Burlingame Fire Station Consolidation Meeting Tuesday

Would you feel safe if a local fire station closed its doors forever?

Two stations, one in Millbrae and the other in Burlingame, could be combined in a proposed consolidation plan. The plan will be up for public discussion at Burlingame City Hall on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

"Consolidation" is a popular term with several Bay Area municipalities and agencies as a way of controlling budgets. Central County Fire Department — covering Burlingame and Hillsborough — is looking at a consolidation proposal that includes the Millbrae and San Bruno fire departments. Staff would not necessarily be reduced, but could be moved to other stations.

There are two fire stations being considered for consolidation under the plan. The Burlingame station is located at 2832 Hillside Drive and the Millbrae station is located at 785 Crestview Drive.

"They have developed a plan to reduce the overall cost for fire services by consolidating two fire stations," according to the description of the proposal. "... Data and factors which were considered for the fire station consolidation include each department’s budget, daily staffing, number of calls for service within the districts, days of the week, time of day, geography, apparatus per square mile, fire stations per square mile, number of fire per square mile and travel time to calls for service."

A temporary station would be built at Skyline Boulevard in Burlingame. If the fire departments eventually undergo a full merge, a permanent fire station will be constructed at the same site. While the temporary nature of the station is reflected in the low $500,000 construction price tag, utilities and equipment brought in during this initial construction would be used for the permanent station, as well.

“This is a temporary structure,” Dornell said. “We want to demonstrated that this is a sound decision [and] want to use this site while another station is constructed.”

For more information, please contact Deputy Chief Mark Ladas, Central County Fire Department at 650-558-7600