Two new fire stations

Supervisor Jim Desmond

5th District

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit two wonderful North County communities, Palomar Mountain and Sunshine Summit to see their newly renovated fire stations!

Fire Station 79 opened with new living quarters for firefighters serving Palomar Mountain. The $4 million project includes new sleeping quarters, a kitchen and dining room, a dayroom, and a laundry room.

Later in the day, I traveled to one of San Diego County’s most remote fire stations at Sunshine Summit, along state Route 79 north of Warner Springs. At this site, crews added 900 square feet to the vehicle bay to allow for the addition of a water tender to CAL FIRE Station 59.

This $2 million project adds much-needed space to the small site, a 5,000-gallon water tank with a pump to fill trucks, and a new exhaust system to keep the bay free of harmful exhaust fumes.

The County of San Diego is committed to improving fire protection in our region. Though we have been fortunate to avoid major wildfires over the past few years, we know the risk in this region is constant.

I want to give a special thank you to the County staff, CalFire, San Diego County Fire, and everyone who made these upgrades possible.

These new newly renovated stations will provide resources with up-to-date equipment and stronger staffing levels, which will enable our public safety officials to halt the forward rate of spread to the more populated areas as well as being an integral part of our unincorporated communities.