Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District crews based in Summerland are moving up the street — sometime in the next few years.

The district has acquired 2330 Lillie Ave. — a hop, skip and a jump away from its current station at 2375 Lillie Ave. — for $5.3 million.

The new space is currently a mixed-use building, with commercial space on the bottom floor and residential on the top.

It has been home to many businesses over the years, including Summerland Winery, which closed last year. The residential space was last used as an Airbnb, according to Fire Chief Dan Stefano.

Stefano told Noozhawk that the district’s current station at 2375 Lille Ave. is more than 100 years old.

The district has been searching for a new site for over two decades and has been “very diligent” about putting away money to fund the endeavor, knowing that the current building has long exceeded its lifespan, he said.

“There have been a lot of bandaids — lack of a better way to put it— over the years,” he said. “It’s unacceptable. At one point in time… that station was rated as the second worst in all of California.”

At one point, the districts entertained a joint station with the Montecito Fire Protection District at the old QAD site, he said.

But after the University of California purchased that site, that dream fell out of favor.

The new building will be retrofitted to fit the hazard standards for critical infrastructure and adjusted to accommodate the fire crews’ needs.

The upstairs area will be used as living quarters for the firefighters, while offices, a training room and associated amenities will be located downstairs.

The goal is to have the training room also available for use by community groups that don’t have other places to meet, Stefano said.

At this time, those changes are roughly expected to cost somewhere between $6 million and $8 million.

Stefano said the goal is to have the station up and running within two years from December, accounting for the design, permitting and construction processes.

“It is a night and day location in terms of what our firefighters and the community is going to get out of this for many decades to come,” he said.

He said estimates put renovating a new building at “considerably less” than tearing down the old one and building it up from scratch.

The district was also constrained from expanding due to its proximity to Highway 101.

Stefano said the district is currently exploring options with its legal team for what to do with the current building. He said there are limitations to what can be done with it because it is a public facility.

District operations will continue throughout the planning and contribution process, per a press release from the district sent out last week.

Stefano said the district will also conduct community outreach to get public input on the new station.

The district is “obviously excited about it. A lot of hands have touched this through the years, and our intent is really to make sure the community has a voice along the way,” he said.

District President Suzy Cawthon called the acquisition a “huge win for Summerland” and for public safety in a statement.

“As a proud Summerland resident, I know how much our community values its heritage and its public safety, and I also know how desperately our firefighters need a safe, modern station that can truly protect us,” she said.

“Finding land that could clear our unique geographic challenges, like local fault lines, required over two decades of hard work and refusal to give up.”

For the record: Suzy Cawthon is the president of the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire District