Tiburon board approves fire station construction plan
The Tiburon Design Review Board has approved a plan to demolish Fire Station 10 and build a one-story, 4,952-square-foot replacement.
Chief Rich Pearce of the Tiburon Fire Protection District said the upgrade at 4301 Paradise Drive would cost about $5.7 million. He said the project is needed to accommodate the volume of calls, a larger staff and newer safety regulations.
“A 60-year-old station just doesn’t meet the codes of today,” said Rick Jones, vice president of the fire district board. “One of the factors that has changed over the course of time, the requirements for safety went up dramatically.”
One safety regulation issue, Jones said, is that the station’s configuration does not give firefighters a way to effectively separate their gear from the living area.
Pearce said that with the increase of residents and buildings in Tiburon and Belvedere, the district has been getting more calls for service, which has also required more staff. He said the department has outgrown the 2,228-square-foot firehouse, which started as a two-stall volunteer garage in the 1960s.
“Right now it’s approaching its 65th year of service and it’s getting quite tired,” Pearce said of the fire station. “We’ve grown substantially through that time. It’s a much different organization than when we started.”
The new firehouse would have a larger living area with five dorms and three bathrooms. It would also include an office, a dining room, a kitchen, a gym, a laundry room and a day room. Other proposed changes are an outdoor gym and a covered patio.
The fire district also wants to build a 20-foot-tall, approximately 124-square-foot training structure in the rear parking lot.
“It’s a pretty moderate structure,” Pearce said. “We don’t have too much land to put anything big in, but they’ll have something.”
Pearce said the department is looking for a temporary space to use while the new station is being constructed. He said construction will probably take a couple of years.
“We have what I believe is a great facility that matches the community needs,” Pearce said.