Shasta Station critical for Berkeley's fire safety

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, May 12, 2004

TWELVE years ago, Berkeley voters approved bonds to bring all of our seven fire stations up to date and make them seismically safe. Six have been completed; the seventh, the Shasta Station, remains to be done.

The proposed new Shasta Station is a replacement for the existing station, which is too small to house the sufficient staff and equipment needed to fight the real danger from wildfires.

The lot is surrounded by houses and is too small for expansion on its own site. The new Shasta Station has been studied four long years. The project has been through numerous meetings, public hearings, analyses and lawsuits.

At every turn the project has been approved, yet some continue to fight it, their latest complaint being it will cost too much so a smaller building should be built. On Thursday, this project will once again be before the Zoning Adjustments Board and the voice of concerned citizens needs to be heard.

This year, the California Department of Forestry declared that the Bay Area is one of two major wildfire areas of concern. In 1923, a wildfire started a short distance from the site of the proposed Shasta Station. It burned through North Berkeley and stopped at Hearst and Oxford only because wind direction changed.

Today, North Berkeley has many more houses and cars, making fighting fire and escape routes more difficult and hazardous. In 1991, we experienced another firestorm, this time in South Berkeley and Oakland. That fire burned hundreds of homes and took 24 lives. These are hard lessons we shouldn't forget.

It is critical that we establish a first-line-of-defense at the interface with the wild lands along our eastern boundary. That's where the new Shasta Station would be built. Importantly, it would house three additional firefighters from the park district during high fire danger times, and be large enough for the special equipment essential to fight wildfires.

As we approach yet another high fire danger season, let's get this project constructed. This is not just a North Berkeley problem, it concerns everyone in Berkeley. You cannot rely on the wind changing direction.

The construction cost of the new Shasta Station is minor in comparison to the heartbreaking, life-threatening and economic chaos of large areas of our city being burned to the ground.

Studies have proven there is no acceptable alternative, so let's get this vitally important project done now.

Shirley Dean is the former mayor of Berkeley.