A contract to build a wildfire facility in Rancho Mission Viejo, a 23,000-acre community on the urban edge of the county, was recently awarded by the Orange County Fire Authority
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The facility, considered part of OCFA’s long-term investment in wildfire response and preparedness, will support expanded hand crew and heavy equipment operations.
The roughly $23 million contract was awarded June 25, following approval from OCFA’s board of directors, and includes the planning, design, and construction of the proposed facility.
It will replace OCFA’s existing Camp 18 fire station in Trabuco Canyon, and include a 30,000-square-foot, single-story building with four accessory structures that will provide work and living space for up to 75 agency personnel.
The project has $16.9 million in state funding.
Assistant Chief of Logistics Jim Ruane described for OCFA board members a roughly four-year effort to find a site and get the approvals for the new wildfire facility. Some 42 potential locations across Orange County were looked at over about two years, he said, only to rule them out because they were either cost-prohibitive or poorly situated.
The search eventually narrowed to two finalists: a five-acre parcel offered by Rancho Mission Viejo, a master planned community under development, and a park site offered by the city of San Clemente. Ruane said Rancho Mission Viejo initially quoted the land at $7.7 million, later cutting the price to $5 million, then $2.2 million, before finally emailing him to say the parcel would be donated free of charge.
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The site is already paved, utilities are in place, and the developer is giving OCFA access to its engineers and architects, Ruane added. He said the facility will be built near the OCFA’s existing temporary Station 67, and will take about two years to construct.
Fifth District OC Supervisor Katrina Foley, who is also on the OCFA board, said in a social media post that “communities need the personnel, equipment, and coordination to respond quickly when fire danger rises.”
She added that the new facility will “help protect families, nearby communities, and surrounding open space.”
Rancho Mission Viejo sits at the edge of wildland and urban development in south OC, where wildfires have already occurred in and around the former ranch property.
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