Santee is finally moving to beef up fire coverage for its northeast corner, signing off this week on plans for a fourth fire station that city officials say should shave precious minutes off emergency response times.
The council backed an interim station at Woodglen Vista Park and set its sights on a permanent facility near City Hall, following a feasibility study that laid out potential locations, cost ranges and a construction schedule. As detailed by The San Diego Union-Tribune, city staff identified Woodglen Vista Park, a former ballfield, and the City Hall site as the two viable options, and the council agreed the temporary station should land at Woodglen.
Councilmember Rob McNelis told colleagues the northeast district is the most underserved part of Santee and needs help to drive response times down, according to the report. The same staff memo directs city employees to come back at the February budget meeting with funding requests for design and environmental review.
Interim Station Already Cutting Response Times
Interim Fire Station 20 quietly opened in November 2025 inside the city’s operations yard, with the City of Santee posting ribbon-cutting details on its website. In its early days, the station has already shown why city leaders are pushing so hard for a permanent fix…