The Los Osos Community Services District board decided to continue contracting with Cal Fire for fire protection and emergency medical services, maintaining the district’s current staffing model of three full-time firefighters and one reserve firefighter.
The 5-0 vote directs staff to finalize an agreement with Cal Fire, providing continuity in fire and paramedic services while the board prepares for longer-term funding decisions.
“So, we are not getting rid of Station 15. Quite the opposite,” board President Matthew Fourcroy explained during the April 2 meeting. “We have been putting plans in place, strategic plans to improve on Station 15 and improve on the level of service for Los Osos. That’s bottom line. What we’re talking about tonight is how to best do that.”
Since May 2025, the district has evaluated alternatives to the district’s contract with San Luis Obispo County Fire, which is operated by Cal Fire. According to the April 2 staff report, the review was prompted by “escalating staffing costs, increasing administrative overhead, and accounting discrepancies that have resulted in district overpayments.”
“At one point there were some misses, and it resulted in Los Osos paying that money,” Fourcroy explained. “Since then, it’s been recouped. But we’re looking at how we can best serve this community.”
At a September 2025 board meeting, the board identified two potential service providers for further evaluation: Cal Fire and the city of Morro Bay. Cal Fire submitted two three-year contract options, while Morro Bay provided a letter of interest outlining scope of services, personnel cost estimates, and a sample operational budget.
The district’s current staffing model requires three full-time personnel, one reserve firefighter, and two paramedics on duty at all times. The staff report notes that this “model was working well until around 2020 when the COVID pandemic hit. Since then, there have been fewer qualified applicants and substantial turnover once the reserve firefighter was trained and certified and able to work for another agency as a regular employee.”
The report adds that staffing shortages have led to “reduced staffing reliability” and potential safety concerns, including impacts to emergency response effectiveness.
“This latest recruitment is very encouraging,” Los Osos CSD General Manager Ron Munds said, “but results of this is reduced staffing reliability, potential safety concerns for the paramedic firefighting crew, and impacts to emergency response effectiveness. If we don’t have that fourth seat filled by a reserve and we have three people on duty, we just aren’t able to do what they need to do and be as effective.”
New Times reached out to Munds but did not receive comment before publication.
Although a four-person staffing model has long been a district goal, financial constraints have delayed its implementation. Revenue sources, including the zone B property tax and the special fire tax, “have not kept pace with increasing costs,” the staff report says, noting that a future tax increase will likely be necessary to support higher service levels.
The Morro Bay proposal called for four regular employees, each certified as paramedics, under a 15-year contract with a six-month transition period requiring approximately 12 new hires. Personnel costs were estimated at $3.67 million, plus additional dispatch and administrative fees. The staff report highlighted the challenges of the Morro Bay option, including “transition period and startup costs” and a “significant” initial investment.
In contrast, the Cal Fire agreement mirrors the district’s current staffing model, offering immediate implementation with lower disruption while the board continues strategic planning and explores future funding options. Year 1 costs are estimated at $3.1 million, covering staffing, benefits, dispatcher salary, uniforms, and minor vehicle operational costs.
The report noted that this approach preserves service consistency while allowing the district to complete its Emergency Services Strategic Plan and refine cost estimates.
Cal Fire will continue providing paramedic-level coverage, station operations, and support for Montana de Oro State Park, including 24/7 chief officer coverage, initial attack resources, and law enforcement coordination.
“Normally we don’t have really big incidents here, but when we do, we have a much bigger force behind us. The response during the Cabrillo Basin flooding, for example, was swift and impressive, and we never got a bill for that. That’s part of being with Cal Fire,” Munds said. ∆
This article appears in April 9-16, 2026.
The article about the LOCSD Board of Directors decision to contract with Cal Fire for fire protection and life safety services was well written. However, I am not sure if the staff writer from New Times, Ms. Hodge was in attendance at the meeting. The real story was the fact, the Board, chose to place a sizeable Parks & Rec tax measure on the ballot this June in advance of a important increase to the Special Fire Tax in 2028, also requiring voter approval. It would appear the Board’s priorities are misplaced and the public took exception to that at the meeting.