SLO County town’s effort to buy a new fire engine gets a big boost
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Federal $935,000 appropriation moves Cambria closer to a new fire engine.
- District must prepay and seek reimbursement; final price locks at order.
- Delivery and manufacturing timeline may take three to five years from order.
Cambria firefighters are a major step closer to having a new fire engine to protect the forested coastal town and surrounding areas.
Some $935,000 closer, to be precise.
Rep. Jimmy Panetta notified the Cambria Community Services District on Nov. 14 about the success of their joint efforts since January to include that funding in the 2026 federal appropriations bill.
“The constant threat of wildfires that we face in California and across the Central Coast, including in Cambria, mandate that communities be prepared at all times of the year,” Panetta said in a release to media.
He’s from Carmel, so he’s well aware of the fire risk for a small community enveloped in a Monterey pine forest.
The two coastal California areas have three of five remaining native stands of the stately but shallow-rooted trees in the world. The other two, much smaller forests are on islands off the coast of Baja California, Mexico.
“This type of significant investment in a state-of-the-art fire truck provides not just the Cambria district fire department, but also our community with the best equipment to help keep our homes and region safe (and can) effectively respond to emergencies, stay ahead of danger, and protect lives,” he said.
What happens next?
Ordering Cambria’s new Pierce Ultimate Configuration Fire Engine and its options, determining where the rest of the necessary money for it will come from and taking delivery could take a few more years, services district General Manager Matt McElhenie told The Tribune Monday night.
He estimated that ordering the unit and getting it from the manufacturing site in Wisconsin could take from three to five years.
But the fed’s Community Project Funding appropriation constitutes a huge chunk of what could ultimately cost between $1.095 million, if prepaid, and nearly $209 million if payment stretches over seven years. Those fiscal options were outlined in the district board’s Sept. 11 agenda packet, depending on which financing package the directors select.
They voted unanimously to order the engine, depending on funding.
“The final purchase price is determined at the time of order, and once secured, the price is locked in and will not increase,” McElhenie told the directors. “While payment is not due until the apparatus is delivered … early payment can result in significant cost savings.”
It is a reimbursement appropriation, so the district must complete its project responsibilities, shell out for the purchase and then get reimbursed.
Expressing gratitude to Panetta and his staff, McElhenie and key district staffers met virtually with the congressman on Tuesday to go over the next steps.
“We have also contacted the U.S. Department of Agriculture and will continue coordinating with them to ensure the successful delivery of the funding,” he said.
The district’s Cambria Fire Department currently has two operating structural fire engines, its “first-out” unit bought in 2017 and its secondary-response unit purchased in 2007.
The CSD also has a wildland brush truck bought earlier this year, which greatly increased the department’s ability to respond to vegetation fires in and around Cambria, McElhenie said.
With aging equipment comes maintenance issues, as the district learned the hard way last year, when both engines had serious, simultaneous mechanical problems.
The CSD ultimately got through the equipment crisis by temporarily borrowing an engine from the Paso Robles City Fire Department.
This story was originally published November 20, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "SLO County town’s effort to buy a new fire engine gets a big boost."
