Lean Times at Firehouse : New Costa Mesa Station Opens With a Slim Crew

The new fire station sits on the edge of a cucumber and onion field, its unusual blue glass atrium and white tile walls gleaming over the freshly tilled land.

The station, which officially opens today, cost more than $3.4 million to build and equip. Architecturally, it is unlike any of its brown stucco predecessors. Among the important facilities it provides fire protection for are the Orange County Performing Arts Center and South Coast Plaza.

For a while, the station had one major shortcoming: The city had no money to hire firefighters to staff it.

Money was raised to build the station but none was set aside to hire firefighters.

“Two-and-a-half years ago when we started building, we didn’t know the economy was going to do what it did,” said Jim Richey, administrative division chief.

The solution to the problem has been a complete reshuffling of firefighters throughout the city, leaving fewer at each station but giving the new Metro Fire Station someone to answer the bell.

Plans for the Metro station began in the mid-1980s, as the skyline in northern Costa Mesa was filling up with skyscrapers. The Segerstroms were fulfilling their grand scheme to transform Bristol Street into the Rodeo Drive of Orange County. And many corporations, including IBM, were setting up shop in town. Thousands of commuters were exiting off the San Diego Freeway to spend their days in the office towers.

Business was booming. Officials watching the rapid growth became concerned that this bustling northern slice of the city would be left stranded if a major disaster occurred. It was decided that a new fire station was needed. In the meantime, an agreement was worked out with the Santa Ana Fire Department to cover the area, until Metro was built.

“If building was going to continue, there was a need for a station north of the freeway,” Richey said. “Especially, if there was an earthquake or a huge disaster.”

The city built the station by selling bonds, even mortgaging its public golf course in the process, officials said.

Millionaire businessman Roy Sakioka donated a chunk of his 74-acre farm for the firehouse on Sakioka Drive. And a special fire fund was established into which landowners in the area had to pay if they wanted to build on their land. Known around town as the “big boys,” the group owning property near Metro who have paid into the fund include such notables as C.J. Segerstrom & Sons and Arnel Development.

“It kinda was a joke about how fancy it is going to be,” said Mayor Sandra L. Genis. “The city would have been content with just our standard square box-like fire station.”

In 1990, a Buddhist monk--requested by the Sakioka family--and a Catholic priest presided over groundbreaking ceremonies. Since then, George Sakioka, Roy Sakioka’s grandson, has kept a close eye on the building of Metro, handpicking the architects and many of the fine details, including about $56,000 in upgrades such as mature, drought-resistant trees, and a red “eyebrow,” an architectural enhancement over the station’s name. There also is oil- and water-resistant flooring in the engine room and a brass pole for the firefighters to slip down in the night to reach their fire engine.

But this year, with state budget cuts, city officials realized they couldn’t afford to hire the firefighters to man the station and, in fact, would have to reduce the city’s 104-person firefighting force by nine.

The remaining 95 firefighters will be reshuffled citywide to allow staffing at Metro Station. Fire officials emphasize, however, that the number of firefighters on duty at any one time will remain the same. Their overtime will increase.

A fire engine from the Royal Palms station that serves the Mesa Verde area of the city has been moved to Metro, leaving both stations with one engine company.

In addition to gearing up for more overtime, firefighters will be charting response times to make sure the shifting doesn’t hurt their ability to do their job.

“If our level of service does drop, it is not going to be because the firemen are not trying hard and not giving it their all. You can’t be everywhere all the time,” Richey said, adding that the situation will be closely monitored over the next several months. “Only time will tell.”