STATION 33 OFFICIALLY PART OF THE ROSTER OLD FIRE TRUCK'S BELL BACK ON JOB AT A.V. FACILITY.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

LANCASTER - In 1945, Fred Morton Sr. became the Antelope Valley's only paid firefighter, in charge of the valley's only fire engine, in the valley's only fire station.

During the dedication Thursday of downtown Lancaster's third Station 33, Fred Morton Jr. presented a bell taken from the first fire truck, which his dad removed before it was scrapped in the mid 1950s.

Morton offered the bell in honor of his dad and as a token of the 62-year history of the downtown stations and the dedication of the men and women who have served there.

``My dad would have loved to see it grow to this,'' said Morton, who like his father retired as a Fire Department battalion chief. ``This would have been a dream for him. There's a lot of history here, for all of us.''

The dedication ceremony for the new station, open since March 15 on Date Avenue north of Lancaster Boulevard, included dignitaries from local, county and state offices.

They presented plaques and proclamations to the station and its firefighters for their dedication and service and honored their work at the second-busiest station in Los Angeles County.

``That's one of the values of getting a larger facility,'' said Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman. ``We can store more equipment and operate more efficiently. This station is relied on pretty heavily, being a ladder company, by the outlying stations. This is an important facility. We needed this one.''

The station is downtown Lancaster's third. The first station occupied a 2,000-square-foot building, still standing, on Cedar Avenue south of Lancaster Boulevard.

Firefighters moved in 1966 to a 5,600-square-foot station on Beech Street. The new facility encompasses 10,680 square feet of space.

Station 33 handled more than 160 fires last year and nearly 4,200 emergency calls.

``I think the facility, the station, speaks for itself,'' said Freeman. ``No matter how much the wind howls, how dark it is or how much snow is blowing around, these men and women are there.''

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Photo: (1 -- 2) Assistant Los Angeles Fire Chief William Bell speaks at the dedication Thursday of new Fire Station 33, above. At left, Retired Battalion Chief Fred Morton Jr. gives his daughter, Jasmine, 11, and son, Aaron, 7, an up-close look at a fire engine.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer