Ventura County Fire headquarters moves to Thousand Oaks. Here's what to know

After decades in Camarillo, the Ventura County Fire Department is moving its headquarters to Thousand Oaks starting next week.

Plans call for opening the two-story building at 2400 Conejo Spectrum St. on Monday, but services will continue to be available at both locations through May. The county purchased the 99,000-square-foot building for roughly $15 million late last year.

With the move, the department will have all of its administrative functions in one building, county Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said. Plans also call for building a backup dispatch center at the location.

The fire department, which covers communities from Ojai to Simi Valley, had been looking for a new space for the past few years. Its current headquarters — a 30,000-square-foot leased building at the Camarillo Airport — had too little room for the administrative and support staff. Personnel had to work out of multiple remote locations, some in trailers or sharing offices meant for fewer people, officials said.

Why did Ventura County Fire headquarters move to Thousand Oaks?

A study showed the department would need at least 45,000 square feet to keep those staff members under one roof. But new construction for a building that size would cost more than $30 million, which was not considered feasible.

Instead, the department looked for an existing office building that could be remodeled and the Thousand Oaks location was nearly move-in ready, officials said. The price of the building totaled about half the cost of new construction and was twice the size.

County fire officials moved from Santa Paula to Camarillo in the 1970s and started leasing the current headquarters in the 1990s. The department paid roughly $365,000 annually to rent the building from the Department of Airports, county officials said.

The new building, which marks the fourth headquarters in nearly 100 years, also is expected to allow for the department's future growth, Gardner said.

"My hope is that when they hit the 150 year anniversary, they will still be here," he said.

What's next for the Thousand Oaks headquarters?

Plans call for the dispatch center to stay at its Camarillo facility, which is across from the administrative offices at the airport. The department's training center in Camarillo also is expected to remain and is being expanded.

The department's backup dispatch center has outgrown its current Moorpark location and is expected to be built at the Thousand Oaks site, Gardner said. The building also has a large community room and could potentially include satellite offices for other agencies that work with the fire department.

More information about the department and its services is available at vcfd.org.

Cheri Carlson covers the environment and county government for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260