Please sign the petition to re- commission the Spencer Fire House, located at the top of Spencer Ave near Hwy 101.

Did you ever wonder why the City years ago located a fire house at the top of Spencer Avenue? The answer may be illustrated in the aftermath of the LA/Palisades fires. Wildfires travel fast and, while we don’t have the velocity of the Santa Ana winds, they don’t call this area Hurricane Gulch for nothing. What started in 2017 as a roadside vegetation fire on the west side of Highway 101 down by Marin City gained size and velocity as it swept south. The authorities were about to call for a mandatory evacuation of the homes on Wolfback Ridge when the Coast Guard was able to dump water from helicopters and douse the flames.

The good news is that “[m]any fires occur throughout the summer and are quickly extinguished, never rising to the conscious level of the public.” City of Sausalito Staff report March12, 2019. But as the LA/Palisades fires showed, it only takes the right combination of wind and fuel to create a firestorm. There may be time for an orderly evacuation but, as we recently witnessed, order can rapidly descend into chaos. Emergency personnel and vehicles from Strawberry or Bridgeway might never reach the Hill or Old Town in the snarled traffic.

That’s likely the reason City chose to locate a firehouse at the top of Spencer. Reopening the firehouse would produce benefits beyond simply reduced response times and area awareness, like catching a fire before it gains traction. It’s the reason insurers reduce the cost of fire insurance for houses in proximity to a firehouse.

While we understand individual homeowner defense is imperative, the City of Sausalito and Southern Marin Fire District need to recommission the Spencer Firehouse and take responsibility for a CITY-WIDE DEFENSE of its residents.