SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Old Firehouse to Be Brought Up to Code
An old Orange County firehouse that is now home to a nutrition program for the city’s elderly will be overhauled to bring it up to county earthquake safety standards, a city official said Monday.
A study by county building officials made public last week listed the fire station among seven county buildings likely to collapse in a serious earthquake. Elaine Martinez, building and safety supervisor for San Juan Capistrano, said she will inspect the building today and begin work on a proposal to retrofit it.
A complex of four separate buildings at the site of the fire station house a variety of community service programs, including nutrition and exercise classes for senior citizens. Martinez said she would not know until after her inspection which of the other structures would have to be retrofitted.
The city is in the process of buying the old fire station, which it now leases from the county, Martinez said.
The county study was in response to a state law passed several years ago requiring all localities to identify “unreinforced masonry structures” by January, 1990.
Other public buildings listed as potentially hazardous included five fire stations still in use, and a building in downtown Santa Ana used by county maintenance crews.
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