take effect in California on July 1
On Monday, crews were putting the final touches on a temporary fire station on Vineyard Boulevard in Morgan Hill, where equipment currently housed at a state-owned Cal Fire facility will be relocated.
Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, who represents South County, said that the change is not a reflection on Cal Fire.
"CalFire has been a wonderful service provider and they do an amazing job. This is not a reflection on CalFire, it is a reflection on limited revenue," Arenas said.
In a statement to KTVU, Cal Fire’s Santa Clara Unit Chief said: "It has been a pleasure and an honor for CalFire’s firefighters to serve unincorporated south Santa Clara County as the south Santa Clara county fire district for over 40 years. Today, as emotions run high on this final day of service, our crews look back fondly and with deep appreciation for every call they had the privilege to answer, and with gratitude to every person they met along the way."
Cal Fire confirmed that all affected employees will be transferred within the unit and that there will be no layoffs.