Serving the communities of Hessel, Twin Hills, Freestone and the Bennett Valley Fire Protection District
The Hessel Station, (Station 1) is located at 4500 Hessel Road. and is considered our headquarters and business office. There is a core group of dedicated volunteers living nearby who respond day and night to approximately 350 emergency calls for service a year. This station is now staffed 24 hours a day.
Station Two, located at 1690 Watertrough Road, is also known as the Twin Hills Station. This is our busiest station, running just under 400 calls per year. Station Two is staffed 24 hours a day; volunteers support the paid staff on incidents requiring additional equipment or personnel. Originally built by the volunteers in 1961, this station was completely remodeled with a large addition, in 1996.
Station Three, the Freestone Station, is the smallest of our stations and is located on Bohemian Highway in the community of Freestone. Running just under 150 calls per year, this station houses one engine and one water tender, and is staffed by volunteers. Though the numbers are small, the dedication and length of service from the Freestone volunteers is hard to match.
With the recent passing of Measure O, we are now able to consistently staff Station One and Station Two 24 hours a day. Staffing for the daytime and sleeper shifts is supplemented by volunteers responding from home.
For many years, the Hessel, Twin Hills, and Freestone Fire Departments provided fire service for the rural Sebastopol area. As the region has grown, our departments have merged in an effort to reduce costs without reducing services. While our level of training, equipment, and size have changed, this is essentially the same volunteer system that has protected our area since the 1950's and 1960's.
We take pride in the fact that many of our newer residents never realize the task of protecting their families and property fall into the hands of truly professional "volunteers". Please support your local volunteer fire department.