Sun City Fire Station is Looking to Find a New Home

Sun City Fire Station 7

Sun City Fire Station 7, located on Bradley Rd in Sun City, is moving out and looking for a new location.

The station, which has been there since 1972, has become problematic for the Riverside County Fire Department (RCFD) as traffic increases along Bradley and McCall roads.

But the bigger problem is unhealthful air.

The firestation is designed in such a way that trucks are required to back themselves into the building. The building has no means to eliminate exhaust belching out of the trucks. As a result, workers are inhaling unhealthful contaminants.

When the fire station was built, the State of California and Cal/OSHA didn't have standards on healthful air flow in the workplace. But recently, Station 7 was cited by Cal/OSHA specifically relating to the exhaust and lack of proper airflow. At this time, the Station is required to administrate some kind of action.

All of the newer fire stations in Riverside County are being built with a U-shaped driveway whereby trucks can enter into one end of the building, and then drive out the other, eliminating the need to back in. And by virtue of the design of these buildings, it already creates the proper airflow to comply with Cal/OSHA.

The present location of Sun City Station 7 won't allow RCFD to design a new building with this U-shaped driveway. Hence a decision was made to find a new home for Sun City Station 7.

Presently RCFD has its eye on two locations, both in Sun City Core...


Both the preferred location and the alternate location are presently empty. RCFD prefers the smaller lot because it'll be less costly to develop. The alternate location is where the old Kings Inn and Restaurant used to be, and there are actually pipes underground which RCFD would have to remove before building.

The new fire station is expected to cost RCFD approximately $5 million. They already have about $3 million available for this project. They're asking City of Menifee to put up the other $2 million.

As for what will become of the old location once Sun City Station 7 vacates, the property currently belongs to the County. If City of Menifee puts up the $2 million the County will donate the land to the City, which the City could sell to offset the expense. If the City doesn't put up the money, it's not known what will happen.

Because Sun City Station 7 has already been cited by Cal/OSHA for safety violations, RCFD can't just sit by. They have to do something.