Fire station construction bogs down




COMING SOON—The opening of new fire station No. 89 on Canwood Street in Agoura Hills has been pushed back to April, due to construction delays, officials said.

COMING SOON—The opening of new fire station No. 89 on Canwood Street in Agoura Hills has been pushed back to April, due to construction delays, officials said.


Last year’s rainy season caused delays in the construction of Fire Station No. 89 on Canwood Street in Agoura Hills but, fortuitously, the showers exposed high water levels at the site and forced the contractors to redesign the project properly.

Ken Pellman, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, said the discovery of the high water table prompted MTM Construction, Inc. and Osborn Architects to revise the fire station to match the site conditions.

“They had to put in a dewatering system to redirect water out of the site,” Pellman said.

The rain and the station redesign pushed the project back by several months, but Pellman said construction is expected to be completed by April. “The fire department would move in after that and probably (be) functioning some time in the summer,” he added.

Pellman said the cost of the new fire station increased with the delays. The initial construction costs were estimated at $3.2 million, but the delays and redesign pushed the price upward to $4 million.

“They tell us what they need and we build to suit,” Pellman said.

The new facility will span 10,250 square feet and will house an engine company, paramedic squad, fueling station, battalion chief office and garage, training room and dormitory quarters for 10 firefighters.

Last year, residents on the south side of the 101 freeway voiced concern about the regional paramedic squad being moved from Fire Station No. 65, which previously handled calls for the area, to the new station.

Assistant Fire Chief Reggie Lee quelled fears when he said each fire station, including No. 65, on Cornell Road east of Kanan Road, has its own engine, which is considered the “first responder” in an emergency.

Automatic electric defibrillators are stored on each engine to aid heart attack victims. Emergency medical technicians know how to operate the machines and are trained in life-saving measures, Lee said.

Maria Grycan, the community services representative for the Los Angeles County Fire Depart-ment’s central region, said Fire Station No. 65 will respond primarily to incidents south of the 101 freeway.   “The paramedic squad will continue to respond within its current regional boundaries, which are, basically, the western part of Calabasas, Agoura, Agoura Hills, and Westlake Village. 

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“Because our statistical data shows us that the majority of medical calls are on or north of the 101 freeway, we made a decision to relocate the squad’s living quarters to the new fire station (No. 89),” Grycan said.   Fire Station No. 89 marks the first fire station to be built within the city limits of Agoura HillsGrycan said. This additional station, which will handle calls north of the 101 freeway, “should result in improved response times to incidents north of the freewaywhile maintaining our existing exemplary response times to incidents south of the freeway,” said Grycan

Regionally, there are 11 fire stations with four paramedic squads

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