CSD Fire Opens New Station
Apr 11, 2024 09:59AM ● By Matthew Malone
Despite the rainy weather, attendees at the Fire Station 77 opening take part in a hose-uncoupling ceremony. They included, from left, Elk Grove Vice-Mayor Rod Brewer, Cosumnes Community Services District board President Jim Luttrell, Wilton Rancheria Chair Jesus Tarango, Cosumnes Fire Chief Felipe Rodriguez and Cosumnes Community Services District General Manager Phil Lewis. Photo by Matthew Malone
Fire Station 77 [7 Images]
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ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - With a ceremony on April 4, Cosumnes Fire Department opened its first new fire station in more than two decades in southern Elk Grove. Officials said the station would shorten response times in a fast-growing area of Elk Grove and support fire services in Galt.
Located at 8350 Poppy Ridge Road, Fire Station 77 will serve an area with multiple housing developments, as well as a Cosumnes River College facility, Sky River Casino and the potential Sacramento Zoo’s future location.
The station will host a fire engine and an ambulance, as well as a grass rig to respond to grass fires. Three staff members will operate the engine and two will staff the ambulance.
Cosumnes Fire operates as part of Cosumnes Community Services District (CSD), providing fire and ambulance service in Elk Grove, Galt and surrounding areas.
The station is named after Elk Grove’s first fire chief, J.D. “Dell” Cann, who led the fire department from 1910 to 1940, overseeing the opening of three fire stations. Cosumnes Fire Department Chief Felipe Rodriguez said it was appropriate that Elk Grove’s seventh station — and CSD’s ninth — be named after Cann.
“I once heard that people move to a community for two reasons: for the schools and the parks. Well, I’d say they also move because they want to feel safe, where someone will be at their front door within six minutes after pushing three digits on their phone.”
Rodriguez also pointed to the strength of the collaboration between Community Services District, the cities of Elk Grove and Galt, and Sacramento County.
The fire chief noted that, while various stations have been upgraded or moved over the years, the most recent station to be added was Fire Station 76 on Sheldon Road in 2001. Station 77 is the first new station since Cosumnes Fire formed in 2006 from the merger of the Elk Grove and Galt fire departments. Rodriguez said the agency anticipates adding more stations as neighborhoods continue to fill in.
The ceremony included a “hose-uncoupling,” the fire station equivalent of a ribbon-cutting. Rodriguez said uncoupling a firehose after a call is the first step in preparing it to return to service.
Wilton Rancheria officials performed a blessing of the fire station, whose service area includes the tribe’s Sky River Casino.
“Our blessing songs are us asking our creator to come down here and bless this ground and bless these people and allow them to do the job that they have to do for our community,” Rancheria Chair Jesus Tarango said.
Jim Luttrell, the Community Services District board president, said the fire station would “serve the emergency needs of the rapidly expanding part of our community.”
Luttrell noted that he lives just north of the station.
“The fire station with an engine and ambulance will greatly enhance the response times to our community and the communities near us,” Luttrell said.
The station opening was the “big news” in Elk Grove that day, Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen told attendees.
“As the proud mayor of Elk Grove, I’m so appreciative of the partnership that we have with the city, the CSD and our amazing fire department,” Singh-Allen said. “Our firefighters, our police department, they are on the front lines, keeping Elk Grove safe, and that partnership has gotten stronger every year.”
Singh-Allen cited Elk Grove’s Measure E sales tax, which supports Community Services District operations.
“This is all about the public safety, the safety of our community and our residents. Just look all around you outside. This city is growing, and this station will enhance the public safety of all of our residents. so today is a great day for the city of Elk Grove.”
Galt Vice-Mayor Rich Lozano told the Citizen that Fire Station 77 would help relieve pressure in Galt when a call comes in when both of the city’s local stations are handling other calls. He commended the station’s “state-of-the-art” features.
Paul Mewton, who will soon retire as Cosumnes Community Services District’s chief of planning, design and construction, said the station has “the latest in fire station design,” including a separated area for cleaning firefighting gear to keep hazardous chemicals out of the station’s residential space.
After the ceremony, Rodriguez commented on overseeing the department’s opening of the first new fire station in 23 years.
“This is really exciting as the fire chief here to have this accomplishment from our own personnel being able to do this together with our district personnel and our contractors and architects. I’m just really proud as the fire chief to be serving here in a time that we’re adding a fire station to a community where it really hasn’t been done for over 20 years,” Rodriguez said.
