Community Comes to the Aid of Its Firefighters

Upset that one of Los Angeles’ nicest areas has one of its crummiest fire stations, residents of Bel-Air and Holmby Hills chipped in Sunday to help repair the place.

About 200 people showed up at a carnival that homeowners used to launch a campaign to raise $250,000. They want to buy heating and air-conditioning units and a new electrical system for Fire Station 71, located at the corner of Sunset and Beverly Glen boulevards.

Firefighters at the 57-year-old station bring their own portable plug-in heaters from home to keep warm. They are forced to alternate the use of electrical equipment to avoid blowing out fuses.

They’ve also used their own cash to buy window air conditioners for hot days and for a king-size attic fan, which tries mightily but fails to draw firetrucks’ diesel fumes away from the station’s living quarters.

Homeowners decided on the do-it-yourself renovation effort after April’s failure of Proposition 1, a citywide ballot measure that would have paid for $744 million in new and replacement fire stations and police facilities for the city.

It’s the fifth time in two years that affluent Westside residents have dug into their pockets to help firefighters.

Residents have started campaigns to pay for firehouse renovations in Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and Westwood--and a new fire engine for a Beverly Glen station.

“If the city isn’t going to do it, we should. We’re blessed to have a little better wherewithal than maybe some are,” said Richard Renaldo, a real estate broker who lives in the Beverly Glen area.

To prove the point, Renaldo was slipping on a Santa Claus beard in a narrow hallway behind Station 71’s cramped captain’s office.

Santa was part of the entertainment for Sunday’s kickoff carnival, which featured fire rescue demonstrations and an auction of celebrity items.

Among those items was a cast-autographed script from “Beverly Hills 90210” from producer Aaron Spelling, a nearby homeowner; an autographed spice box from model Cheryl Tiegs; and a Top-40 CD signed by radio personality Casey Kasem.

Kasem was among those who showed up to see for themselves the work that needs to be done at the station--built in 1942 out of what had been a subdivision sales office for the Janss Co., developer of Westwood.

Fire Capt. John Biggs said the station has lacked heat since asbestos insulation, used in its radiator system, was removed for safety reasons.

“We can’t turn on the indoor lights without blowing a fuse,” Biggs said of the electrical problems. “The paramedics have to use flashlights to read expiration dates on their medicines if they’re inside the station. We have to unplug the refrigerator to turn on the air compressor.”

Some firefighters are embarrassed about asking homeowners to kick in for repairs, Biggs said.

Russ Alben, a marketing consultant who lives in Bel-Air and helped organize the Station 71 campaign, said the decision was made early to seek wide community involvement rather than simply ask a few rich residents to write checks.

“These Westside communities tend to be cloistered. We felt we needed to draw people out from behind the gates,” Alben said.

Assistant Fire Chief Bob De Feo, who attended Sunday’s fund-raiser, said officials do not expect community donations to take the place of conventional budgeting--which equally divides municipal firefighting resources throughout Los Angeles. But the outside help will definitely speed repairs to Station 71, he said.

City Councilman Mike Feuer praised homeowner associations from Bel-Air, Benedict Canyon, Beverly Glen and Holmby Hills and Westwood for starting the campaign. He said city officials will try again to get the bond measure passed.

“I support this, but this should not be the be-all and end-all. Fundamental upgrades to a fire station should be done with municipal funds,” Feuer said.