Beginning this month, the Santa Monica Fire Department will operate out of their new Fire Station 1 at 1337 7th Street serving the Downtown community. The new essential services facility has been under construction since June 2018 and replaces SMFD’s first and oldest station.  

Fire Station 1 serves the downtown core and is Santa Monica’s most active station with 8,948 calls for service a year. The station houses SMFD’s largest equipment, including its ladder truck. A total of 15 firefighters will be assigned to the station.  Here are other essential features of the new station: 

• A two-story facility that spans over 28,000 square feet 
• Able to remain operational after a major disaster, allowing fire personnel to continue providing vital services to the public 
• Bathrooms and 20 dormitories to accommodate both male and female firefighters 
• Community room available to the public to reserve for use 
• A public artwork called Back Story, by Deborah Aschheim, consisting of panes of painted and fired art glass “watercolors” featuring historic and contemporary images of Santa Monica firefighting life. This artwork was produced as part of Santa Monica’s Percent for Art program. 
• Secured underground parking for fire personnel and smaller equipment 
• State of the art infrastructure that supports fire department equipment storage, maintenance, and repair 
• Rooftop solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity, which will cut down on energy costs
• The building will achieve LEED V4 certification to ensure the project is designed and constructed to the highest level of sustainability 

The station has seven bays. According to SCMA Member Kent Cullom, the bays, from left to right in the photo above, are Museum Bay, Battalion-1, Engine-6 (Paramedic Engine Company with a crew of 2), Engine-1 (Paramedic Engine Company with a crew of 4), Truck-1 (100′ Ladder Truch with a crew of 5), Rescue-1, Utility-1.

Sources: Kent Cullom, SCMA Member LA-111; Santa Monica Fire Department