SAN MARCOS — A long-anticipated fifth fire station is coming to San Marcos at the corner of North Las Posas Road and Armorlite Drive, the site of the now-closed Karl Strauss beer garden.
The city finalized the $4.1 million purchase of the site in January. The site has sat empty since Karl Strauss closed The Outpost last August. Fire Chief Daniel Barron said the department was looking for an ideal site in the city’s northwestern area. This location gives access to the freeway and the Las Posas corridor and allows for backup to stations 1 and 2.
“We targeted that area and had a fairly sizable target range for where we wanted to end up, and we were able to find a location that was just incredible for access,” Barron said.
San Marcos fire personnel have been advocating for a new fire station for several years, as calls for service have nearly doubled since the last station was added in 2008. The topic of a fifth station came up several times last year when the city was considering whether to place a local sales tax on the ballot to generate additional revenue for city services.
Barron said the new station will free up existing stations to focus on other parts of the city by filling a gap for services in the city’s northwestern area.
Station 5 will house a fire engine manned by three personnel, an ambulance with two personnel, and a battalion chief.
“The day that Fire Station 5 opens, it’s gonna be neck-in-neck with our busiest station, which is Station 1,” Barron said. “We are building that station for growth.”
In recent years, the department has added more ambulances to meet its coverage standards. Ambulances are needed for increasing numbers of calls, and wait times for them at hospitals are becoming longer.
The department aims for the station to open in three to four years. Barron said the project will likely cost $20 million to $25 million, requiring the city to be diligent about setting aside funds.
The City Council has already laid some of the groundwork. On Tuesday, the council agreed to allocate $8.1 million in appropriations for the project, using one-time funds from a loan repayment with interest from AOA San Marcos.
At the same meeting, the city also adopted its new Fire Hazard Severity Zone map, as required by the State Fire Marshal. The map identifies areas with moderate, high and very high severity zones based on historical fire behavior, vegetation conditions, terrain and wind exposure.
Under the updated map, more than half of the city’s area is identified as a very high severity zone. Station 5 will be located in the northern area of the city at the edge of this zone.
“These updated maps ensure that the City of San Marcos can better align its fire protection planning with evolving wildfire science and state-mandated standards,” a staff report said.
Residences in moderate to very high severity zones will be subject to defensible space guidelines, which require the clearing of dead vegetation and other combustible material within 100 feet.
Going forward, the city will be working on education and outreach related to the new severity zones and associated requirements.
