By Daily Press staff
After falling victim to an earthquake and a fire, Santa Monica’s fire station No. 2 is up and running again.
The station, which was deemed seismically unsafe following the Northridge earthquake in 1994, remained in service for the next few years while plans for a new station were drawn up and approved.
But then a fire broke out last April, when the station was almost completed. The fire, caused by oil-soaked rags, gutted the second floor of an unmanned fire station in Ocean Park.
The rags were left balled up on the floor and the fumes from them could not escape, which caused the rags to heat up until they burst into flames.
The two-alarm fire at Fire Station 2 on Hollister Avenue caused an estimated $500,000 in damages to the second floor and attic of the facility.
The new fire house had been under construction for more than a year and was only weeks away from completion.
All 39 on-duty Santa Monica fire fighters were called to the scene to combat the flames that torched their new home. They were joined by six fire fighters from Los Angeles Fire Department Station 63 in Venice Beach.
Station 2 was originally built in 1952. One engine company and one paramedic squad team will be stationed at the new facility. In addition to the fire engine and ambulance assigned to those firefight-ers, several other pieces of equipment will be stored at Station 2, including the Urban Search and Rescue truck, a reserve fire engine, and a brand-new truck outfitted for fighting brush fires.
An open house at the stationed is scheduled for today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Station tours will be available.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 1, 2003. Read the original PDF.