Sonoma County Moves Forward to Restructure Fire Services

On Tuesday March 19, 2019 the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to enter several agreements that will move forward restructuring efforts of fire services in Sonoma County. Supervisors approved the expenditure of $4.6 million per year over the next two fiscal years to complete various actions aimed to help direct volunteer companies towards consolidation while adding enhancements to several county fire districts to strengthen the services provided to the communities they serve.

The recommendations adopted by the Board on Tuesday established a plan to finalize the third phase of dissolving the Fire and Emergency Services (FES) Department, directed by the Board on June 11, 2018. The first phase was integrating the Fire Prevention and Hazardous Material Divisions into Permit Sonoma; the second was the creation of the Department of Emergency Management.

Part of the plan includes spending $2.5 million in funding from Community Services Area (CSA) 40 by entering a contract with North Bay Fire, a nonprofit organization formed by County’s twelve volunteer fire companies that chose to create their own structure for cohesive management and leadership. North Bay Fire will support the functions the dissolving Department of Fire and Emergency Services has historically led, and it is set to subcontract with the Gold Ridge Fire Protection District for $650,000 per year to provide administration, training, operational support and logistical support.  The Gold Ridge Fire Protection District (GRFPD) has a successful record of managing a mix of volunteer and career firefighter staff.

North Bay Fire will also be responsible for strengthening the volunteer program by:

• Implementing trainings, managing equipment and other operational needs
• Supporting efforts towards regionalization and consolidation
• Servicing the Incident Response Program (IRP) area and the Fitch Mountain response area
• Administering the Camp Meeker debt service payments

“We are pleased to see fire agencies come together with one purpose: to serve our communities better and more efficiently” said, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, David Rabbitt. “These decisions will create a generational change in the way our fire agencies operate.”

A second recommendation to invest $2.2 million of Fire Services Project Funds to enhance service levels towards achieving “Silver” level plan staffing was also approved.  The “Silver Plan” is a comprehensive plan to enhance the delivery of fire and emergency medical services through the addition of firefighter positions and fire station staffing across the entire County of Sonoma.

The funding will allow for the following enhancements:

• Adding 2 benefited firefighters to the Gold Ridge, Cloverdale and Geyserville Fire Protection Districts
• Providing additional 24/7 paramedic coverage for the Bodega Bay Fire Protection District 
• Maintaining the Petaluma CalFire Amador Station through a subcontract with Cal Fire
• Funding stipends to provide Volunteer Firefighter staffing for Bodega, Lakeville and Wilmar stations

A condition of the funding above is that the entities participate in fire agency consolidation discussions over the next 2 years to achieve a sustainable reorganization of fire services in Sonoma County.

On Tuesday’s meeting the County also approved the formation of a Fire Service Unification Group, which is an expansion of the existing Strategic Leadership Group, with the addition of one seat for a labor representative and one seat for a representative of the Sonoma County Fire Districts Association.

The overall “Silver Plan” is intended to increase the total number of paid first responders by 44%, from 400 to approximately 575 and cost approximately $42 million per year.

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