Morgan Hill Butterfield Fire Station: Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting!
On Saturday, June 7th, members of the COAR team joined the Morgan Hill community and the CAL FIRE Santa Clara Unit to celebrate the grand opening of the new Morgan Hill Butterfield Fire Station! This event drew support from members of the community, who were greeted with welcome speeches from City Manager Christina Turner, Mayor Mark Turner, Silicon Valley Clean Energy CEO Monica Padilla, and Fire Chief Marcus Hernandez.
Community Members of all ages excitedly explored the new station, taking the driver’s seat in the historic fire apparatus, and browsing local vendor booths that were set up on the back patio. Local chefs provided cooking demonstrations on induction stoves, like the ones installed in the station’s kitchen, serving up breakfast tacos and coffee to guests. Multiple local animal services organizations hosted adoption booths adorned with sleepy kittens (who were expecting to sleep in on this early Saturday morning!). Children were also able to ring the bell of the historic apparatus parked out front, and eagerly accepted stickers and plastic firefighter hats from the CAL FIRE personnel in attendance. Filled with people, animals, and local businesses, the station was enthusiastically welcomed into the Morgan Hill community.
This is the city’s fourth station, designed to support the fire response and emergency medical services. This station arrives at a crucial time for the Morgan Hill community, helping reduce response times as the community continues to grow at a rapid pace. It will be staffed by the Morgan Hill Fire Department and supported by the CALFIRE Santa Clara Unit.
Morgan Hill Fire Chief Marcus Hernandez spoke at the event, sharing just how crucial this new station will be. “From 2023 to 2024 we’ve had a 6% increase in call volume. This station is going to be vital in increasing our capacity to serve this city and keep providing that top tier service,” Chief Hernandez said.
Designed to support Morgan Hill’s climate goals, this station is all-electric and operates on a full solar battery microgrid system that combines solar power generation with battery storage to create an independent power grid.
Silicon Valley Clean Energy CEO Monica Padilla underlined how the electric station will benefit the Morgan Hill community. “This all-electric station is safe inside and out. The electric equipment used throughout the building creates a pollution-free environment for first responders and does not emit pollutants into the surrounding environment,” said Padilla. SVCE contributed $500,000 in a Community Grant funding for the construction of the Butterfield station. This community grant program aims to spread the SVCE mission by funding projects throughout Morgan Hill and the surrounding communities.
COAR Project Manager Krt Maness frequently visited the construction site throughout the duration of the project and reflected on the event saying, “Working closely with the Kent Construction and the City team made this project exciting from design through construction. The exterior finishes were carefully chosen to reflect the surrounding community, and the interior was designed with fire personnel efficiency and safety front of mind.”
We are so excited to see the station up and running as it serves the Morgan Hill Community.