Santa Clarita Valley: Two New Fire Stations Opening

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Santa Clarita Valley: Two New Fire Stations Opening

East side story: 2 new fire stations set to open in Canyon Country

As the Santa Clarita Valley continues expanding, some long-planned fire stations on the east side of the city are set to open up next month to better serve residents.

The Santa Clarita Valley currently has 12 fire stations throughout the Santa Clarita Valley, but officials are planning to open up five new stations within the next couple of years.

A new station opened last year on Copper Hill, and three more stations are scheduled to open this year, according to Bill Niccum, Santa Clarita Valley assistant fire chief for the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The first two stations to open this year will both open in Canyon Country and will open around March 1, Niccum said.

While Station 132 at 29310 Sand Canyon Road is replacing a temporary station, Station 128 at 28450 Whites Canyon Road near Plum Canyon Road will be entirely new, with nine new firefighters brought in.

Both of the new Canyon Country stations will house a single engine company with a captain, an engineer and a firefighter for each shift, Niccum said. A total of three shifts will work at each station.

The Whites Canyon Road station will have seven dormitories and two bays for fire engines, Niccum said. The 9,518-square-foot building was built at a cost of $10.18 million.

The Sand Canyon Road station will also have seven dormitories and two bays and is the same amount of square footage as the other station, Niccum said. The station was built at a cost of $9 million.

The two stations both began construction in November 2010, Niccum said. A new division and battalion headquarters on Golden Valley Road is expected to go into service this November.

"What we really like is that all of these stations serve not only the city of Santa Clarita but the unincorporated areas as well," Niccum said. "It really enhances our prompt service delivery to the residents of the Santa Clarita Valley and the surrounding areas."

Both stations were paid for with developers' fees and money set aside in previous years for fire station development, said spokeswoman Stephanie English.

The Whites Canyon Road station is expected to respond to about 1,600 incidents a year, while the Sand Canyon Road station is expected to respond to about 1,300 incidents annually.

"It'll really add a lot of benefit and service to all of the Santa Clarita residents, especially Canyon Country," English said.

Rest of story at: www.the-signal.com - Link

California Fire News 2011

- Follow @CalFireNews

No comments:

How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Tuesday, February 21, 2012