Maid service included

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- Except for the dark blue uniforms hanging in the

closet and a couple of hand-held radios on the desk, Room 207 at the

Radisson hotel wouldn’t strike visitors as particularly unusual.

But in this case, the minor details make all the difference. Since

Monday morning, three Newport Beach firefighters have set up camp at the

hotel to improve fire services in the city’s airport area and Santa Ana

Heights.

Previously served by the Orange County Fire Authority’s Fire Station

27, emergency response times had dropped below the standard after the

station caught fire in December and county firefighters were moved to

another station on Gillette Avenue in Irvine. The fire, apparently caused

by a malfunctioning attic heater, left one firefighter slightly injured

and caused about $13,000 worth of damage, according to a statement

released by authority officials at the time.

On Wednesday, “Danger -- Do not enter” signs were still posted at the

building that sits near John Wayne Airport’s runway at the corner of

Campus Drive and Dove Street. No date has been set to reopen the station,

said Capt. Paul Hunter, a spokesman for the fire authority.

Newport Beach Fire Department officials decided something had to be

done after monitoring services in the area since the fire and subsequent

move took place.

While county firefighters responded to 95% of all emergency calls

within five minutes before their own station became uninhabitable, the

situation flipped during the last five weeks. Fire engines arrived at the

scene of an emergency within acceptable response-time limits for only 5%

of all calls, said Tim Riley, Newport Beach’s fire chief.

“The response times aren’t that great,” he said. “We took it serious.”

City officials decided the situation called for immediate remedy.

While discussing the proposed annexation of Bay Knolls, Newport Coast and

Santa Ana Heights with City Council members at a retreat at the Radisson

hotel on Saturday, City Manager Homer Bludau brought up the problem.

Because state law doesn’t allow council members to take action on

issues that have not been publicized before a meeting, the city’s elected

officials directed Bludau to put the topic on the agenda for their Feb.

13 meeting.

Bludau acknowledged Wednesday that he had authorized the makeshift

hotel-room fire station as the city’s chief executive without explicit

orders by council members. But in the interest of public safety, such

emergency action was warranted, he said.

“If the council doesn’t agree, they can hold me accountable,” Bludau

said. “I’m just uncomfortable with leaving that hole remaining.”

While council members also had not asked city officials to scout out

possible sites for a more permanent station in the area, Bludau said that

looking into the matter was simply “part of good staff work to make sure

what the alternatives are.”

Council members seemed equally concerned about improving the situation

right away.

“We should try and turn that into something permanent as soon as

possible,” Councilwoman Norma Glover said. “We just haven’t been

cognizant of the full situation, I think.”

Councilman Steve Bromberg added that providing excellent fire services

was a moral issue as well.

“We pride ourselves with exceptional quality on these services,” he

said. “And we have an area of the city that might not receive the benefit

of [a five-minute] response time.”

At the hotel, Fire Department officials said they might already have

found the perfect location.

A property owner just a few blocks from the hotel has said he would

let the department put up a trailer in his parking lot for free, said

Battalion Chief Ron Sutherland, who supervises fire operations throughout

the city.

Sutherland added that his department was prepared to respond to calls

from the hotel rooms for at least a few weeks. But stationing a trailer

in the area would depend on whether council members decide to go ahead

with the annexation of Santa Ana Heights.

City officials expect to file an application for annexation with the

county by the end of the month. The three areas could become part of

Newport Beach by January 2002.

This possible transfer of power of Santa Ana Heights from the county

to Newport Beach had probably kept county fire authority officials from

rushing to put Fire Station 27 back into service, said the city’s fire

chief.

Authority officials “were looking at what it was going to take for

them to refurbish that site,” Riley said. “Orange County doesn’t want to

go through a lot of expense if we annex” Santa Ana Heights.

Below-standard services in that neighborhood would technically not

have to concern the city at this point because the county still has

jurisdiction and provides fire services. But the fire authority also

served Newport Beach’s airport area under an agreement with the city. In

return, Newport Beach firefighters help out in the Newport Coast area,

which is also still under county control, Riley said.

Returning from a call shortly after noon Wednesday -- a man had passed

out in a nearby parking lot and paramedics had taken him to Irvine

Medical Center -- the hotel-based trio of firefighters said they’d never

experienced anything like their current posting before.

“It’s different,” said Firefighter Tim Richards after climbing the two

dozen stairs from the street to the second-floor room. “No cooking

facilities. No workout facilities.”

After 29 hours of a 48-hour shift, the novelty seemed to have already

worn off, a little, for Richards. Capt. Axel Zanelli and Engineer Jim

Pasternak, who had come on duty Wednesday morning, seemed more amused.

Asked if the hotel television included movie cable channels, Pasternak

was quick to respond.

“Usually it’s Fire Department-related films that we watch up here,” he

said, smiling. “No HBO.”

Sutherland, who had stopped by to check on his pioneer firefighters,

said the kitchen-less room probably did inconvenience the men. The city’s

fire stations all include kitchens to keep firefighters fed during their

long shifts.

“The nice thing is that they don’t have to clean the bathroom,”

Sutherland said, adding that firefighters keep the city’s six fire

stations tidy themselves. “They have maid service.”

A quickly purchased microwave and a refrigerator that hotel officials

had delivered to the room are helping to alleviate the problem,

Sutherland said.

He added that the city had rented two rooms for $84 each per night.

“They gave us the government rate,” he said.

And while trying to make the experience as pleasant as possible, the

battalion chief pointed out that some lines had been drawn.

“We put the clamps down,” he said, laughing. “We told them, ‘No

charging to the room. If you order room service, put it on your own

credit card.’ . . . How bad can it be? Sitting in a hotel room, waiting

for calls?”