South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue working on plans to reopen Station 2 in 2019

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - If all goes as planned, the South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue Station 2 will once again be a fire station by the end of 2019.

Since December 2015, the station has housed the Cal Tahoe JPA ambulances and staff. This move decreased response times by the paramedics and EMTs, but increased response time by South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue (SLTFR) whose other two stations are at the "Y" and Ski Run Blvd.

During SLTFR Chief Jeff Meston's August presentation of his 391-page Standards of Coverage to City Council about the current state of fire protection, he highlighted the need for funding to staff the station once the JPA moves out September 30, 2019.

It will cost about $1M to $1.5M a year to staff the station, according to Meston.

Several members of the public spoke to the South Lake Tahoe City Council during Tuesday's meeting, telling them of the need for the station to reopen as a fire station.

With the reopening of Station 2, response time by emergency personnel would be three minutes or less to much of the City. The neighborhood currently with the highest response time, the Al Tahoe neighborhood, would go from 5-10 minutes response time to under three minutes. There are 2,235 people who call that area home. The Bijou Neighborhood would move from a 3-5-minute response to three and under. 1,035 residents live there.

Meston said they need to apply for a FEMA Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant to cover the funding for Station 2 for the next three years. The Council gave him blessing to pursue the grant which opens in March 2019 and closes in April. The funding to awardees is in September.

This year, $345M in SAFER grants were awarded this year and Meston feels the City has a good chance to get on in 2019 due to high fire danger, reduced staffing levels and a large turnover rate (125 percent).

The City's budget this year didn't include money for the reopening, but the 2019 budget could look at possible funding.

Not only will new staffing be needed, but there will also be need for new vehicles to put inside the station.

In 2014, City of South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue (SLTFR) took possession of a 2013 model Ferrara ladder truck at the tune of almost $1,050,000. SLTFR has had nothing but problems since it arrived and they sued Ferrara Fire Apparatus out of Louisiana for the cost of the truck. The City has employed a "lemon law" attorney that specializes in these matters, someone who will seek the expenses of the truck plus attorney fees. They are set to go to court in March 2019 over the matter.

Meston will look for a fire truck to replace the Ferrara.