Cal Fire plans permanent garage in Bonny Doon

Cal Fire is working to build a permanent 1,120-square-foot garage to replace a temporary structure at its Fall Creek Station in Bonny Doon.
“It’s a state fire engine,” Cal Fire Battalion Chief John Ferreira said. “It’s a several-hundred-thousand-dollar engine and needs to be housed appropriately indoors.”
The engine is now kept in a temporary shelter without doors, storage areas or a concrete floor, Ferreira said.
A garage would cost about $80,000 to build, Ferreira said. It would allow the engine to be secured in a space where operators could store equipment and crawl under the engine to maintain it.
However, some members of the Bonny Doon community are opposed to Cal Fire setting up a permanent garage at the station.
“From our perspective, we find the whole thing pretty bizarre, because they will be there on a temporary basis,” said Rob Caldeira, a Bonny Doon Volunteer Fire and Rescue board member.
Bonny Doon Fire will present a case against the Santa Cruz County Local Agency Formation Commission on Sept. 27 regarding the commission’s denial of an application last year to create an independent fire district in Bonny Doon.
The case will be heard in front of the Santa Cruz County Superior Court.
Caldeira said the volunteers are worried about how Cal Fire will be funded in Bonny Doon in the future because of budget cuts at the state level.
Ferreira said Cal Fire does not plan to stay permanently at the station near the corner of Felton Empire and Empire Grade roads, but moving is expensive, and financial challenges have slowed the process.
Cal Fire established the Fall Creek station in 2009 and keeps crews at the station year-round.
Ferreira said Cal Fire is looking into several sites farther north along Empire Grade Road for a permanent station.