2 NEW FIRE STATIONS BEING BUILT ONE EXPECTED TO OPEN MAY 1.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS

Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- The Fire Department is building two new temporary fire stations in the Santa Clarita Valley to serve the area's growing population.

The valley now has 10 Los Angeles County fire stations and a regular staff of 53 firefighters. The two fire stations the county is building will each have four firefighters per shift, augmenting the number of firefighters in an area that has demanded quicker response times.

One of the stations is expected to open May 1. The other station, which the county Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to build, should open on June 1.

"It will improve response times to the area and also improve what we call the weight of the attack," said Michael Dyer, chief deputy of business operations for the county Fire Department.

"There will be more fire engines out there to respond to a big, large incident."

A report given to the Santa Clarita City Council last year said population growth in the valley was outpacing the construction of new fire stations.

After the report, officials created a joint city and Fire Department task force to address the problem. Assistant City Manager Ken Striplin, who sits on the task force, said the city's involvement sped up the construction of the two fire stations.

"Working together jointly on this issue has certainly benefited the construction and future construction of fire stations in the Santa Clarita Valley," he said.

The ongoing construction of Fire Station 132 at 29310 Sand Canyon Road in Canyon Country, the one that is opening May 1, is being managed by the city. The county will build the other fire station, at 24525 Copper Hill Drive in Saugus.

Two development companies have helped provide the space for the two temporary fire stations, Dyer said. The county also receives fees from developers to defray the cost of building fire stations.

At the temporary stations, firefighters are housed in double-wide mobile homes and the fire engine is housed in a metal building.

By 2010, permanent stations should be built to replace the two temporary ones, and an additional four stations will be built by then, Dyer said.

Building a fire station costs more than $7 million, Dyer said.

The county Fire Department expects to soon lack funds to build enough stations to meet population growth. But Dyer said that estimating growth is not an exact science.

"We're projecting a deficit, but really a lot of it's voodoo right now, to be honest with you," he said. "We don't know what the growth projections are that far out."

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