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"Did we ever actually think we'd see this day?" quipped Fire Chief Lewis Broschard to the group of about 75 officials, dignitaries and residents who attended the midday ceremony at 4007 Los Arabis Drive. "It's been a long road, and thank you all for enduring this process."
It took the patience of Lafayette residents and city officials to endure the process, starting with the county closure of the station in 2012. The temporary trailer was removed, the old station was demolished and the reconstruction of the new building began four years later, but not before many heated meetings between Lafayette officials and fire district management. "When you do anything big that requires change, there can be difficult moments and hard decisions," said Traci Reilly, co-chair of the Lafayette Emergency Services Task Force, which grappled with a city threat to detach from ConFire after the Station 16 closure.
Lafayette residents persevered through an on-again, off-again fire station joint venture with the Moraga-Orinda Fire District and also frustration with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which took its time approving the installation of an electric meter and a transformer for the building, citing safety precautions. Only after Contra Costa County Supervisor Candace Andersen met with PG&E legal counsel was the station power situation settled.
But Sept. 9 was a day of celebration, as Broschard repeatedly referred to the new station as a fire house, a building where firefighters not only work but sleep, eat, exercise and study. In fact, many said the new station blends into the Lafayette neighborhood as seamlessly as any home on Los Arabis Drive.
"It fits in beautifully, right down to the basic design. It's a fantastic addition to the community," neighborhood resident John Fara said.
As beautiful as the western Lafayette neighborhoods are, they lie within a Cal Fire very high fire hazard severity zone. "Fire Station 16 will also provide a critical early response capability in this especially vulnerable wildland-urban interface area of our county," Broschard said.
Due to lot size constraints, Fire Station 16 comprises a single apparatus bay and dormitories and support facilities for a three-person firefighting crew; the ideal ConFire station includes a drive-through apparatus bay and room for two vehicles. However, the nonconforming station does not seem to deter employees desiring to work there. "I bid into this station and I can't wait to move in," Capt. Vince Wells, president of firefighters union Local 1230, told the crowd.
According to the district, the final cost of Station 16 was $4.5 million, slightly higher than the $3.5 million to $4 million estimate Broschard gave his board in 2016. Firefighters are scheduled to move into the new building by the end of September.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA