MOORPARK : County Denies Plans to Shut Fire Station

Responding to a rumor that spread like wildfire through Moorpark, the City Council has asked Ventura County Fire Department officials for details about the possible closing of Fire Station 40.

“It was just that--a rumor,” Assistant Chief Robert Roper said. “We’re not closing the station.”

Word of the possible closure had inflamed residents and even prompted Councilman Pat Hunter to write Supervisor Judy Mikels demanding an explanation.

City officials also asked County Fire Chief James Sewell to come to the City Council meeting tonight to discuss the proposed staff changes, Roper said.

Station 40, one of the county’s newest, is called the “castle” by the team of 18 firefighters working there. Typically, a fire station has a rotating crew of nine firefighters--three serving each eight-hour shift--but at Station 40, the regular engine company crew is augmented by another nine-member team designated to respond to disasters involving hazardous materials.

Roper said a plan to set up a regional hazardous response team to cover Oxnard, Camarillo, Ventura and nearby areas would alleviate the need for the disaster team in Moorpark. He said the change could save the department as much as $700,000 per year. But the regular crew of firefighters would stay in place.

As long as Station 40 remained open and adequately staffed, Hunter said, he would support the changes described by Roper.

The city has two stations--42 across from City Hall and 40 in the Mountain Meadows neighborhood on the south side of town.