SAN LEANDRO — The Alameda County Fire Department wants to consolidate its top operations and maintenance services into a former Chevron document warehouse in Dublin, Fire Chief Sheldon Gilbert said Wednesday.
The disclosure came during a meeting of the San Leandro City Council’s finance committee.
Gilbert said the department wants to merge fire administration, training, emergency medical services, the motor pool, apparatus maintenance, storage, central supply and the reserve officers’ program at a new complex.
The programs now are spread among a variety of sites from San Leandro to Livermore, including department headquarters at San Leandro City Hall. But the department is outgrowing office space and aging training, classroom and storage facilities, Gilbert said.
The benefits of a new complex, Gilbert said, would include more adequate space, better coordination, streamlined operations, better use of supplies and merged services, and room for future expansion.
Under the plan, 18 county-operated fire stations between Berkeley and Livermore would remain open. But countywide services based at some stations could be moved to Dublin or any other centralized location selected by county supervisors.
The supervisors will discuss the proposal at their meeting Tuesday.
A 20-year lease for a portion of office and warehouse space at 6400 Sierra Court in Dublin would cost the county $29 million, Gilbert said.
The fire department has the equivalent of 380 full-time employees, both sworn firefighters and nonsworn employees.
The number of people working, training or attending meetings at the new facility at any one time could range from several dozen to 150, Gilbert estimated.
The county fire department formed in 1993, and absorbed the San Leandro Fire Department in 1995. Dublin contracted for fire and emergency medical services starting in 1997, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was added in 2002.
West Coast 911 story source – Written by Inside Bay Area
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