5003 Depot Ave.
Santa Maria, CA 93454
805-934-6294

Station 23’s area is bounded by Tepusquet Canyon in the North, to the South by Hwy. 101 and Aliso Canyon Road. In the East by Foxen Canyon and Rancho Sisquoc and in the West by Dominion Road.

Staffing

Fire Station 23 is an Advanced Life Support (ALS) station and is staffed by one Captain, one Engineer and one Firefighter, of which one will also be a paramedic.

History

Station 23 serves a community that is a throwback to a bygone era. Sisquoc has Fire Station 23, a church, and a single store. There is a pre- K-8th grade school, where the students run a school garden, and the fresh produce is served in the cafeteria. It has a micro-climate with mild weather year round. The population was all of 183 at the 2010 census.
The town is at the intersection of Palmer Road and Foxen Canyon Road, at the Southwestern edge of the floodplain of the Sisquoc River.
The area is well known for vineyards and strawberry fields, while the hills to the South and West contain oil fields. The terrain is hilly and abundant with wildlife that include bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, rabbits, rattlesnakes and lots of gophers.

It was after the 73,500 acre “Big Dalton Fire” of 1953 when residents of Sisquoc and others in the areas of Garey, Tepesquet Canyon, Foxen Canyon, Cat Canyon, and the Eastern Santa Maria Valley began to demand increased fire protection. In order to fill this need (under the direction of County Forester and Fire Warden V.A. Wadliegh, along with Fire Prevention Officer Herb Gordon) Station 23 first was opened in Sisquoc during 1955.

At this time the Station was located at 4770 Foxen Canyon Road. (In the 50’s the town of Sisquoc had 125 people, forty homes and eleven commercial buildings.) The Station in those days consisted of a small three-bedroom house with a garage to house the engine. After almost 35 years, a new facility was needed to house firefighters and their equipment. So in July of 1987 the county purchased a 1.29-acre parcel and moved the interim Station 18 facilities (modular buildings made surplus by the construction and completion of a new Station 18, Now known as Station 38) to Sisquoc. The buildings consisted of a 1,900 square foot apparatus building and 1,800 square foot modular living quarters along with a water tank and emergency generator. On March 18th 1990, the new Station 23 was complfled at 5003 Depot Avenue.