Madera County approves $15.1 million CAL FIRE cooperative agreement for 2026–27

The Madera County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 4 approved a resolution authorizing a FY 2026–27 cooperative agreement with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) for $15,136,657 to support fire protection, medical and rescue responses, dispatch, staffing and extended services.

Larry Pandarvis, CAL FIRE assistant chief and Madera County fire chief, told the board the contract total is $15,136,657 and that the county saw “just under $3,000,000” in savings compared with the previous year’s forecast. He credited earlier staffing efforts and partnerships with city and neighboring counties for improved coverage and response times. “Most recently, our Cascadale incident a week and 0.5 ago, we were able to have a response time in about 3 minutes and 45 seconds by having that station fully staffed,” Pandarvis said, noting the incident remained under an acre.

Supervisors praised the arrangement as a cost-effective model for rural fire protection. One supervisor said the partnership provides surge capacity and resources that would be difficult to replicate locally. The board voted 4–0 to approve the resolution and authorized the chair to sign.

The presentation covered stations and staffing levels, recent apparatus acquisitions, training initiatives and a one-step improvement in the county’s ISO rating. Pandarvis said his goal is to continue lowering the ISO rating to reduce insurance costs for residents and to explore grant-funded measures such as on-site water storage in remote areas.

The agreement is recorded on the meeting agenda as State Agreement No. 4CA07748. No public comment opposed the agreement during the hearing.