Report Prepared by: Casey Wilson, Fire Chief
Title
SUBJECT: First Amendment to the Stop-Gap Fire Services Agreement Between the City of Merced and Merced County on Behalf of the Merced County Fire Department
REPORT IN BRIEF
Six-month extension to the Stop-Gap Fire Services Agreement for Fire and Emergency Services between the City of Merced and Merced County commencing January 1, 2027, and ending June 30, 2027.
RECOMMENDATION
City Council - Adopt a motion:
A. Approving a first amendment to the Stop-Gap Fire Services Agreement between Merced City Fire Department and Merced County on behalf of the Merced County Fire Department commencing January 1, 2027, and ending June 30, 2027; and,
B. Authorizing the City Manager to execute the necessary documents; and,
C. Authorizing the Finance Officer to increase revenue in the amount of $170,560 for Fiscal Year 2026-27 in the General Fund-Fire Division.
Body
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve as recommended by staff; or,
2. Approve, subject to conditions other than as recommended by staff; or,
3. Deny; or,
4. Refer to staff for reconsideration of specific items; or,
5. Continue to a future City Council meeting.
DISCUSSION
Background
The City of Merced City Council provided direction to staff to explore opportunities to provide Fire and emergency operation services to Merced County to assist in area generally defined as North of Hwy 140, West of Kibby Rd, West of N. Lake Rd. and East of G St, and South of Old Lake Rd. This area had previously been provided Fire and EMS services through Merced County - CALFIRE with primary responses coming from Station 85 located on McKee Rd. Due to budgetary constraints being faced by Merced County this station closed on January 1, 2025.
Both City and County staff held a series of meetings to discuss various options. Additionally, City staff discussed options and received feedback from the City Council Public Safety Sub Committee. The entire City Council was briefed at the May 6, 2024, regular meeting and the special meeting held on December 9, 2024. City Council approved a Stop Gap Aid Agreement for Fire and EMS Services with Merced County on December 16, 2024. An update to City Council was provided on July 21, 2025.
The Stop Gap Aid Agreement for Fire and EMS Services with Merced County covers a two-year term from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2026.
Aid Agreement Details
A copy of the agreement is included as Attachment 1. Specific details of this agreement include the following.
Term
The agreement covers a two-year term from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2026. The term of the agreement generally follows the timing of the 2023 SAFER Grant. During this time period the city has additional grant paid positions, twenty-four in total, that provide greater flexibility to allow for this aid agreement to be serviced. The SAFER grant ends in March 2027.
Responsibilities
Under the Aid Agreement the City responds to incidents in the County service area defined in the agreement, Exhibit A. Calls will come into the CALFIRE Dispatch Center and then a request for aid will be made to the City’s PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point). For structure and vegetation fires both City Fire and CALFIRE will respond to the incident. The City’s response time is normally less than CALFIRE being dispatched from Station 81, Martin Luther King Blvd. - Hwy 59.
Operationally, City resources remain on scene until such time as CALFIRE is able to take over the incident. The City responds with multiple assets consistent with the City’s training and incident protocols. For other incident types such as emergency medical incidents only the City responds. The County and CALFIRE retains all other jurisdictional responsibilities such as fire prevention, investigation, plan review, and incident reporting - except emergency medical and vehicular accidents.
Service Approach
The approach to providing services are based on the closest resource concept. That means any asset from any station that is in closest proximity will respond to a service call. On March 3, 2025, MFD launched Squad 53, a new emergency response unit stationed at Fire Station 53. The Squad concept is really to address capacity needs based on call volumes. The Squad concept allows for a small company, normally two firefighters, to assist with the overflow of supplemental calls. Staffing for the Squad was done with existing City firefighters, no new positions were added.
Fee for Service
The fee for service for Merced County was $315,384, for the 2025 calendar year. The fee for service for Merced County was $328,000, for the 2026 calendar year.
Impact on City Resources
For the time period January 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025, MFD responded to a total of 450 automatic aid incidents. Calls for service per day work out to 1.23 and an average on scene time of 16.5 minutes per incident.
2025 Incident Responses
100 Series - Fires 39
(Structures, vehicles, vegetation, rubbish, other fires)
300 Series - EMS 308
(Medical Incidents)
400 Series - Hazardous Condition 4
(Spills, chemical releases, electrical equipment problems)
500 Series - Service Calls 11
(Water problems, smoke odor, animal rescue, public assist, unauthorized burning)
600 Series - Good Intent Calls 84
(Dispatched and cancelled en route, no emergency found, steam mistaken for smoke, good intent calls)
700 Series - False Alarms 4
(Malicious false alarms, system malfunction, unintentional system or detector operation)
Total 450
Since some incidents require more than a single unit, MFD provided a total of 533 unit responses for this time period.
2025 Unit Responses
Unit Incidents
Engine 51 24
Engine 52 6
Engine 53 53
Engine 54 123
Engine 55 255
Truck 51 23
Squad 53 22
Battalion 1 27
Total 533
Time on Task
Total time on task for MFD units for this time period was 124 hours. Average time on task for each incident is 16.5 minutes.
2026 Incident Responses (January - October)
Fires - 41
EMS Incidents - 172
Hazardous Condition - 9
Rescue - 2
False Alarms - 9
Total Incidents - 233
Total Responses - 307
*2026 Estimated Incidents - 280
*2026 Estimated Unit Responses - 370
Six-Month Extension to Current Agreement
The current agreement is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2026. Staff continues discussions with Merced County regarding a longer-term agreement. Staff is seeking to extend the existing agreement for an additional six months, January 1, 2027, through June 30, 2027.
A six-month extension would provide several benefits. MFD’s current staffing levels are funded through FY 2026/27, and extending the agreement through the end of the fiscal year would allow staff to complete the FY 2027/28 budget process and better understand future staffing levels and operational capacity before considering a longer-term agreement.
Revenue for the six-month extension is $170,560. Recommendation C will require an affirmative 5 votes.
ATTACHMENTS
1. City and Merced County Stop Gap Fire Services Agreement
2. Automatic Aid Call Distribution Map
3. City and Merced County Stop Gap Fire Services Agreement Six-Month Extension
4. Automatic Aid Extension Council Presentation - November 16, 2026