BATTALION 14 News & Information

The official groundbreaking ceremony for new Fire Station 78 was held Monday, October 23, 2006. Guest speakers included Wendy Greuel, Councilmember, 2nd District, Yolanda Fuentes, Commissioner, Board of Public Works, Gary Moore, City Engineer, Andrew Friedman, Fire Commissioner, and William Bamattre, Fire Chief.

New Fire Station 78, located at 4041 Whitsett Avenue, Studio City, is one of the 19 replacement fire stations funded by the voter approved Proposition F Bond Measure. The new fire station, situated on one acre of land, will be a 2 story facility approximately 15,250 square feet, replacing the temporary station on Coldwater Canyon Blvd.

It is anticipated that construction will take approximately 14 to 18 months at a cost of 8 million dollars. The original Fire Station 78 was built in 1943, at a cost of $34,960. It was destroyed in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

On Sunday, October 22, Battalion 14 responded to a Physical Rescue at 12111 Saticoy St. in Fire Station 89s District. First units on scene found a small compact sedan that had impacted a street light standard at a high rate of speed.

Members of Task Force 89, Engine 77, Engine 81, Rescue 889 and Rescue 89 initiated a Physical Rescue operation to free the trapped driver of the vehicle. Fortunately the driver was the only occupant and there were no other vehicles involved.

The driver was quickly extricated and members immediately prepared the patient for transport while continuing their potentially life saving emergency medical treatment.

The vehicle struck the street light standard on the passenger side and compressed the vehicle in a manner that led emergency responders to believe that if a passenger was riding in the front seat that passenger most likely would not have survived.

The force of the impact sent the large sodium light fixture hanging from the standard crossarm flying through the air above the vehicle. The light fixture destroyed a neon storefront sign approximately 25 feet above the adjacent sidewalk.

These amazing pics were shot by Apparatus Operator Rob Curtis at the recent Day Fire. Rob, who is assigned to Fire Station 89 "B" Platoon, took the photos while driving by the incident in his personal car. Look closely at the bottom of the photos and note the firefighters. Rob said that as the fire blew up he saw them scrambling for safety from the intense heat and advancing flame.

Rob is an outstanding photographer whose work can be seen on this site as well as in many other media publications.

Thanks Rob!

Fire Station 60 recently installed a new tile floor in the station's kitchen area. The floor now features a beautiful mosiac created by DalTile. The floor design and installation was done by Gallagher Flooring and Interiors of Ventura, Ca.

Thanks to Pat Gallagher and his team for a great job!

On October 16, 17 and 18 the members of Battalion 14 stood Annual Inspection. The members of FS 60, FS 78, FS 86, FS 89, FS 97, FS 102 and FS 108 "A", "B" and "C" Platoons completed EXTENSIVE preparation for the inspection. Personnel, Apparatus, Quarters and Records were inspected by the Bureau, Division and Battalion Commanders.

The amount of time and effort the members put forth in preparing for this year's inspection was clearly evident. In addition to the "routine" cleaning and polishing, members at many stations completed "above and beyond" tasks, often using their own funds. Members constructed cabinets and shelving, fabricated storage units, installed tile flooring, replaced window blinds, etc. and basically gave an all out-no expense spared effort to stand tall.

The Battalion 14 Commanders would like to make one thing perfectly clear to all members...
YOU ALL STOOD TALL AT ANNUAL INSPECTION! Your actions were in the finest tradition of our Department and you need to know that.....

WE APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORTS!

Pete Benesch, Commander
Battalion 14, "A" Platoon

Evan Williams, Commander
Battalion 14, "B" Platoon

Patrick Shanley, Commander
Battalion 14, "C" Platoon

One of the most memorable images along the route of Lane Kemper's Memorial Procession was that of the young students of Chatsworth Park Elementary School wearing their red toy fire helmets, standing at attention and saluting as the Procession passed.

On Monday, October 9, LAFD members joined with parents and faculty members to give thanks for the memorable display of respect and character by the students.

Rose Kemper (left) joined event organizer Captain Steve Ruda, Fire Chief William Bammatre, Liz Bammatre, Assistant Chief Curtis James, Battalion Chief Butch Rose, Task Force 96 and other members in honoring the children.

As Captain Ruda noted, it is significant that the school is teaching the "Character Counts" pillars of character. In honoring Lane they demonstrated "Respect" in its' finest form and in a way that all in attendance will never forget.

For additional pics please visit http://lafd.blogspot.com and check the "flickr photo set.

Thank You Chatsworth Elementary School!