Casino money allows Rancho Adobe to expand services

The cash-strapped Rancho Adobe Fire District will soon receive almost $300,000 from the Graton Resort and Casino to help re-open its three stations full-time for most of the year. Chief Frank Treanor has fought for years to keep all three stations operational rather than close one for good.

“My experience is once you close a fire house, you’ll never open it again,” Treanor said. The money will also help purchase much-needed communications equipment and possibly relocate the on-duty battalion chief to the Cotati fire station, closer to the nexus of the Rohnert Park, Rincon Valley and Rancho Adobe fire districts.

“As a firefighter, I always look for the other exit,” said Treanor. “Always have a back-up plan.”

Treanor, 70, has seen Rancho Adobe through fat times and lean, most recently a period of reduced tax revenue during which he had to close one of the three district stations on successive days, a “rolling brownout” schedule that kept south Sonoma County covered as efficiently as possible during high fire risk periods.

But the windfall of $297,400 from the casino will allow all three stations to remain open daily at least nine months of the year. Through the agreement reached with the county to provide fire services, the Graton Resort and Casino has allocated that amount to the Rancho Adobe Fire District, as well as additional money for Central Fire Authority and Sonoma County Fire Services totaling over $610,000.

For Rancho Adobe, the money will directly boost fire engine response time during an extremely dry, high-risk fire season. “Having all three of our firehouses open provides a greater depth of protection when we send an engine out,” said Treanor, who has allocated $250,000 to help minimize the brownouts.

When fully operational, the three firehouses are able to provide nine firefighters to respond to a fire, of the 15 recommended by the National Fire Protection Association. The other personnel would be provided by neighboring fire districts.

The rolling brownout schedule ended last week, and as of July 15 all three area fire stations are open every day, even though the first quarter of the payment will not be received until the end of the month. Still, the additional dollars won’t be enough to keep all three stations open year-round. Treanor anticipates returning to the rolling schedule in the low-risk winter months, when only two of the district’s three stations will be open.

The rest of the money, slightly over $47,000, will be spent on upgrading the fire district’s communications system, as well as overdue capital improvements at the Penngrove station.

But the example of the Geyserville Fire Department weighs on the mind of public service officers throughout the county. Geyserville had come to rely on $300,000 annually from the River Rock Casino for fire protection services, until the Dry Creek Rancheria decided to use that money to start their own fire department. Now Geyserville is considering a merger with fire departments in Cloverdale, Healdsburg and possibly Knight’s Valley to help reduce costs and keep services robust.

Though possible, the scenario is less likely for the Graton Resort and Casino, as its semi-urban location contrasts with River Rock’s more rural isolation.

Still, Treanor is cautious about relying on an unending source of funds from the casino. “I’m very optimistic that our relationship with the county and the casino is going to continue.”

But, he adds, “I don’t really count on the money until I see the check.”