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Contra Costa Fire Chief outlines HAZMAT annexation, Station 94 opening and EMS purchases
Summary
Fire Chief Bershard told supervisors the county's fire district will absorb the county HAZMAT/CUPA program on July 1 and add a new hazardous-materials fund, open Station 94 in Brentwood next year and use EMS transport reserves to buy 20 ambulances and finish a communications center.
Chief Bershard told the Board of Supervisors on April 28 that Contra Costa County Fire Protection District is preparing for two major operational changes next fiscal year: a July 1 transfer of county hazardous-materials (HAZMAT) and CUPA responsibilities into the district and the opening of Station 94 in Brentwood.
The HAZMAT transfer, Bershard said, will create a separate fee-funded hazardous-materials fund in the district's FY26-27 budget and will bring those programs and the CUPA into fire operations: "the hazardous materials programs moves from the county over to the fire district" with an independent funding stream, he said.
Bershard outlined the district's current footprint (35 stations, 41 companies and 32 engines) and said Station 94 is scheduled to come online about the start of next calendar year; staff for the station are already in place and will be consolidated from Battalion 9 once the facility opens. He also said Measure X funds have helped restaff and reopen stations but noted the measure's 1.1% COLA has not kept pace with labor contract increases, leading the district to augment Measure X with general-fund dollars for staffing and program expansions.
Deputy Chief McAllister detailed the district's proposed use of fund balance: the EMS transport fund would use $4.8 million to purchase 20 ambulances and complete phase two of a communications center construction project, while the general fund portion included one-time prepayments and state earmarks for firefighter wellness programs.
Supervisors raised practical questions about the HAZMAT handoff timeline and Richmond's local-ordinance changes. Chief Bershard said staff are coordinating with county counsel, CalEPA and Richmond officials and expected ordinances and other items to come forward in May so the July 1 date would hold.
The board did not take a separate vote on the district's presentation; next formal budget actions were scheduled as part of the countywide budget adoption process.
