|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Menlo Park Fire Protection District has purchased another house, this time in the Belle Haven neighborhood of Menlo Park, according to Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman.
The fire district paid $941,000 for a 790-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-story house at 1457 Chilco St. that’s adjacent to Station 77. The house will be demolished in the future to make room for a new station, Schapelhouman said in a press release.
In the interim, he said, the fire district is likely to use the house as an office for an on-duty battalion chief and eventually as the on-duty chief’s living quarters.
The second bedroom could also be used to store equipment and firefighting gear, he said.
The bidding for the house was competitive and took place on the open market rather than through eminent domain, Schapelhouman said. The fire district was one of 13 bidders, and the sale was narrowed down to three “serious bidders,” with the district winning the day with its third counteroffer, he said.
The district, which provides first-responder services to Menlo Park, Atherton, East Palo Alto and nearby unincorporated communities, promised its Belle Haven neighbors that any property acquisition for a new station would allow firetrucks returning from a call to do all their maneuvering on station property rather than using public streets to enter the station from the rear. This purchase fulfills that promise, Schapelhouman said.
The acquisition is part of a long-term initiative by the district to improve emergency response east of U.S. 101 and Bayfront Expressway – a necessary step given the negative impact commuter congestion has had on response times, the chief said.
Over the last 12 years, the fire district has acquired homes and properties adjacent to six of its seven stations, two of which have been rebuilt and modernized. Acquiring property contiguous to the stations is instrumental to the success of these rebuilding efforts, Schapelhouman said in the statement. All told, the district has spent almost $30 million in property purchases since 2006.
“These areas are experiencing incredible and unprecedented transformation in population growth, zoning changes … and employment boom that has resulted in increased call volume and significant traffic congestion which can challenge and decay current acceptable emergency response and readiness times,” he said.
More staff, trucks
At Station 77, to go with its existing engine company and three firefighters, the station this month hired two more firefighters and became the new home of a rescue vehicle – a pickup truck outfitted with a utility box, medical equipment, light-duty rescue equipment and lights capable of illuminating an emergency scene, Schapelhouman said.
A rescue vehicle is handy when responding to Code 2 calls – situations such as a child who is not injured but is locked inside a car, or a person who feels ill but not in need of a hospital, he said.
Station 2 in East Palo Alto also has a new ladder truck, which should be helpful in a commercial neighborhood in which the allowable building height now extends to 11 stories, he said.
Most Popular
TV show on Silicon Valley's ‘outsized egos’ to film in Woodside this weekOctober 12, 2026 11:17 am
Not to quibble, but to correct an error: the “rescue vehicle” now at Station 77 (“Rescue 77”) is not a new purchase. It was relocated from Station 2 earlier this month and was previously known as “Rescue 2.”
Thank you Atherton taxpayers for funding this purchase with your property taxes. I am sure Facebook never would have been so generous.
Yes, and we should also thank Atherton taxpayers for their support of aircraft carriers that sail in distant seas, State highways that are built outside of the Town, the County Sheriff’s Department that provides few services within the Town boundaries and the school districts to whom Atherton residents choose to send few of their children.
And those Atherton taxpayers do all of this quite willingly without the intervention or oversight of the appointed Town Council
fire district expands its property portfolio…
Because, yeah.
“[whatabout] aircraft carriers…”
“[whatabout] State highways…”
“[whatabout] the County Sheriff’s Department …”
“[whatabout] school districts…”
I bet they pay more taxes to the city than most.
OH SNAP!
Woodside – Perfect. You are learning that “what about” is a fundamental element of philosophy, dialogue and learning.
Whataboutism is a variant of the tu quoque logical fallacy that attempts to discredit an opponent’s position by charging them with hypocrisy without directly refuting or disproving their argument, which in the United States is particularly associated with Soviet and Russian propaganda.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism