Fire station No. 7 opens it doors

Mathis Winkler

SANTA ANA HEIGHTS -- More than three months after Newport Beach

firefighters moved into the city’s newest fire station, the guys in blue

finally came around Saturday to welcome neighbors to a housewarming

party.

Mingling with folks at Newport Beach fire station No. 7, Fire Chief

Tim Riley said he was glad the event turned out to be a success.

“We have a happening going on here,” he said as about 100 people

checked out fire engines and the station in the background. “They’ve

turned this into a neighborhood party.”

Capt. John Blauer, the department’s spokesman, added that the party

also gave firefighters a chance to learn about the area’s history.

“Normally it takes two or three years,” he said.

City officials decided to set up shop at Zenith Avenue and Orchid

Street after the Orange County Fire Authority’s fire station near John

Wayne Airport caught fire last December.

County firefighters were still responsible for the area, although

Newport Beach will likely annex Santa Ana Heights in the near future.

But noticing a drop in response time after county engines began

answering calls from an Irvine location, city officials decided to deal

with the matter right away.

In January, they stationed an engine at a hotel in the airport area

and began serving Santa Ana Heights as well.

City Council members then approved funding for a temporary station for

the neighborhood and firefighters moved into the trailer at the current

location in early April.

City Manager Homer Bludau, who stopped by the festivities, said he

believed setting up the fire station was the right thing to do.

“I salute the council to take that step,” he said, adding that at a

cost of about $1 million per year, the station takes a significant sum

out of city coffers a couple of years earlier than anticipated.

Santa Ana Heights residents said they are grateful that Newport Beach

is looking out for them.

“It’s great to have that protection,” said Jean Whitney, who has lived

in the equestrian neighborhood for about 40 years.

Sitting on a vintage fire engine, 6-year-old Lotte Martin said she’d

come to have fun.

The station “looks like a regular house,” she said, adding that she’s

considering becoming a firefighter, but still favors a career as a

dentist or doctor.

Her dad, Gary, added that the firefighters have been great neighbors

so far.

“They’re very quiet,” he said, adding that he was concerned at first

about possible siren noise since his family lives just three houses down

the road.

But “they’re pretty good about not turning [the sirens] on until the

get out of the area,” he said.