Metro Fire’s Station 41 in North Highlands holds a special place for the men and women who passed through its doors. For many, it was their first stop in the fire service, the testing ground that prepared them for life as a firefighter.
But increasingly, the 1950s building on Thomas Drive at Elkhorn Boulevard has become a symbol of the fire district’s aging inventory. From station buildings to engines to equipment, Metro fire officials say their age is becoming apparent at a time when the agency’s costs and demands are greater than ever.
The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District is sounding the alarm. Metro Fire is asking voters to approve a bond on Nov. 5 needed to provide firefighters with new engines and equipment while refurbishing dozens of old station buildings and building new ones in the neighborhoods that need them most.
“We have stations that are 40-50 years old. Some are 80 years old. They are not set up for modern fire services,” said Parker Wilbourn, battalion chief and spokesperson for the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District.
The call comes at a cost: $415 million over 35 years — the bond expires in 2061 — but Metro Fire officials and the bond’s supporters say Sacramento County’s Measure O is the best chance yet to to replace what they believe is outdated and deteriorating equipment.
“We have achieved an increase of about 40% (in calls) over the last ten years. We do a lot more with less,” said Wilbourn. “We are doing what we can, but with population growth we need to have the infrastructure to support that. We can’t do that without (money).”
Measure O would cost $19 per $100,000 of assessed value, about $78 per year, for the typical property taxpayer, Metro Fire officials say. No money goes towards paying salaries or meeting pension obligations.
The Sacramento Taxpayers Association is generally skeptical of bond measures but is neutral on Measure O. In a statement, local taxpayer advocates called the costs facing Metro Fire “substantial,” saying fire district officials were “imminent” in addressing their concerns about the ballot measure.
“Sac Tax has verified that none of the funds for this bond measure will be used for salaries or pension obligations. Sac Tax has also reviewed the costs of new facilities and equipment, which are substantial,” the statement said. “Sac Tax believes that Metro Fire has stepped forward to provide answers to the questions Sac Tax posed in our voting argument. Sac Tax’s position on Measure O is neutral.”
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District is one of the largest fire departments in California. The 41 stations serve more than 720,000 people in 120 square miles of unincorporated Sacramento County, the cities of Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova, as well as part of Placer County.
Metro crews responded to about 110,000 calls for help last year, a 40% increase in fire emergencies and a 30% increase in medical emergencies from a decade ago, officials say. About 5,000 of these came from Station 41 in the Northern Highlands alone.
The increased demand has pushed one of the state’s largest fire departments to its limits, according to officials.
“Our demand has overloaded revenues,” Wilbourn said. “What we are receiving, these funds are not keeping pace with inflation.”
Examples are easy to give, Wilbourn said.
Metro Fire purchased twenty engines in 2011. More than a decade later, many of them have driven 200,000 miles or more. Fire officials say nearly three in four oil rigs will reach the end of their lives in the next three to five years, but the cost of replacing them continues to rise.
The typical cost of a fire truck in 2019 was about $750,000, Wilbourn said. The same engine five years later costs $1.2 million to $1.5 million each. The size of today’s engines and devices, larger and more technologically advanced, is also an issue.
“The amount of technology and the size of engines have changed dramatically. The challenge is finding equipment that fits into these smaller bays,” he said.
Painted stripes on the cement floor of Station 41’s engine compartment resemble the battlefield of a baseball diamond. In another era, motorcycles could fit in the marked-off spaces.
But Station 41 is 70 years old. Crews shoehorn modern rigs like Engine 41 into bays designed for engines built in the 1950s. Wilbourn squeezed sideways to walk between the back of the fire engine and the station building wall to demonstrate. The engine partially blocks the door from the engine compartment to the station inside.
The demonstration became a metaphor.
“We are literally against the wall,” he said.
Wilbourn said it’s not just about the fire readiness of older stations like 41. It’s also about modernizing work stations with additional restrooms and quarters to better accommodate the number of women in the fire department. Modern wiring to ensure safety in the fire station.
“This is a workplace. There is a lot of work to do. We must make it a safe workplace. We have really reached a breaking point.”
Metro Fire’s $304 million 2024-2025 operating budget provides a good sense of the challenges ahead.
Officials with the agency say Metro Fire needs an additional $41.5 million a year to fund capital needs for the next decade and account for inflation.
The district was projected to exceed $381 million in expenditures; but they receive almost $330 million – a $50 million gap – while costs continue to rise for years. That’s before taking into account a long list of planned capital projects totaling nearly $202 million and a deferred maintenance backlog of more than $80 million.
The project list includes building new fire stations in North Highlands, Rancho Cordova and Vineyard and expanding or relocating aging stations in North Highlands, Rancho Cordova, Mather, Citrus Heights, Florin and Carmichael.
“The district is adequately funded for current spending levels, but lacks the financial resources to address long-term obligations and capital priorities,” Metro Fire officials said in the budget document presented to Sacramento County leaders.
“We have 41 stations. We are a big part of the overall emergency system in Sacramento County. It’s what the community has equated with us,” Wilbourn said. “That is the service we offer. We are good partners in the region.”
