BUENA PARK: Firefighters battle blaze at one of their own stations
The blaze rages at Fire Station 61 in Buena Park. Buena Park Fire Department photo
BUENA PARK – Orange County firefighters found themselves battling a huge early-morning blaze at one of their own fire stations Thursday morning, Jan. 12. Firefighters from multiple agencies brought the fire completely under control about 13 hours after the fire was first reported.
The blaze was reported at Orange County Fire Authority’s Station 61 about 3:30 a.m. The fire station is in the 8000 block of Western Ave across the street from Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park.
All the firefighters who were inside the station house when the blaze erupted made it out of the burning building safely. All escaped the inferno without injury.
Firefighters assigned to Fire Station 61 later reported hearing a loud noise come from the apparatus bay where the vehicles and other equipment is stored.
Other witnesses who came forward after the fire said they heard an explosion come from inside the fire house. OCFA officials have not yet determined if an explosion of some type ignited the inferno.
The blaze quickly swept through the fire house, leaving it severely damaged. Buena Park Fire Department photo
No other structures were damaged in the fire.
Fire Station 61 houses Engine 61 and Truck 61. Fortunately, Engine 61 was not inside the fire station when the fire broke out because the engine crew had been dispatched to a medical aid call, less than two miles from the station house.
“(Engine 61 firefighters) were dropping that patient off at a local hospital when they got the call that their station was on fire,” OCFA Capt. Larry Kurtz said. “They raced back to fight their own fire.”
Several other vehicles that had been parked inside the building were destroyed, according to Kurtz.
The vehicles destroyed in the blaze included a $1 million, 100-foot-long aerial, ladder fire truck, a battalion chief’s Suburban, an OCFA pickup truck, and a Zodiac boat, used for swift-water rescues.
Most of the firefighter’s personal belongings and other firefighting equipment that were in the station when the blaze broke out were also lost in the fire.
A firefighter battles the blaze from the ground. Buena Park Fire Department photo
In all, about $1.5 million in firefighting equipment was believed to have been lost in the blaze, Kurtz said after the blaze was extinguished.
Nearly 65 firefighters from several local fire agencies responded to help fight the blaze.
Because the fire was burning so hot and the structure had become so unstable, fire officials deemed it would be too dangerous to attack the flames from the ground. Firefighters used tower and ladder mounted hoses to battle the blaze from above.
Buena Park police officers assisted with crowd and traffic control. Officials called for the full closure of Western Avenue in both directions, to ensure the safety of firefighters and other emergency first responders who were battling the blaze.
Once the aerial attack was successful in knocking down a large portion of the fire, ground crews were finally able to enter the still burning fire house about 8:30 a.m.; however it took firefighters until 2 p.m. to finish extinguishing lingering hotspots.
Firefighters from multiple agencies spent over 13 hours knocking the blaze down. Buena Park Fire Department photo
After the fire was knocked down, investigators from OCFA, Anaheim Fire Department, and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms responded to the location to investigate the cause of the fire.
While firefighters were still working at extensive overhaul and mop-up operations at the station, investigators had already begun to sift through the debris for clues as to the fire’s cause.
Officials have not yet determined the cause of the blaze at the aging and outdated station house.
The fire left the structure severely damaged and no longer usable. Building inspectors deemed part of the structure unsafe and unstable after the fire.
“The flames burned through first and second floors of the station, as well as the roof,” Kurtz said. “The likelihood of this being repaired and used again is slim.”
Plans were already underway to replace Fire Station 61 with a new, $13 million fire station.
The 50-year-old station responds to about 6,000 service calls annually; however it “has real issues, and we’ve been putting Band-Aids on the situation,” assistant to the city manager Aaron France, recently told the OC Register. Fire Station 61 has also undergone several expensive roof repairs in recent years, other city officials have said.
At 10 a.m. the next morning hotspots within the fire station were still smoldering.
Throughout the next day, curious onlookers drove slowly past Station 61 looking at the damaged and unusable station house. With its garage doors burned away, passersby could clearly see the devastation the fire station and vehicles parked in the apparatus bay sustained in the blaze.
Despite the loss of the station and the vehicles, Kurtz assured citizens that the loss of Station 61 would not impact firefighter coverage, explaining OCFA has back up contingency plans for all emergencies.
“We’re a very large organization, and we have plenty of backup apparatus and quarters,” Kurtz said to the OC Register.
Backup vehicles are being outfitted and moved into the area, Kurtz explained. Plans are also being made to use a local hotel or motel to house firefighters until more permanent accommodations can be arranged.
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Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, Personnel and Background Investigations and he finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator.
Trevor has been married for more than 26 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 – soon to be 13 – grandchildren.