September 3, 2004

Fire Station 4 reopens amid fun, frolic and food

There were speeches, of course, but there was also a lot of fun and laughter, not to mention a great lunch when Fire Station 4 at 710 Leigh Avenue reopened on Aug. 6. The grand re-opening featured Mayor Ron Gonzales, District 6 City Councilmember Ken Yeager and San Jose Fire Chief Jeff Clett among others.

At least 60 people watched the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the first of three ceremonies during August to reopen fire stations remodeled through Measure O, passed in 2002. Besides the ceremonies, there were activities for everyone, including the kids, and lunch was served by folks from the Sherman Oaks Community Center.

San Jose voters approved Measure O, also titled the “9-1-1, Fire, Police, Paramedic and Neighbor-hood Security Act” in March 2002 to add, relocate and upgrade fire and police facilities, including training facilities to improve the city’s public safety services.

Since then, planning, design and construction has been completed at three stations: Fire Station 4; Fire Station 13 on Pearl Avenue and Fire Station 26 on Tully Road. Funding from Measure O allows the city to bring these fire stations in line with current public safety standards that will keep them operational during power outages, earthquakes or other disruptions.

Some improvements address gender privacy issues such as expansion and addition of men’s and women’s bathrooms and locker rooms, new accessible visitor restrooms, improved kitchen and dining rooms, added space for station offices and concrete driveway replacements.

The projects improve the fire fighters’ working environment. In addition, they provide the city and its inhabitants with essential service facilities that will continue to effectively service citizens during any types of emergencies.