Two Napa County Volunteer Fire Sub-Stations Open in Eastern Napa County Neighborhoods
By Evan Kilkus
Two new Napa County volunteer fire sub-stations opened in Eastern Napa County neighborhoods and are anticipated to improve response times and possibly lower homeowners' insurance rates.
Pope Valley Volunteer Fire Sub-Station 220, and Capell Valley Volunteer Fire Sub-Station 214, right in the middle of the Berryessa Estates and the Berryessa Highlands neighborhoods, hosted ribbon cutting ceremonies this September and are ready to serve the public.
Berryessa Highlands Station 214 Crew with Supervisors Belia Ramos and Alfredo Pedroza
The stations are simple metal buildings with bathrooms, and most important, a fire engine. Each engine carries 750 gallons of water, thousands of feet of fire hose, and basic medical supplies.
Berryessa Estates Station 220
These two additional stations will help the residents and visitors in all of Eastern Napa County, everyone from Wooden Valley to Pope Valley, and the Monticello Dam to the back roads of Knoxville, by decreasing response times and increasing the number of people and vehicles responding to a medical or fire emergency.
Berryessa Highlands Station 214 Ribbon Cutting
The two neighborhoods currently have trouble getting affordable home owner's insurance as they are rated “unprotected” by the Insurance Services Office since there were no fire stations within five miles.
With these new stations in place, Napa County Fire/CAL Fire will push to get the insurance companies to recognize the stations. The fact that both Pope Valley and Capell Valley Volunteer Fire Departments have such a high response rate, close to 100%, will be crucial to help improve the rating for the two neighborhoods. Residents hope to see an impact on insurance coverage in time - hopefully within a year or two.
Berryessa Estates has about 180 homes, and the Berryessa Highlands has about 350 homes.
Many of these homes are occupied year round although some (a smaller number than in the past) are vacation homes. With the growing population and need for protection from wildfire or help in the event of a house fire, residents are very pleased to see the new fire station.
Volunteer Firefighters, Napa County/Cal Fire Chiefs, and Napa County Supervisors were all on hand to open the stations to residents last month. Congressman Mike Thompson presented both stations with American Flags that flew over The Capital Building in Washington, DC for a day. (See photo below.)
Local resident Richard Wilson donated a pet oxygen mask kit to Station 214. One of these "WagN" devices was used in the Berryessa area in recent years, and it worked to save the life of a cat.
In time lockers and more gear will be added to the stations, but more volunteers are needed to put the lockers to use. If you or a friend or family member might be interested in joining, contact your local station to see how you can help. It is important to note that the main stations, Stations 20 & 14, are always fully equipped with three different types of trucks, just a few miles down the road.
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