Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

LOS ANGELES – Mayor Antonio R.Villaraigosa, with executives from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and City fire and airport departments on Thursday, November 12, broke ground for a new replacement Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) facility at the nation’s second busiest airport.

The $13.5 million Los Angeles Fire Department Station 80 project received 10.8 million in federal stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. "The new Fire Station 80 at LAX will improve our readiness for an emergency at the airport, clear the way for further airport modernization, and provide jobs to help revive the economy," Villaraigosa said.

"This Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting facility will make LAX safer and better prepared to handle any type of emergency, as well as to accommodate bigger, cleaner, quieter, modern aircraft that keep pace with the changing world of aviation," the mayor declared.

The new ARFF station will replace the current 30-year-old structure and will be located midway between the north and south airfield complexes further west of the passenger terminal area where the current station is located.

"We are really truly happy to be a part of the future of this modernization plan," said Millage Peaks, Chief of the L.A. Fire Department. "Our current facility is 14,000 square feet; it will be 28,000 square feet; from four bays, it will have seven bays; from one storey to two storey. We are closer to the taxiways, to the runways; so we feel that we can better protect the aircraft in case of an aircraft accident," Peaks added.

The new facility is designed to better accommodate the size, volume and nature of operations at LAX associated with new-generation aircraft, such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing B787. It will also provide living, administrative and training areas for 14 firefighters assigned to each 24-hour shift. Construction is expected to be completed Fall 2010.

"We are going to have the same number of firefighters serving the airport here in two times the amount of space where we have been storing vehicles and apparatus up in the air; now we can move them in the fire station and protect them," added Peaks. "It’s going make it much better working environment for firefighters."

Los Angeles World Airports Board of Airport Commissioners Vice President Valeria C. Velasco said, "Moving forward in modernizing LAX also means modernizing our rescue and firefighting facilities. The new Station 80 will provide state-of-the-art facilities and more space so that the firefighters can continue their tradition of maintaining the highest degree of safety and readiness at LAX as it has done since 1941."

The ARFF construction project is supported by $10,832,000 in Economy Recovery grant funding from the FAA, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The remainder is funded by airport revenue bond proceeds. Airport officials estimated that up to 200 jobs at prevailing wages will be created during this project, including architects, engineers, inspectors, construction workers, building material fabricators, transport drivers and administrative support personnel. (Rene Villaroman/AJPress)

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( Published November 18, 2009 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A1 )