Two coastal towns in SLO County could share a fire department. What’s next?
Two coastal towns in San Luis Obispo County may eventually share fire and emergency services.
On Thursday evening, the Los Osos Community Services District will consider a proposal to contract with the Morro Bay Fire Department for fire and medical emergency services for about $3.8 million for the first year.
Since 2004, San Luis Obispo County has provided Los Osos with fire and emergency services through Cal Fire, Los Osos Community Services District general manager Ron Munds said.
The Los Osos Community Services District owns the fire station and equipment, while Cal Fire provides personnel.
That contract cost Los Osos about $3.3 million for fiscal year 2025-26, Munds told The Tribune.
Last year, the Los Osos Community Services District decided to investigate other options for fire and emergency services — as its contract with the county continued to increase in price.
In September, Munds sent the Morro Bay Fire Department a letter of interest, inquiring about the potential for sharing services.
In mid-March, the Morro Bay Fire Department sent a price estimate to the Los Osos Community Services District, which the agency’s Board of Directors will consider on Thursday alongside Cal Fire’s contract.
The Los Osos Community Services District Board of Director’s meeting starts on Thursday at 6 p.m. at 2122 9th St., Suite 106. A livestream of the meeting is also provided at cal-span.org.
Could Morro Bay provide fire services for Los Osos?
The Morro Bay Fire Department proposed a 15-year contract that would cost Los Osos about $3.8 million for the first year of service, fire chief Dan McCrain said at a Morro Bay City Council meeting on March 10.
Los Osos should also expect to pay an additional $543,063 in other costs for utilities, legal services, vehicle replacement funds and more, he said.
The Morro Bay Fire Department would need to staff the Los Osos Fire Station with four full-time personnel each day, including a captain, two engineers and a firefighter — with at least two of them trained as paramedics.
This means the Fire Department would need to hire 12 new personnel, who would each work two days on and four days off, McCrain said.
Right now, the Morro Bay Fire Department employs 13 floor personnel, a fire chief, a deputy fire chief and an administrative assistant, McCrain said. The fire department also hires about three seasonal firefighters from May to November.
The Fire Department has a large enough staff for about four full-time personnel to work in Morro Bay per day, but McCrain would like to increase that to five to six personnel per day.
The administrative fee included in the contract with Los Osos could provide the necessary funding to hire more firefighters for Morro Bay, McCrain said.
Additionally, sharing fire services would allow a unified response to emergencies in Los Osos and Morro Bay, he said.
In Los Osos, there are about 1,700 calls for service annually, and in Morro Bay, there are about 2,200 calls for service annually, he said.
“Having a larger pool of personnel provides greater flexibility for mutual aid, participation, special event coverage and ability to staff up additional resources in the event of a local disaster,” he said.
Mayor Carla Wixom said she’s only interested in the contract if Morro Bay continues to receive a high quality of service.
She also advised the Fire Department to consider a contract longer than 15 years to provide job security for new hires, and a renewal requirement five years before the contract expires so the city can plan appropriately.
“My priority always will be to the citizens of Morro Bay, first and foremost, without any willingness to compromise what that level of service looks like,” she said at the March 10 meeting. “That being said, there’s an opportunity for enhanced service.”
On Thursday, the Los Osos Community Services District Board of Directors will consider Morro Bay’s proposal and the $3.8 million contract offered by Cal Fire.
If Morro Bay and Los Osos proceed with the proposal, the agencies will enter into negotiations to draw up an official contract. The Morro Bay City Council and Los Osos Community Services District Board of Directors would then need to approve that contract.
