Beginning next week, newborns who can't be cared for by their parents can be dropped off at Santa Rosa's 10 fire stations.
The City Council on Tuesday agreed to designate the city's fire stations as "safe surrender sites" under state law. Currently only hospitals in the county carry such a designation.
Parents or legal guardians who drop off newborns less than 72 hours old because they feel they cannot handle the responsibility cannot be prosecuted for child abandonment under state law.
Since the law went into effect in 2001, 493 babies have been safely abandoned, according to division chief Ken Sebastiani.
The fire department has established specific procedures for accepting babies at its stations. The newborns will be evaluated by a paramedic, taken by ambulance to a local hospital, and police and county social workers will be contacted, Sebastiani said.
The stations are planning to install blue signs explaining the designation by Sept. 1.
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