Last year, Cambria secured nearly $1 million in federal funding to replace one of its aging fire engines.
Now, the Cambria Community Services District (CCSD) has purchased the roughly $1.17 million replacement, but firefighters could wait up to five years for it to arrive.
U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Monterey) visited Cambria on Aug. 6 to highlight the $935,000 in federal Community Project Funding secured for the Cambria Fire Department. The money supports the purchase of a new Type 1 fire engine and equipment including extrication tools, self-contained breathing apparatus units, hoses, and radios.
“As the threat of devastating wildfires grows throughout the region, communities like Cambria must be prepared at all times of the year,” Panetta said in an Aug. 6 statement. “The least that the federal government can do is ensure that our dedicated and devoted firefighters have the dependable, state-of-the-art equipment to respond quickly, operate safely, and stay ahead of danger.”
The purchase comes after both of Cambria Fire’s Type 1 engines, purchased in 2006 and 2017, experienced simultaneous mechanical failures in 2024. The district spent roughly $60,000 on repairs and briefly borrowed an engine from Paso Robles Fire Department to maintain emergency response capabilities.
The breakdown exposed a particular vulnerability for Cambria, where approximately 5,500 residents live in a high fire hazard community with limited evacuation routes. Cambria Fire is also the sole emergency services provider within the district and provides automatic and mutual aid to neighboring North Coast communities, including San Simeon.
CCSD General Manager Matthew McElhenie told New Times that the federal funding means the district can address that vulnerability without putting the full cost of the replacement on local ratepayers.
The $935,000 federal contribution will cover roughly 80 percent of the new engine’s $1.17 million cost. The additional funds came from an anonymous donor through the Cambria Fire Safe Focus Group, according to McElhenie.
Without outside funding, McElhenie said, a purchase of that size would require years of financial planning and compete with other infrastructure and public safety needs.
“That investment allows the district to modernize an essential piece of emergency response equipment while preserving limited local resources for other community needs,” he said.
Though it’s been purchased, the engine won’t be rolling into Cambria anytime soon.
“The district has completed the purchase of the engine, and we are currently anticipating delivery in three to five years,” McElhenie said.
Once delivered, the engine will become a front-line apparatus for a department that responds to several types of emergencies.
“For Cambria, this is ultimately about reliability and public safety,” McElhenie said. “Our firefighters need dependable equipment to respond to structure fires, wildland-urban interface incidents, vehicle accidents, medical emergencies, and other calls for service.”
The funding comes through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development’s Community Facilities Program and was included in a recent federal appropriations package. Panetta secured $2.6 million in fiscal year 2026 Community Project Funding for projects across northern San Luis Obispo County.
“For smaller rural communities, partnerships like this can make the difference between deferring a critical public safety investment and being able to move it forward,” McElhenie said. ∆
This article appears in 40th anniversary edition.
