Construction of Santa Rosa’s $25 million Fountaingrove fire station to start in fall

Construction of Santa Rosa’s new fire station in Fountaingrove could start this fall marking another milestone in the northeastern hillside neighborhood’s long recovery following the 2017 Tubbs Fire.

The Santa Rosa City Council on Tuesday approved awarding a contract to local firms Wright Contracting LLC and COAR Design Group to design and build a permanent station on Fountaingrove Parkway and Stagecoach Road that will replace the one on Newgate Court destroyed in the fire.

City officials hope the new station improves response times in the neighborhood and helps the department be better prepared for the next large emergency as it’ll provide room for additional engines and staff during extreme weather.

Fire Chief Scott Westrope said his department is excited about this next chapter after years of planning.

“It has been a long process to get to this point and taken a lot of work and collaboration with several partners and we’re really looking forward to being the crown jewel of that corner,” he said. “When you lose a community asset like a fire station, it’s a hit to the community, but we are able to rebuild and we’re building something better and stronger and I really think it puts the cap on recovery efforts in general.”

The department has been operating out of a temporary station on Parker Hill Road since late 2018 but the building doesn’t meet building requirements for the wildland urban interface, where wildfire risks are higher. It will be dismantled after the new station is built.

The station replacement represents some of the last recovery work being carried out by the city related to the Tubbs Fire, which alone destroyed more than 4,600 homes, including more than 3,000 in Santa Rosa, and killed 22 people.

City officials anticipate utility work at the site will begin in the summer and construction will follow in the fall. The project is slated to be completed in spring 2025.

The total project cost is estimated at $24.8 million and the bulk of expenses are being paid through a $16.9 million federal grant with remaining costs being covered by fire recovery and general fund dollars.

Faster, improved service to Fountaingrove

The new Fire Station 5 is planned on a 2.1-acre portion of the Keysight Technologies campus about a mile downhill from its predecessor.

Council members in February 2022 approved purchasing the property from Keysight to relocate the fire station. The acquisition, completed in April, cost $205,000.

Though the old station was touted as an advantage to fighting fires in the city’s northeastern hillside when it opened in 2015, the city decided to relocate the station after a review of department coverage and deployment plans following the Tubbs Fire found the Newgate Court station was in a dangerously fire-prone area and too small to meet needs.

The new location is expected to provide several advantages for firefighting efforts in Fountaingrove.

The station is closer to Highway 101 where new homes in Fountaingrove are cropping up and future development is planned. It is expected to shave off about a minute in response time from the temporary station on Parker Hill Road, Westrope said.

The larger site also allowed the city to design a bigger station.

The new 8,690-square-foot headquarters ― nearly double the size of the old station ― will feature three apparatus bays and six rooms to allow for additional staffing during red flag warnings and other extreme weather events.

There is also room to transform the station into a command center and set up a refuge for residents during emergencies, Westrope said.

The station also will feature a 10,300-square-foot operations yard with space for a generator that can power the station during power outages, storage space for extra fuel for fire trucks and ample parking.

The larger lot will provide officials with room to build more defensible space around the building, which will be built to the “highest fireproof standards,” Westrope said.

Early plans for the facility included a proposed second-story community room but city planning staff said it would push the project costs over budget and likely would be underutilized.

In addition to building construction, plans call for improving the intersection of Fountaingrove Parkway and Stagecoach Road and upgrades to the sidewalk and curb to improve accessibility.

High price tag

The contract approved Tuesday was capped at $18.3 million, including a 20% contingency to cover unexpected costs or construction increases.

The total project cost, which was pegged at $17.3 million in December 2020, has ballooned to nearly $25 million through the cost of preconstruction studies, acquisition of the property, permits and furniture and equipment.

That’s substantially higher than a typical fire station and more than five times the cost of the $4.6 million Newgate Court firehouse.

City officials have said site issues such as the slope, rocky terrain and an existing creek tributary, the larger footprint, rising construction costs and inflation have contributed to the price tag.

In addition to the federal grant, the city set aside $3.8 million in PG&E fire settlement funds, $2.8 million in insurance funds and $1.2 million from the general fund for the project.

Westrope said rebuilding the station has been a long effort and the department has worked with several state and federal partners to find a new location and access financial resources.

Though service has continued in Fountaingrove, having a permanent location tells residents the department is “back and we’re not backing down from this challenge,” he said.

“We’re excited to finally see movement on this and it’s going to be a big day for Santa Rosa and a big day for the fire department when we’re finally able to break ground and get it done,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @paulinapineda22.