Briefly in the news

-- Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- The city’s firemen finally packed their bags at the

Radisson Hotel for the last time April 6 and moved into their new station

in Santa Ana Heights.

After a county fire station in the airport area caught fire last

December and went out of service, city officials decided to take over.

As a result, two rooms at the hotel became a makeshift fire station

and firemen used down time to get to know Santa Ana Heights -- an

unincorporated area the city is expected to annex by early 2002.

“Those firefighters who have been stationed at the Radisson have many

fond memories of the hospitality that the management and employees

showered on them,” Tim Riley, the city’s fire chief, wrote in a memo

Friday.

A double-wide trailer, the new station’s large front section will

include a kitchen and both living and office areas. In the back, the

three firefighters on duty will find beds and lockers as well as two

bathrooms.

City officials estimate that the project will cost about $608,860 this

year, which includes the hiring of nine new firefighters.

But the new station, at the corner of Zenith Avenue and Orchid Street,

will also be temporary. City officials have leased the land from the

county for two years at $1 a year.

A permanent fire station will be built later, once the neighborhood

becomes part of Newport Beach.