Four vehicles were destroyed when fire ripped through Orange County Fire Authority Station 61 early Thursday.
Engine 61 was dispatched to an EMS call at 3:11 a.m., fire officials said.
“They (Engine 61 personnel) were dropping that patient off at a local hospital when they got the call that their station was on fire,” Capt. Larry Kurtz told the Orange County Register. “They raced back to fight their own fire.”
The crews from Ladder 61 was able to escape the building uninjured.
The fire destroyed an aerial ladder, battalion chief's vehicle, a rescue boat and a swift water rescue vehicle, the newspaper reported.
“The bottom line is we’re so happy there were no injuries,” Buena Park Mayor Beth Swift said. “Shocking as it is to have a fire at a fire station, the firefighters know their jobs and they do them well.”
Firefighters brought the fire under control around 8 a.m.
Kurtz said the building suffered extensive damage and most likely can't be repaired.
Fire officials plan to move firefighters into a hotel and deploy spare vehicles to keep crews in service in the area.
"We have plans in place for scenarios like this. We’re a very large organization, and we have plenty of backup apparatus and quarters," Kurtz said.
According to a recent article in the Orange County Register, county officials were looking at plans to build a new station to replace the 50-year-old structure.
Aaron France, assistant to the city manager, told the newspaper that the station “has real issues, and we’ve been putting Band-Aids on the situation."
