The city of Berkeley has proposed closing Fire Station 4, which serves the North Berkeley and Berkeley Hills areas, as part of a solution to its $30 million general fund structural deficit, according to the proposed Budget Balancing Plan for fiscal years 2027 and 2028.
The city plans to propose a sales and use tax measure on the November 2026 ballot that would keep the station open.
If it does not pass, the “proposed station closure will be reconsidered for Fiscal Year 2028,” according to the agenda. According to the Budget Balancing Plan, Fire Station 4 will continue to operate in 2027 using one-time funds, according to the city’s meeting agenda.
A city council agenda acknowledged that “closing Station 4 will significantly degrade response times and first-alarm effectiveness in its service area and adjacent districts,” and that “closure of Fire Station 4 will force responses from more distant stations, further degrading performance.”
Fire Station 4 is located at 1900 Marin Ave. Last year, it responded to 1,538 calls, including 28 structure fires and 966 medical emergencies, according to a statement from the Berkeley Fire Fighters Association.
The 0.5% sales tax would bring $9.4 million in revenue, which would also partially fund the Police Department and the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Development Department.
“I would not frame it as a choice the City takes lightly. Closing Station 4 would have real impacts, including longer response times for some residents. The proposal reflects a difficult budget contingency,” said District 5 Councilmember Shoshana O’Keefe in an email.
Station 4 was selected due to low call volume relative to other stations, O’Keefe added. Only Station 7 received fewer calls than Station 4, but O’Keefe said in the email closing Station 7 “would create a greater geographic and operational risk because of its location at Shasta Road and Grizzly Peak Boulevard.”
A December 2023 Standards of Cover Study and Community Risk Assessment of the Berkeley Fire Department found that BFD “is struggling to meet current demand, much less the future growth of the City and university.”
The report made recommendations, including adding two ambulances, increasing staffing on two-thirds of firefighting units, and adding a second field operations battalion chief. Amory Langmo, president of the Berkeley Fire Fighters Association, claims that rather than adopting these recommendations, the city is “proposing the exact opposite.”
The Berkeley Fire Fighters Association announced a campaign opposing the closure of Station 4 as well as the city’s proposal to cut 20 firefighter positions.
“Every minute that we’re delayed because you close a station in somebody’s district and in somebody’s neighborhood lessens the chance that we can actually do something about it,” Langmo said. “Every minute that a firefighter is delayed to take care of somebody who’s been in a bicycle accident, or a fall, or had a stroke, their tissue is dying until we can start to provide a medical intervention and get them to a hospital.”
The Berkeley City Council will hold a special meeting to discuss the proposed budget June 23.