Community celebrates fire station's opening

PALA – Pala tribal Chairman Robert Smith has long dreamed of opening a state-of-the-art fire station for the Pala Fire Department.

As a former Pala firefighter who retired as chief in 2003, Smith has watched the department grow for more than 20 years. He remembers working out of a 2,700-square-foot building in the Pala Band of Mission Indians' village. Trailers were later added near the building. That was the fire station.

But younger Pala firefighters are familiar with the station, too. It was six weeks ago that the department moved into a new, $9 million fire station with single bedrooms, a classroom building and a training tower. That's why everyone was smiling yesterday at the celebration.

“You can't compare sharing a bedroom with five guys to having your own,” said Ruben Vazquez, 26, who has been with the department for four years.

Vazquez's family members took pictures of him in his room, which has a flat-panel TV. He said he can even play Nintendo Wii games, but not on the job.

Pala firefighters work two days straight and then have four days off.

The live-fire training in the tower, which will be available to the department's mutual-aid fire partnerships, is a great asset for the area, said Dick Olson, a board member of the North County Fire Protection District. Firefighters have had to travel to Palomar College in San Marcos for training.

“They have everything here,” Olson said.

Mutual-aid fire departments include the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Rincon Reservation Fire Department and Valley Center Fire Protection District.

Pala fire Capt. Juan Luna showed former fire Capt. Dwight Snider, who retired in 1997 from the Escondido Fire Department, around the training tower. Luna pointed out the two burn rooms and explained that firefighters could do more than rehearse fighting fires in the building. He said they could practice rope rescues off the roof of the four-story structure.

Snider said he was curious to see what a new station would look like today. Compared with what he had, Snider said, “I am envious.”

The fire station will be the one and only for the tribe, and is expected to last well into the future.

About 100 people attended the grand opening, including Pala firefighters' family members and other North County firefighters. The celebration included singing and dancing by the Intertribal Bird Singers and Kupa Singers.

A 100-foot ladder truck, one structure engine, one brush engine and two water tenders will be based at the station. The classroom building can be used as a regional emergency operations center when there's a disaster.

“It's just phenomenal what we can do and offer the surrounding communities,” Smith said.