Old Fire Station 6
By John A. Ackerman
Apparatus Committee
After Fire Station 6 was vacated by the fire department, it was
originally slated to be used as a community and youth center, housing
the Central City Action Committee and Angelino Heights Community
Organization. After months of persistent discussion between
Councilman Mike Hernandez and our own Isabel Rosas, the LAFD
Historical Society will now be able to occupy two of the three
apparatus bays and one of the downstairs offices.
The structure was built in 1929 at 1279 W. Temple, on the same site as
an older station built in 1900. When the Hollywood Freeway was
construed in the late 1940s, the station was moved by the State
Highway Division at a cost of $51,273. Total cost of land
exchange and building restoration after the move was $117,300.
Its new location was 534 N. Edgeware, where it remains today.
Station 6 was reopened on March 22, 1949, after a moving
process that took more than a year to complete. During
that time, Engine Company 6 operated out of an abandoned gas
station across the street, on the northwest corner of Temple
and Edgeware.
On August 6, 1987, a new Station 6 was established by the LAFD at 326
N. Virgil Ave. For a time, old Station 6 was temporarily occupied by
the department's Emergency Preparedness Division.
Details of
the Moving Process
It was determined that the brick building, which has a first-floor
area of 9,437 square feet, must be moved nearly a hundred yards up a
slight hill from its old location on Temple Street. It would
have to be turned 90 degrees to face Edgeware Road. The mover
divided the job into several distinct steps. First, the hose
tower was cut off at the second-floor level. Then timbers for
moving were set on the ground, the main floor headers were shored up
and the entire structure was raised four feet. Next, it was
pulled back (to the north) 30 feet, raised four feet higher, pulled
back again and moved another 50 feet to the position it now occupies.
The next scheduled step was the tricky task of turning the building
without buckling it. Finally, it was towed across Boston Street
to the new site. Once lifted, the actual move of the building
took two months.
FALL 2000 |
Los
Angeles Fire Department
Historical Society |
Vol.1 Issue 1 |
|