The Purpose :

Why does Palomar Mountain need the Community Safety Center? Palomar Mountain is a unique mountain community containing a few hundred full-time residents and at any one time a large tourist population. Palomar Mountain has the potential to encounter natural threats in the form of forest fires, snowstorms, and earthquakes. There is no central location that can serve as a safe place of refuge in times of emergency.

The community has limited access with just two primary roads available for evacuation or emergency services. The Palomar Mountain Community Safety Center will be constructed to meet the emergency services needs of the Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Department (PMVFD), serve as a safe place of refuge for the community in emergencies.

The community safety center will allow the PMVFD to house full-time firefighters in addition to providing room for their administration, communications and training. The PMVFD will fully occupy the lower floor. The ground floor will serve as a community hub, giving residents a safe place of refuge, community events and a place for disaster preparedness training.