Woodside-Portola Valley Fire Protection Foundation 2024 Appeal

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Dear Fellow Member of the Woodside-Portola Valley Fire Protection District,

Celebrating 100 Years of Service

Look for news of the big 100th anniversary celebration and grand opening of the new Station 7 on Woodside Road in early 2025!

Woodside Fire started as an all-volunteer fire department in the 1920s at which time nearly all calls for assistance were for fire responses.

Today, 100 years later after its founding in 1925, Woodside Fire responds to a wide range of incidents, including medical, structure and wildland fires, flooding and mudslides, downed trees and power lines, traffic accidents, hazardous materials spills, and large animal rescues.

As part of California's mutual aid program, Woodside firefighters respond to incidents in nearby districts and to large-scale incidents across the state and the country. Along with emergency response, Woodside Fire focusses on prevention and preparedness through its dedicated fire prevention bureau and range of Fire and Life Safety Education and emergency response training programs for all residents.

Update on Our Fire District's Facilities

This past year was momentous for Woodside Fire!

The fire district completed the upgrades to and expansion of Station #8 in Portola Valley. The Station #8 firefighters stayed on duty at the station throughout the construction, and fully moved into the improved facility at the end of 2023.

In February of 2024, the all-new Station #7 in Woodside opened its doors to welcome home the crews that had spent the last 22 months in temporary modular buildings at the Stanford SLAC area off Sand Hill Road.

Heartfelt thanks to all who helped make this possible with your generous contributions, including the Arrillaga Family and Arrillaga Foundation, key community members who made additional stretch gifts, and numerous community members who have been actively involved with the district over the years.

With these capital campaign gifts, plus capital improvement funds that had been set aside by the Foundation since 2009, as well as Fire District reserves, the Fire District was able to move forward on these critical improvements to our facilities.

We continue to seek major gifts from our community members to cover costs associated with our district’s facility upgrades and expansion to enable Woodside Fire to continue to supply excellent services that meet the needs of our changing community.

Your Contribution Directly Helps Supplement the Fire District Budget

The district’s strategic facilities plan for ongoing facilities improvements and expansion.
Your donation today helps fund the ongoing planning for state-of-the-art facilities thatwill meet the needs of our community in the decades ahead.

Fire prevention that targets our district’s specific needs.
Your donation helps support the annual Chipper Program and related Firewise programs that target wildland fire prevention in addition to residential and commercial fire safety.

Fire and Life Safety Education and emergency response training by WFPD staff for all residents at a convenient location at reduced cost.
Your donation helps fund the purchase of up-to-date instructional materials and training equipment for our district’s public education program, including CPR/First Aid classes, school safety education, and the growing CERT (community emergency response team) programs, WPV-Ready and WPV-CERT, for training resilient residents.

Equipment that enables the most advanced, efficient all-risk emergency response.
Your donation helps fund up-to-date equipment for more than 3,000 incidents a year, including medical emergencies, vehicle accidents, fires, hazardous conditions, and severe weather.

Recent Impact of Your Contributions

 Your gifts in the prior year enabled the Woodside-Portola Valley Fire Protection Foundation (WPVFPF) to make an astonishing $1 million contribution towards the two fire station projects.

This year the effort focused on a broad, coordinated strategy to support our firefighters and their ability to support all of us. Your contributions directly funded the following programs:

The funding and creation of the “Mike Putterman Memorial Gym” at the new Station #7 ensures that our firefighters have a state-of-the-art physical fitness facility supporting strong, healthy, and physically and mentally fit firefighters ready to serve our citizens. New fitness equipment was also provided for Station #8’s remodeled and expanded firefighter gym.

Firefighter Rehabilitation Trailer for use by our district’s trained WPV-CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) volunteer team to help take care of our firefighters at multi-alarm fires and expanded fire department incidents. Equipped with food, water and medical supplies, the rehab trailer enables trained volunteers to check on firefighters’ medical status and provide a place to rest, hydrate and rehabilitate before returning to firefighting operations.

The Mental Health and Firefighter Resilience Program to enhance the overall health and well-being of our firefighters and paramedics. This program supports our firefighters and their families both before and after challenging and traumatic incidents and responses.