Firefighters of Buena Park Station 61 move into their new $13 million home after original burned down
BUENA PARK — It’s been a year and a half since a blaze burned down fire Station 61 on Western Avenue.
The January 2017 fire caused about $1.5 million in damage to equipment and scattered the displaced firefighters across North Orange County. They temporarily relocated to the vacant Walter Knott Elementary School in March of last year as a new permanent fire house, next door to the school, was under construction.
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On Wednesday morning, the approximately 40 firefighters of Station 61 moved into their new $13 million home, at 7440 La Palma Ave.
Parking overflowed and every seat in the fire station was filled as about 120 members of the Buena Park community came out in support, with a handful of residents hoping to fill the ranks themselves.
Spenser Nail and Tony Robinson, aspiring firefighters and recent graduates of Rio Hondo Fire Academy, said they hope to be working at Station 61 because of its state-of-the-art facilities and its proximity to their homes.
Both men said the Orange County Fire Authority directly influenced their career paths — personnel saved Nail’s life as a child and paramedics rescued Robinson’s father when he went into cardiac arrest.
Battalion Chief Kelly Zimmerman said Wednesday he was touched by the outpouring of support, particularly from the Orange County Quilters Guild, which made 37 quilts to replace the ones firefighters lost in the flames.
“The overwhelming gratitude of what it means that somebody would work so hard and dedicate so much of their time to help us for what we went through? It means the world. It’s a nice reminder that all our efforts to support the community does not go unnoticed,” Zimmerman said.
“I was on duty on the day of the fire and almost immediately, we saw a significant outreach and outpouring of community support,” he said. “It’s hard to even put that in words. We’re here to help them, but for them to turn around and give so much to us and have so much compassion and concern about our well-being is touching.”
The 18,000-square-foot building contains new dorms, administrative offices and other upgraded amenities. Buena Park Mayor Virginia Vaughn said the building is “economically and environmentally conscious” and uses a steel framework which will allow Station 61 to continue serving the city and surrounding communities for years to come.
Zimmerman said all firefighters originally housed at Station 61 have returned except for those who retired in the past year.
There were plans to build a new fire station, to replace the aging original facility, before the 2017 fire — a proposal came before the city council in 2016. But Vaughn said the 2017 fire expedited design and construction.
The incident is reported to have been an electrical fire originating in a tiller truck, Zimmerman said, but the damage was so severe it was difficult to place which component in the truck started the flames.
Zimmerman was there when the fire started.
He recalls waking up to what he describes as “explosions.” After coming downstairs, he said, he remembers seeing the fire station’s bay — or apparatus room — engulfed in flames. The firefighters of Station 61 jumped into action.
But Zimmerman said it was different than other fires they had fought because it was their things burning inside as they battled the flames.
“Some of the guys that have been there 15 years in their career — you start gathering little things that are mementos that are significant throughout your career and they lost all of those due to the fire,” he said.
Though they are excited about the new fire station, Zimmerman and the other firefighters stationed there said the old firehouse was more than just a station. It was their home away from home.
“There are a thousand memories around the coffee table where we laughed about and grieved the things that we saw,” Zimmerman said. “There are a thousand memories from the training and the things that we’ve done.”