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• CalFire is Planning to Move Its North Coast Headquarters to Rio Dell. So Why Are City Officials Worried?

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CalFire is moving ahead with plans to relocate its Humboldt-Del Norte Unit headquarters from Fortuna to a prime piece of highway-facing real estate in Rio Dell.

Draft rendering by COAR Design Group.

The new regional headquarters would span the entire 18-acre property — two adjoining parcels known locally as the “Todd Property,” located south of Davis Street and west of Highway 101 — quashing the city’s long-held hopes of turning a portion of the site into housing or a mixed-use development. 

The city has tried to buy the property numerous times over the last 40-odd years but, for one reason or another, negotiations never panned out. After the California Department of General Services (DGS) purchased the property on behalf of CalFire in 2023, the city asked if it would be willing to reduce the footprint of the new facility and surplus a few acres at the south end of the site to help the city meet state-mandated housing requirements. The state still hasn’t provided a definitive answer.

On Wednesday evening, DGS and CalFire held a public scoping meeting at Rio Dell Elementary School to give residents a chance to learn more about the proposed project as staff prepare for the upcoming environmental review process. While there was no formal presentation at last night’s meeting, staff from CalFire and DGS were on hand to answer general questions from the public.

Asked if the state would be willing to surplus some of the 18-acre site to the city, Brandee Carle, project director for DGS’s real estate services division, told the Outpost that “CalFire’s management is looking at different aspects of the project” and suggested we talk to CalFire or send follow-up questions via email.

When posed the same question, Humboldt-Del Norte Unit Chief Kurt McCray declined to comment and directed our inquiry to DGS. However, he did note that the Humboldt-Del Norte Unit would likely “need the entirety” of the site to accommodate future growth.

McCray.

“We have almost doubled our size in personnel in the last 10 years, and with the change we’re seeing on the landscape level with wildfires and other emergencies that we respond to, we have to ask where we’ll be in 50 years from now,” McCray said. “I struggle with trying to envision or predict what CalFire will need in 50 years, and that’s the purpose of buying a property that has that flexibility to expand.”

As one can imagine, firefighting equipment has changed quite a bit in the last hundred years. Modern fire engines can’t even fit in the repair shop at CalFire’s existing headquarters on Fortuna Boulevard, McCray said.

“The facility we are currently housed in — which was established in the 1930s and is approaching 100 years old — is just a little over three acres, and we have completely outgrown it with the increase in personnel and equipment,” he continued. “We no longer have the ability to do repairs indoors, so that has become an issue for us. … This transition to a new headquarters is absolutely needed [to accommodate] the growth of CalFire employees and expansion of our services in our region.”

Under the current plan, the two existing buildings on the property would be demolished, and the entire 18 acres would be paved over. The site plans include a fire station, administrative office, emergency command center, service center, auto shop, fitness and training facilities, as well as ample parking and storage for CalFire equipment. The draft plan also includes two acres of solar panels and 1.5 acres of stormwater retention basin. 

City Manager Kyle Knopp emphasized that the city isn’t against CalFire moving its headquarters to Rio Dell, but said he was disappointed that the state hasn’t been more willing to work out a compromise.

Knopp.

“We just think that there’s a better way to split 18 acres, which is a lot of land, in a way that would benefit the school district, local tax revenue and job creation activities,” Knopp said, adding that the current plans conflict with the state’s mission of building up instead of out to reduce sprawl. “We just think that, with a little bit more finesse and a little bit more thinking, there could be a larger group of winners.”

Asked whether he felt the state was taking the city’s concerns seriously, Knopp said state Sen. Mike McGuire was responsive to the city’s concerns, adding that he “isn’t convinced that the bureaucracy itself is interested in alternatives.”

“This is going to be a good project overall, but I think it could be better,” he said.

After last night’s open house meeting, the Outpost sent a few follow-up questions to DGS, but we haven’t received a response as of this writing.

Written comments on the “notice of preparation” for an environmental impact report will be accepted through May 29. More information can be found at this link.

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