By Brittany Hanson/Garden Grove Journal
After a year of work and living in tents and temporary structures, Stanton’s fire service now has a new home. Fire station 46, served by the Orange County Fire Authority, used to be a converted house on Pacific Avenue that fire teams would have to awkwardly back their truck into.
“We used to have to worry about inviting people who had claustrophobia,” said Fire Chief Keith Richter, “Now we have to worry about people with a fear of wide open spaces.”
Now, the brand the new station has spacious, individual dorm rooms that are outfitted with closets, desks and brand new beds. There is a large, modern kitchen, a weight room, multiple bathrooms, a meeting room, offices and a very, very large garage for the two engines.
The old station, called, Fort Apache, was converted from a residential home into a station in the 1950’s.
According to Councilman David Shawver, it is one of the last fire stations in Orange County to receive the makeover treatment.
“The old, original siren is still here though. We’ll have to turn it on some night and wake up everybody in the neighborhood,” said Shawver.
Construction contracting was through Ericson-Hall Construction, a company that has worked on several fire stations throughout California.
Dave Bennett, construction manager for Stanton’s capital improvement projects, said that the project is a huge success and that Ericson-Hall made beautiful choices for the architecture of the building.
“But really, it’s the most fun to see the expressions on the fire people’s faces,” said Bennett.
