MADERA — The county’s newest fire station had its formal grand opening celebration Thursday, July 11. But Madera County Station #7 — already nicknamed “Lucky 7” — officially went online last fall.
Located at 4150 Town Center Blvd., just off Highway 41 and Tesoro Viejo Blvd. via the development’s roundabout, it’s the first new fire station to be built in Madera County in eight years.
The 4,600-square-foot-fire station, which also includes a Madera County Sheriff substation, serves the Tesoro Viejo community, as well as surrounding southeastern Madera County.
The fire station, staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, has two apparatus bays and three dorm bedrooms to house one fire company.
County officials said Thursday the new fire station will “allow the fire department to provide better service with advanced firefighting technology that will benefit the residents of Tesoro Viejo as well as residents throughout Madera County.”
Tesoro Viejo, a McCaffrey Group and Lyles Diversified development that will include 5,190 houses at full build out, is Madera County’s newest master planned community.
The fire station’s new fire engine is a 2018 Rosenbauer with a rear mounted 1,500 GPM pump and 750-gallon water tank — eliminating the large traditional pump house for a more maneuverable apparatus.
The developers actually funded the new fire station and bought the new firefighting equipment as part of their development agreement with the county.
At Thursday’s grand opening, Brett Frazier, chair of the Madera County Board of Supervisors, thanked “the Tesoro Viejo team” for “their leadership in creating a community with public safety at the core.”
Eric Palmer, a fire captain with Cal Fire and Cal Fire engineer Troy Riggs will staff the new station. Palmer and his family live in North Fork.
Palmer’s wife and two boys attended Thursday’s opening celebration, above which flew a giant American flag suspended from an extended ladder engine.
“I know first-hand that the fire personnel who serve in this station are already a big part of the community,” Frazier said. “They know how to handle major emergencies and perhaps most importantly, they know how to be great neighbors.”
This article was edited on July 12 to include the correct name of the developers of Tesoro Viejo — The McCaffrey Group and Lyles Diversified.
