Firefighters homing in on new station

Paul Clinton

JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT -- Airport firefighters are one step closer to a

new home.

The Orange County Airport Commission, an advisory panel to the Board

of Supervisors, has signed off on a new $3.8-million fire station on

airport grounds and sent it to supervisors. The approval, which came

Wednesday evening, was unanimous.

The Board of Supervisors is set to consider the project, which has

been on the books for more than a year, at its Jan. 15 meeting.

The new station would replace one built in 1976 that has fallen far

below current seismic and disabled-access codes. It has also begun to

show its age with persistent plumbing leaks, air-conditioning and

ventilation problems, and rippling pavement cracks.

“It’s too cost-prohibitive to repair it,” airport spokeswoman Ann

McCarley said. “The systems are getting older.”

The aging building, Station No. 33, also does not meet the county’s

“essential facility building” codes or Federal Aviation Administration

requirements. It is now located on airport property, sandwiched between

the tower and an entrance to the airfield.

The new Station No. 33 would be a single-story building with 14,958

square feet and six bays to store engines and other equipment.

It would also be relocated to the west side of the airfield, just

north of the tower, an area now being used as a general aviation parking

lot.

Station No. 33 is the sole fire station in use at the airport. The

seven firefighters at the station are responsible for fires and other

accidents on the tarmac and runways.

Station No. 27, just off Dove Street, was closed a few years ago after

a fire gutted it.

The other county station responsible chiefly for medical emergencies

at the terminal, Station No. 28, is in Irvine.

If the board approves the project, airport managers will begin

accepting bids for a construction contract in late February. Managers

hope to begin construction in the spring and complete work by summer

2003.

Fire officials were happy about the move, saying it was long overdue

and would raise the bar for safety at the airport.

“The new station will replace an aging facility,” said Scott Brown, an

authority battalion chief. “Certainly, that will be a service

enhancement.”

* Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may

be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail ato7

[email protected] .