A new fire station is coming to Orcutt

ORCUTT, Calif. - Plans for a third Orcutt fire station are underway.

A community meeting was held at Foster Road Church of Christ on Tuesday night at 6p.m. where Santa Barbara County Fire presented their construction plan for Fire Station 25.

“The purpose of adding an additional fire station in the Orcutt area is to keep up with the increasing population and increasing call volume that is occurring in the Orcutt area.” said Capt. Daniel Bertucelli with Santa Barbara County Fire.

The site for this project is the 4.6 acres west of Brookside Avenue and north of Union Valley Parkway.

The fire station will only take up two acres of land which leaves room for county to create community spaces and services.

“Orcutt is often a neglected community and we need more infrastructure. When I came into office that was one of my huge priorities to make sure that we are getting our share of services of infrastructure so this is a big step in the right direction for us” said 4th District County Supervisor, Bob Nelson.

Orcutt resident, Gary Simpson, is looking forward to the new fire station. "I just think it’ll be better for the people in the neighborhood. I think it's going to be great” said Gary Simpson.

Some residents said they would prefer for the project site land to remain untouched.

"It just opens the door for more development” said Gary Wulfing, who lives near the project site.

He enjoys the view, the open space, and not having through traffic.

Some concerns that were brought up by community members at the meeting included design plans, sound, and the safety of students walking to and from Righetti High School.

Firetrucks will enter and exit off of Union Valley Parkway to avoid driving through the connected residential neighborhood.

“We’ll be able to lower response times and increase our level of service and care to the community.”

said Capt. Daniel Bertucelli.

Santa Barbara County Fire said the project is expected to be completed in 2024.