In 2004, the cities of Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach collaboratively entered an agreement to share one fire chief and training officer. This agreement was expanded over the next several years to include equipment sharing, a consolidation of the reserve firefighter program and the introduction of "boundary drops," meaning that the closest fire resource would be dispatched to a 9-1-1 call without consideration of community boundary. In 2009, the Oceano Community Services District joined the other communities and on July 9 2010, a complete fire department consolidation took place, resulting in the creation of the Five Cities Fire Authority. The Five Cities Fire Authority was created to increase service levels to citizens and visitors, to ensure consistent and professional training standards, and to increase operational efficiencies.
Area Served: 10 square miles, encompassing the communities of Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach and Oceano
Population Served: 37,000
Number of Stations: 3
Call Volume (2017): 3,838 (excludes Automatic Aid response outside of service area)
Fire: 95 2.5%
Emergency Medical Services: 2371 61.8%
Hazardous Conditions: 134 3.5%
Service and Good Intent: 1046 27.3%
False Alarm: 157 4.1%
Other 35 .08%
Average Response Time: 6 minutes
Vehicles:
Type I (Structural) Engines: 4 Type II USAR/BSU: 1
Type III (Wildland) Engines: 1 Staff/Fleet Vehicles: 3
Truck (100' Platform): 1 Command Vehicles: 3
Type IV Patrol: 1