Fire Station in Cerritos: Clean, Classic and Classy

If there is another fire station in Southern California like Fire Station 30 in Cerritos, Assistant Los Angeles County Fire Chief Morrie Gregory doesn’t know of it.

Station 30 is a two-story, 10,000-square-foot structure designed in what Cerritos city officials describe as Early American style using varicolored common brick with plenty of oak doors, glass and brass railings.

Officially opened last year, it was built by the City of Cerritos for $1.3 million and leased to the county Fire Department for $1 a year. The object is to make it blend in with other projected buildings.

“It is very unusual, to say the least,” said Gregory, whose office occupies a corner of the second floor. “People drop by and tell the firefighters . . . their station is the type of structure that is torn down these days and replaced by plastic and chrome.”

Station 30 houses a truck and an engine company as well as a rescue squad. It is also home for both a battalion and a division (assistant) chief and is the area’s fire-prevention headquarters.

The firefighters like it there, Gregory said, because “the place is designed for comfortable living. . . .”

The dormitories allow for more privacy than most stations have.

There is a brass pole, but it is “strictly for show.”

The firefighters live on the first floor.