San Benito County approves chief position for new fire district creation

SAN BENITO COUNTY, Calif. (KION) - San Benito County is on the path to creating a new fire district, but it must find a fire chief first to move the creation forward.

The county's Board of Supervisors is working with San Juan Bautista to create the district with a fire chief as the project manager.

At Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, the board voted unanimously to create the new position.

Last night, the city of Hollister decided to move away from negotiations for fire service protection.

The county's District 4 supervisor, Angela Curro, elaborated on the crucial need for services.

"We have to face the reality that if we don't have fire services for the unincorporated area and the city of San Juan Bautista, it is going to be devastating," Curro said. "So, unfortunately, we're in this position. This isn't where I wanted to be, but we have to move quickly."

The supervisors also viewed the latest fire hazard severity maps before the decision, which shows a very high risk of fire dangers in the county.

The Board of Supervisors decided that future exploration is needed with those maps due to their probable effect on insurance rates in the county.