A four-person engine company with three shifts will be up and in running order at a new temporary fire station located in Sand Canyon by mid-April. It’s only the beginning of an extended plan to build a permanent one at the site. The City of Santa Clarita is collaborating with K. Hovnanian and the L.A. County Fire Department in order to successfully complete the $2 million dollar project.
“The City is very pleased to partner with L.A. County Fire and K. Hovanian on providing a new station in Canyon Country,” said Mayor Marsha McLean.
Temporary fire station number 132 will provide emergency services to the surrounding community for between five and seven years before the permanent one is completed.
Ground breaking occurred last month for the temporary station adjacent to the new Stetson Ranch development.
Assistant Fire Chief E. Matt Gil was on hand for the festivities and said, “This station will allow for quicker responses to calls in the Canyon Country area east of the Sierra Highway. The temporary station will be kept busy alleviating the load of emergency medical calls at station number 107 in the Soledad Canyon/Canyon Country area.”
Call response time in rural areas is currently anywhere from ten to 20 minutes and in residential urban areas the call time is typically quicker, between five and six minutes.
During the past 10 years, with the continuing residential and commercial growth in the Santa Clarita Valley, the area has seen the addition of two other stations, the most recent being station number 126 located near the Valencia Town Center Mall four years ago and number 124 at Stevenson Ranch prior to that.
General contractors for the Sand Canyon Station are C.A. Rasmussen and Bottenfield Construction. Additionally, Newhall Country Water District and Southern California Edison are also involved.