New Airport Wagon, The Fireman's Grape Vine, June 1945

    Although the men and equipment at Engine 80 began operating out of their newly constructed fire station on May 8th, the formal dedication of the $140,000 fire protection facility, located at 10435 South Sepulveda Blvd., took place at 10:00 A.M. on the morning of May 29, 1956.

    Fire protection by the Los Angeles Fire Department for the L. A. International Airport and surrounding area was first established in 1941 with the installation of personnel and apparatus in a building moved onto the airport property for use as a fire station.  A 1918-750 GPM Seagrave Triple Combination Pumper with a 60 gallon chemical tank constituted the assignment of apparatus to the station at that time.  This original location was adjacent to the old Airport Administration Building on the south side of the air field.  Later, the building was again moved to the address of 5905 W. Imperial Highway, at which time the original "hose tower," a cross-piece fixed between two retired telephone poles, was uprooted and transplanted at the second location of the station.  This re-installation was not entirely without incident, for it seems that in digging post holes for the rack, a large underground tank of aviation gasoline got in the way of the diggers, creating some excitement for reasons familiar to firemen.  Eventually, a regular hose drying suspension rack was installed.

        In 1943 the Crash Wagon came on the scene necessitating construction of an additional out-building for housing that piece of apparatus.

    In 1946 a dormitory section, almost half again the size of the main building, was added and the number of toilet, wash-bowl and bathing facilities was increased from one each to two each.

    During these years of comparative roughing it for the men who fought the Airport fires, something better in the way of quarters and equipment was being planned for them.  Probably the greatest impetus toward the realization of these plans was the overnight growth of the passenger terminals now to be seen along the north side of the air field, a development which greatly multiplied the importance of good fire protection facilities on the Airport itself.  Tremendous developments of surrounding industrial and residential areas in the past ten years have added fantastic burnable values to the responsibility that goes with Engine 80's responses to Westchester area alarms.

    These thoughts and reflections were on the minds of many as an audience of Westchester citizens, firemen and their families and many airport residents heard Mr. Paul Bjornsen of the Westchester Chamber of Commerce and Master of Ceremonies for the occasion open the program by asking Dr. J. Richard Sneed, member of the L. A. Fire Commission, to give the invocation.
 

    During the course of the ceremony several speakers from the various City departments and communities represented paid tribute to the wisdom of the citizens of Los Angeles and its City Fathers in providing for the new fire facility, to the men who were directly responsible for getting the job done and to the fire fighters who were rightly deserving of the best in accommodations and equipment.

    Chief Engineer William L. Miller of the Fire Department introduced the Fire Chiefs who were present and, on behalf of his entire uniformed personnel, spoke of the part the new Fire Station 80 is to play in the continuance of the Los Angeles Fire Department's pledge to protect life and property in the City of Los Angeles.

    Representing Mayor Norris Poulson in the Mayor's absence, Board of Public Works Commissioner Arch Field presented a three foot long "key to the station" to President G. William Shea of the Board of Fire Commissioners, the inscription on which signified completion of the construction of the station by the Department of Public Works and occupancy by the Fire Department.

    Councilman L. E. Timberlake, whose name appears on the identifying plate on the front of the building, expressed his appreciation and well wishes for the future of the fire station on behalf of the citizens of his 6th Council District in the Westchester area.

    Other speakers included Bert Rhine, Vice Chairman of the Traffic and Aviation Committee of the Los Angeles Senior Chamber of Commerce and Mr. Robert McMillan, General Manager of the Department of Airports.

    Fire Commissioner, Shea addressed the gathering, introducing the other four members of the Board of Fire Commissioners and concluding the ceremony with a unique reference to the airport residents and the people of the surrounding communities, and their moral responsibility to know exactly how to call for the aid of the fire-fighting units at engine 80.  This last point he demonstrated by picking up a telephone, dialing the emergency number 116 and simulating a call to the Fire Department, an act which triggered the fire alarm bell, the sirens and the red lights, and thus a sham response by apparatus to an actual demonstration of fire fighting tactics put on by the firemen in an area apart from the building, but within sight of the spectators.

To the members of Engine and Crash 80, who played host for the remainder of the day to visitors who wished to inspect the new station, the change-over from their old quarters to the new marks a long-awaited day, but they will tell you that the change will be complete some time in the not too distant future when a new Tanker, a bigger and better Crash Wagon and an Aerial Truck, all of which are planned for in the 1956-57 budget, are in service at 80's and ready to roll.