CINDERELLA STORY FOR VALLEY FIREHOUSE.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
She's the Cinderella of fire stations in this city. Fifty-four years old now with plenty of wrinkles - overlooked, overworked and taken for granted Adj. 1. taken for granted - evident without proof or argument; "an axiomatic truth"; "we hold these truths to be self-evident" axiomatic, self-evident obvious - easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind; "obvious errors" even though she's the busiest engine company in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . The little fire station that could wasn't even supposed to still be fighting fires today. It was opened in 1952 on Nordhoff Street as a temporary station to protect the Van Nuys, Pacoima, Arleta and Panorama City areas. Its sleeping quarters were small, a few double bunks crammed together, and its kitchen - the main meeting area in any firehouse - was a miniature model of every other fire station in the city. "We could get four firefighters around the kitchen table to eat, but that was it," Battalion Chief Peter Benesch said. "When we added a second engine and four more men per shift, the new guys had to eat standing up." At the shift change, there were 16 firefighters from four engine companies bumping into each other coming and going. It looked like a scene right out of the Keystone Kops Keystone Kops the slapstick film comedians specializing in wild chases (1912-1920). [Am. Cinema: Halliwell, 399] See : Zaniness , Firefighter Jeff Bader said. When I asked to talk to a veteran of Station 81, they looked around and gave me Bader. He's been there three years. That's veteran's status at Station 81. Three years. "To be honest, nobody likes to stay here long," he said Thursday. "It's cramped, busy and there's a high turnover." And that's how Cinderella was struggling along fighting fires in this city for the past 52 years until Prince Charming Prince Charming handsome suitor fulfills a maiden’s dreams. [Fr. Fairy Tale: Cinderella] See : Love, Victorious showed up one day about six months ago. He took one look at Cinderella and said to himself, "What the heck is going on here?" "I live about a mile from the station and stopped by one afternoon on my way home," Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. City Councilman Tony Cardenas Tony Cardenas served in the California State Assembly. In the Assembly, he had the powerful position of chair of the Budget Committee. He is now a Los Angeles City Councilman, representing the 6th district, which includes parts of the San Fernando Valley. said. "While I was visiting with the firefighters, a 911 call came in, and everybody was literally stepping over each other to respond, the place was so small. "I thought to myself, `This ain't cool. These guys are protecting and risking their lives for us, and we've got them living and working out of a shoebox shoe·box n. 1. An oblong box, usually made of cardboard, for holding a pair of shoes. 2. Something resembling or suggestive of such a box, as a plain, rectangular building or a cramped room or dwelling. Noun 1. ?"' Since Prince Charming has some clout in this city, he thought he could get the powers that be to do something about it. He was wrong. A new, bigger, more beautiful Station 81 was being built on the old General Motors site in Van Nuys, and there was no bond money left over to fix up an old station - even one that had served its city so well for more than half a century. Prince Charming did some digging and learned that was only half the story. True, a bigger, more beautiful Station 81 would be completed this October to serve the Van Nuys and Panorama City areas, but that would still leave Arleta and Pacoima outside the five-minute response-time area the Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), also known as the Los Angeles City Fire Department to distinguish it from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles. shoots for. That meant there would be, in effect, two Station 81s. The new, modern 2006 model, and good old 1952 Cinderella still fighting fires and cleaning up the ashes afterward. "I talked to some of the LAFD LAFD Los Angeles Fire Department LAFD Los Alamos Fire Department LAFD London Association of Funeral Directors (UK) brass, and we all agreed to forget the process and go outside the system to give these firefighters a place they deserved," Cardenas said. Enter Stephen Ross Stephen Ross may refer to:
"We took one look around the station and were shocked," Ross said Thursday. "The guys couldn't even sit down and have a meal together. There was no air, no ice machine, no lockers. The living conditions living conditions npl → condiciones fpl de vida living conditions npl → conditions fpl de vie living conditions living were terrible, and these were the guys we were counting on to keep us safe." So the boss sent over one of his building crews to give Cinderella a makeover. New, modern kitchen and bigger sleeping quarters. The firefighters ate out at Mexican and fast-food restaurants for a few months while the kitchen was being completed, Bader said Thursday at Cinderella's makeover ceremony. It took four months to complete and could have been done in half the time if the bureaucracies dealing with permits in this city had cut them some slack for doing a free, public-service job. But that's another story he'll be taking up with his pal, Prince Charming, soon, Ross said. Bottom line, for about $50,000 in materials and a lot more in free labor costs, the firefighters working in the San Fernando Valley's busiest engine company station are finally sitting down together to share a meal in comfort while on duty. It was a little before 10 p.m. Wednesday when Prince Charming stopped on his way home to see how Cinderella was doing after her face-lift. The crew members on duty heated him up a cup of coffee in their new microwave, told Cardenas to pull up a chair at their new table and thanked him. She may be pushing 55, but Cinderella never looked so good. dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3749 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Apron-clad Councilman Tony Cardenas, the Prince Charming for Cinderella Station 81, joins the crew at the table. John Lazar/Staff Photographer |
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