As of this month, the town of Ross requested that the Ross Valley Fire Station 18 delay the station’s closure by one year. The town had decided in 2021 that the station should be demolished due to its disrepair by 2024, but Ross officials decided the transition would take longer than anticipated. Officials and firefighter personnel are working to figure out paramedic coverage options for the other local stations, but Station 18 is still set to close July 1, 2025.

Officials agreed upon the Station 18 closure in 2021, when the effects of the closure were unclear to the town’s residents. The town of Ross requested a one-year delay for the closure of Station 18  so that every member of the Ross Valley Fire Department (RVFD) and the Ross Paramedic Authority (RPA) can determine how to maintain emergency medical responses in the Ross Valley area. 

The Ross Valley Fire Station is funded mainly by local residential contributions from towns including Fairfax, Ross, San Anselmo, and Sleepy Hollow. Station 18 has been standing for over 93 years, and although it serves as a primary station for the RVFD and the RPA, taxpayers didn’t want to allocate any funding towards the repair of the station. The only other option was for Station 18 to be demolished. 

Station 18 is in poor condition, and the costs of remodeling it would be greater than rebuilding it. The complex includes a fire and police station, offices for town administration, and an ambulance bay. The estimated cost of rebuilding the complex would be around 28.4 million dollars. 

The Ross Valley Paramedic Authority (RVPA) has operated one of its two paramedic ambulances out of the Ross fire station since the early 1980s. The removal of the paramedic authority would cause the emergency response time to increase by two minutes, creating a disadvantage in service to the area. 

Ross Mayor William Kircher, a four-year member of the Ross Town Council, believes the increase in response time would be harmful and that Station 18 needs to remain in Ross. 

“The Ross Town Council believes that it is very important that emergency medical service personnel remain based in Ross and the response time remains approximately the same as it is now,” Kircher said.

Firefighters in Marin annually rotate among the San Anselmo, Fairfax, Sleepy Hollow, and Ross fire stations. Local firefighter of 15 years, Justin Hanson, is currently an engineer at the San Anselmo Fire Station. Hanson believes that if Station 18 were to close, there would be an increase in personnel at the other local stations. 

“[The closure of Station 18] would affect us in the sense that we’re going to get the people that are down [stationed in Ross] on our other engines, so that will help us with our job to have an additional person on the other engines,” Hanson said.

Emergency vehicles from the Sleepy Hollow, Fairfax, and San Anselmo fire stations would be better staffed with the closure, which would help in situations where EMTs are needed, as local fire stations are currently understaffed. Station 18 engineer Andrew Juric believes the closure would benefit the other local fire departments.

“The National Standard from the [National Fire Protection Association] (NFPA) for firefighting is four personnel on each fire engine… The best opportunity that we have right now is currently staffed with two personnel on each fire engine… Getting that third person on each available unit that we have is the biggest [positive] in my mind,” Juric said.

The Ross Town Council continues to explore ways to ensure the response time for emergency vehicles isn’t affected. 

“The Town Council has reached out to various fire chiefs, consultants, and directors of the Ross Valley Fire Department and Ross Valley Paramedic Authority to discuss how best to provide adequate levels of emergency medical response in the greater Ross Valley,” Kircher said.

Ross Valley Fire Station 18 is still scheduled to close July 1, 2025. However, firefighters and other personnel are actively exploring ways to keep the station open. Residents can expect updates soon on whether the station will close or remain operational, as either decision will impact surrounding communities.

This story was originally published on The Pitch on November 11, 2024.