Many residents of the 7th and 8th district are highly concerned that firehouse station 9 has closed, and that handling of the issues surrounding the closure were handled very poorly. Many are concerned that notice by city leadership of the closure was deplorable, not to mention the extended response time that the area surrounding Station 9 will experience.
Justification for the closure was concern over mold, which caused some firefighters to become sick. In 2017, mold was found in the fire station and supposedly the issue repaired at that time. This furthered concerns because of the obvious question as to why the problem was not addressed properly and returned in only 2 years. Long Beach officials have now stated that the firehouse is also too small and another site with the adequate space needed should be found for station 9.
Here is a link to a PDF report from Fire Chief Xavier Espino, dated 8/20/2019, which in essence, details that the Station was vacated 6/18/2019, why it was vacated, and that on 7/17/2019, the “Fire Chief recommended to the City Manager that the City seek a temporary location for Fire Station 9, with the ultimate goal being to build a new replacement station in a suitable location.”
Other Long Beach local media have also addressed this issue (links are provided below). The
A meeting is planned for Tuesday, August 27, 2019 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the Expo center, 4321 Atlantic Ave in Long Beach. Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/36CtRiufrDfcMtfR6
Other media reports:
https://www.lbreport.com/news/aug19/stn9.htm
Various Images found on this topic:
Map detailing location of closed Fire Station # 9, which was posted on Nextdoor.com
Invitation from Al Austin to LB Expo center meeting
Invitation (apparently copied from Facebook, retrieved from nextdoor.com) from Al Austin to concerned residents asking them to attend the Town Hall meeting.
