Photo shows the newly remodeled, extra wide and taller apparatus bay door at the Cayucos Fire Station 16 on Cayucos Drive. The two bay doors were widened into one to accommodate a new fire engine that’s been ordered for the Cal Fire/County Fire crew. Photo by Neil Farrell
Cayucos’ resident firefighters have returned to their old home, leaving a new home that was temporarily home while the County remodeled their old station.
Cal Fire/County Fire Sta. 16, which houses the fire crew of Estero Bay Station 16 have moved back into the town’s original firehouse, built in the 1930s, after the County finished upgrades to the building.
For several weeks, the crew had been working and living at the brand-new Cal Fire Station No. 11, located on the south end of town at the end of Ocean Boulevard.
That seasonal fire station was finished just in time for the permanent crew from the Downtown station to move into while the County made structural and cosmetic upgrades to the old station.
Cal Fire Public Information Officer, Toni Davis said in a news release, the improvements included removal of a center column of the two apparatus bay doors, turning it into one large door that’s taller to accommodate a new fire engine the station is getting.
The door is now 12-feet tall (up from 10 feet) and has one 24’6” door instead of two, 12-foot-wide doors.
The old firehouse, dedicated in 1932, was previously remodeled several years ago to better accommodate a sleep-over crew, after the Cayucos Fire District was dissolved and the County took over its assessments and operations. The change came after a property tax increase for the department was rejected by voters and the District Board decided it could no longer adequately fund a fire department.
Also, the station’s historic fire alarm bell that was installed in the station’s belfry was removed, and Davis said it would be installed in its original location, atop the Cayucos Vet’s Hall, once the project to rebuild the vet’s hall is completed.
