FIRE STATION NO. 5: Historic fire station rebuilt on same site

Another building is taking the place of a revered landmark

There is a first for everything.

When Las Vegas Fire Department officials decided to tear down Fire Station No. 5, near Hinson Street and West Charleston Boulevard, they knew it was going to be a special case. The station, commissioned May 1, 1957, held a special place in the hearts of the firefighters who worked there.

"It's a house. It's my house," said Joe DiGaetano, a firefighter at Fire Station No. 5 for three years. "I'm literally there one third of my life. We just happen to run calls that fight fire or save lives."

And so the city embarked on what would be the first replacement station to be rebuilt on its original site. Typically, stations are moved to maintain uninterrupted service. In this case, a truck and a small temporary office were set up, at the Elks Lodge next door to the site while crews doubled up at a station down the street.

"We really don't dispatch that way anymore," said Louis Baker, Las Vegas Fire Department construction project administrator. "But we liked our fire truck over there, and the neighbors liked that presence."

The decision to keep the station at its original site pushed firefighters to request items be salvaged from the old station -- a window, the wooden planks in the roof, the hose tower. Architects designed the new station to incorporate items from the old station. From there, the idea of remembrance blossomed.

The department's restored 1914 Ford Model-T Pumper, one of the first fire trucks in Las Vegas, found its permanent home at the new station. A glass garage was designed and built for the heirloom, and the wooden planks salvaged from the demolition of the old station were used as the floor in the garage.

The hose tower, where firefighters would hang the canvas hoses to dry in the old days, was creatively made into a pot rack in the kitchen. And the small, square window, painted black with a small porthole in the center, will once again peek from inside the dorm rooms to the outside world.

The flagpole from the old station stands in its original form in front of the station. At the entrance, a fire pole, borrowed from the central fire station, stands as a memory of the way the department used to operate.

The old Fire Station No. 5 was no palace, but department members loved the place.

"The firefighters that worked at that station had a real affinity (for it). They liked that station for whatever reason," Baker said. "In 45 years, a lot of memories come from working at that facility. About everyone, at one time, had been at that station. It was small, and it was old. But they liked it."

We wanted to keep some things "just to not forget where we came from," said DiGaetano, who spearheaded the crew input into the new station. "The old generation of how things were done, the old buildings are being taken by Vegas modernization. I wanted to help to try to keep É as much as possible of what station 5 represents. It was the coolest building I ever worked in.

"When you live somewhere for a long time, you miss the uniqueness of it. The tradition and history sinks into you."

Firefighters at the station also were integral to the design of the new station. The crew made a list of about 100 things to make life easier at the station and the city architects obliged as much as possible.

"If you lived there every day, these things would bother you," said DiGaetano. Larger sinks in the kitchen and more seating in the day room were on the list.

"Now we have a bigger kitchen with bigger sinks. And I'm happy about that."

The new station will double the size of the old station, which held one fire truck and one ambulance.

"And it barely fit those," Baker said. "So our capacity to put any additional personnel there or any additional vehicles wasn't possible. The building was so old that technology, wiring (wasn't possible). We could keep putting a Band-Aid on it, but we just couldn't fix it."

The department's past will be displayed all over the station, in a casual museum style, similar to the Hard Rock Cafe or Applebee's restaurants, and in trophy cases.

We wanted to "get old stuff out of the dust so people can appreciate it," Baker said. "It's a way we have to display some things and this station is a perfect situation to do that."

The department realized construction completion would near Sept. 11. The New York City Emergency Management Office had offered the city a piece of steel from the World Trade Center to put on display, and the city accepted the addition to the already unique project, said Roy Lawson, special events coordinator. The piece will be dedicated, along with the new fire station, at 9 a.m. Saturday. Photos relating to Sept. 11 also will be hung inside the fire station.

"We just happen to have a couple of these pieces that worked their way in we didn't expect," Baker said. "Since we're making kind of a museum thing out of it, let's see what else we can do."

The station, located at 1020 Hinson St., shares Cragin Park next door with neighboring Hyde Park Middle School. Due to the nature of the station, Baker says he suspects it will receive more local traffic and interest than in years' past.

"The people there have loved us there forever," DiGaetano said. "And I think they will like to have us back."

Miles away at Mojave Road and Harris Avenue, near Freedom Park, construction crews are ready to begin building another replacement fire station. In about 18 months, the neighborhood will have a new Fire Station No. 8. Numerous remodels and about six new stations have been built and opened since 2000. At one time, as many as three in one year.

"For us, it's a bit unique," Baker said. "We had to build that just to stay even. We're not ahead of the curve. We stay really busy. The entire department is busy."

The department will be busy Saturday at the dedication of Fire Station No. 5 at 9 a.m. John Vigorito, from the Emergency Management Office in New York City, will be on hand to unveil the steel from the World Trade Center. Bells will ring and a moment of silence will take place in remembrance of Sept. 11. An open house at the fire station will continue until 1 p.m.


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