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Following an increase in fire incidents at the Panoche Valley Solar Farm requiring extra resources such as manpower, wear and tear on equipment and time, the Hollister City Council on Oct. 20 approved a new Hollister Fire contract for providing services to the remote facility.
The contract requires the solar farm to pay Hollister Fire an annual fee of $150,000 with yearly 3% increases for the duration of the contract, which runs through June 30 with the potential for annual renewals.
Hollister Fire Department Chief, Jonathan Goulding told BenitoLink the San Benito County Planning Commission required the fire services contract and that the solar farm administration requested it because of the increase in incidents.
Under the terms of the agreement, Hollister Fire will provide:
Fire protection services, including comprehensive emergency response and structure and vegetation fire suppression, vehicle accident response, pre-hospital emergency medical services, hazardous material response, technical rescue, hazardous conditions response (in case of flooding, downed power lines, earthquakes), fire prevention and fire investigation.
Fire mitigation support, including regular coordination meetings with the solar farm, not less than annually, to review site conditions and recommend risk reduction measures.
Fire prevention training on an annual or periodic basis for solar farm staff on fire safety and prevention best practices.
The agreement also allows Hollister Fire to use the solar farm’s four on-site 5,000-gallon water tanks for firefighting purposes at other incidents where appropriate and necessary.
Goulding told BenitoLink that response to solar farm fires usually comes from the department’s Station Two on Valley View Road at Cesar Chavez boulevard, about 44 miles away, and it takes about an hour to respond to the scene.
While the solar farm is located in Hollister Fire Department’s responsibility area, Cal Fire’s assistance is usually requested under mutual aid for incidents. The area surrounding the solar farm is a state responsibility area, which is Cal Fire’s jurisdiction. Cal Fire will also call in Fresno Fire for incidents in the area outside the solar farm itself.
Goulding said there have been about three fires at the solar farm this year, and about the same number last year. But he added that the “exact number is difficult to determine, because it depends on how the call is reported, and if Cal Fire arrived on scene and cancelled us.”
Goulding said he does not know what the cause of ignition was in each case. According to Power Technology the 4,717-acre facility located on Little Panoche Road has the capacity to produce 247 megawatts of electricity, which it provides to Southern California Edison.
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