Just less than two years ago, shovels broke ground at Fire Station 104’s new location. Today, fire trucks and personnel are fully operational in their new, 11,000-square-foot home.
The newest site represents the 15th station between the two battalions that cover the Santa Clarita Valley, Battalions 6 and 22, according to fire officials, who began to settle into their new digs at 26901 Golden Valley Road, near Newhall Ranch Road, in the days leading up to the opening.
“So far, so good,” said Fire Capt. Danny Riley on Wednesday. “It’s a beautiful new station and a very spacious one. We’re running trucks out of here now, and I think all the people in the community are excited.”
The new station can house as many as nine fire personnel and includes an apparatus space, a training and exercise room, a kitchen and a central office, and incorporates water-and-energy smart systems. Its cost was estimated at $14 million.
“It’s a critical facility to the community, and those that inhabit it have to be protected, as well,” said Mark Pestrella, Los Angeles County director of Public Works, about the station’s design. “This building should be here after a major earthquake and after a major fire.”
Since April 2018, the Fire Station 104 crew temporarily serviced out of Fire Station 150 on 19190 Golden Valley Road, the closest permanent station with the room and resources to hold additional firefighters, according to Assistant Fire Chief Anderson Mackey, in a previous interview.
Riley said the station is currently not welcoming the public in order to adhere to orders preventing gatherings due to the safety measures prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re going to have a grand opening or ribbon cutting over the next couple of months (since) we can’t have gatherings, but for now, we’re fully operating and staffed 24/7, and are ready to run,” said Riley.