The East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) expects to reopen its Knightsen Station 94 in June, according to Fire Chief Hugh Henderson.
“It (the opening of the station) will probably be between the first and fifteenth of June, about the same time we start seeing increased fire activity for wildland (fire) season,” Henderson said.
That station and Station 54 in downtown Brentwood, two of the district’s five stations, were closed last May after voters rejected a proposed benefit assessment aimed at keeping the stations open.
A multijurisdictional task force, comprised of officials from Brentwood, Oakley, the county, ECCFPD and the firefighters union, was launched independently last June to explore solutions to the district’s struggling response times.
It has agreed to pool $2.2 million to reopen the station through June, 2017; explore a 2016 ballot initiative to help fund the district; and create a master plan to identify how fire and medical services should be delivered over the next 25 to 30 years.
Under that agreement, Brentwood will pay $666,000, Oakley $382,202 and the county $311,617, with the district meeting the remaining $873,978 to fund the recommendations. The contributions were based on call-volume numbers in the respective areas.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) is expected to be approved by all agencies by the middle of next month.