Brentwood Gets Update on Two Future Contra Costa Fire Stations

On Tuesday, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District provided an update on the future of two fire stations coming to the City of Brentwood. Construction is anticipated to begin on Station 90 and Station 94 later in 2024 once permits and approvals are made.

Deputy Chief Aaron McAlister shared that he will have overseen 6 fire station constructions once the two stations will be completed.

“Through fire station construction, some of the things we do through building structure is really improving firefighter safety, improving response times through building construction. We want buildings that flow naturally to the apparatus bay, protect firefighters from carcinogens both on the gear, on the apparatus and we have diesel particulate that is discharged from the fire apparatus,” explained McCalister. “Through building construction we’ve been able to design fire stations that have a clean site, a dirty side and separate our gear to our storage area and its nowhere where we live.”

He shared since they work for 48-hour shifts or longer, they want to have business features, comfort features and be able to get good rest when they are not responding to emergencies—but also train and be functional.

McCalister provided an overview of Battalion 9 which consist of 8 fire stations:

City of Antioch

Fire Station 88 – was added to Battalion 9 for administrative purposes.
Fire Station 89 (future, near Kaiser)

City of Brentwood

Fire station 92 (2-crews, including ladder company)
Fire Station 94 (downtown)
Fire Station 90 (future)

Discovery Bay

Fire Station 99

City of Oakley

Fire Station 93
Fire Station 95

McCalister then presented the new station in downtown Brentwood and Fire Station 90 on Empire.

Fire Station 94

Station 94 UPDATE

Shared there has been a station in this location for many years and they are currently in the process of doing the environmental work after the station was demolished and scraped clean. They cannot start construction until they get the environmental clearances.

“There has been some controversy around this fire station and I want to address is head on. Its next door to the veterans hall and the land that the fire station formally occupied was property of the county then it was transferred to East Contra Costa Fire and then transferred to Contra Costa County,” explained McCalister. “You can see from the aerial image you can see on the veterans property are some portable storage units and an outbuilding, we plans do involve moving the portable storage containers that are on gravel and an unproved area but does not involve moving or changing any of the other permanent structures on the site.”

He said they also intent to acquire approximately 12 feet of gravel from the county to straighten out their line and an alleyway—there is also a disabled ramp with access to first street which is actually on the fire districts property but will account for that in the building process.

“The ramp will actually stay and the fire district will grant an easement back to the county,” stated McCalister. “The ramp will not move and does not have to change.”

He stated although there were renderings of the proposed buildings, but they still have to go through the formal process—building department and permits which will be a lot of work including CEQA.

He shared the building will have a brick facade which they hope fits in with the downtown and will be a two-story building and living quarters upstairs with the downstairs being the officers and apparatus and manned by a three person crew.

Fire Station 90

McCalister stated the location is at Empire between Amber Lane and Grant at the rear of Pioneer Elementary School—with a field between the two. This will be a two-company fire station.

“We don’t have funding for the second company at the moment but we are planning in the future,” explained McCalister noting construction costs are not getting lower so they are building it now for future capacity. The station could also house a battalion chief or safety officer.

The station will be long enough to accommodate a ladder truck along with additional equipment as needed.

The station will also have a small police department sub-station with access from the exterior. It will feature a small office and a restroom available 24-7.

Behind the building, there is an option for future growth and on the south also option for future growth.

Q&A

Councilmember Tony Oerlemans asked if during construction, parking spaces at the veterans hall would be impacted as well as access from the alley.

McCalister shared that an through the design of the building, the city will be gaining additional on street parking. He also said crews would have access from the back alley to return to the station.

Vice Mayor Susanna Meyer asked about Station 90 administrative offices and if he could explain that.

“That was the plan of the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District to build out administrative offices there. We would like to at some point in the future add an East Contra Costa fire prevention office to do business where someone could submit plan reviews. That is currently not in the plan,” shared McCalister while noting the cost of Station 94 would be approximately $10 million and the cost of Station 90 would be approximately $20 million. “Costs have gone up which is one of the reasons we pulled back on the fire prevention officers or anything extra.”

Mayor Joel Bryant stated the area has had a deficit in fire protection since the inception of it and due to Prop 13.

“The fact we are nearly doubling and at some point tripling the fire protection and public safety resources is something that is very important to all our residents so we are very excited to see the resources that can save lives,” said Bryant.

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