Lakeside, CA -
Lakeside Fire Protection District dedicated the "River Park Fire Station" on Friday, December 16, 2011, during a ceremony to honor all of those who were involved in the process of making this station a reality. The new station is designed to be a headquarters station, replacing both an outdated fire station and a separate administration office making it possible to bring them under a single roof. This state of the art fire facility was designed to serve the citizens of Lakeside and our regional partners for many years to come.
The ceremony began with opening remarks from Lakeside Fire Chief Parr as the flag was lowered at the current Station 2 and brought to the new station to be raised. As is tradition in the fire service, the crew from station 2 raised the flag to the sounds of the Star-Spangled Banner being played to the
El Capitan High School Marching Band.
Once the flag was raised, the ceremony proceeded with representatives of
Congressman Duncan Hunter and State Senator Joel Anderson recognizing the Lakeside Fire Protection District board members for their work in making sure this fire station was built to serve the citizens of Lakeside. Board President Nick Johnson was on hand to represent the board during these proceedings.
The Fire District took time to honor longtime Lakeside Fire Board member R.A. Smith, who passed away earlier this year. Director Smith's Family was on hand to receive a plaque as the Board room of the new facility was dedicated and named in his memory.
The final speaker was
Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who was instrumental in ensuring this facility was built in Lakeside. During her time at the podium Supervisor Jacob praised the Lakeside Fire Protection District for being on the forefront of the growing movement to address fire protection on more of a regional basis. With this facility, Lakeside has built a facility that will last long into the future and is well-suited to address whatever changes come to the fire service for years to come.
Lakeside Fire Protection District would like to thank the citizens of Lakeside for their patience as we built this station. We are aware that the burden of having a construction project of this size was at times trying. The added traffic and dust will prove to be worth it as this station comes on line. It is for the citizens of Lakeside that this station was built and we look forward to being able to better service our community from this station. The fire station, which has been covered on this blog many times, is nearing completion and looks to be fully operational within a month. For a complete set of pictures from this event please see our
photo album. For coverage of the construction of this facility feel free to browse the label
River Park update on our blog.
Photos by: Captain Mark Grow
Story by: Captain Bernie Molloy
On behalf of Rick Smiths family, I want to express my deep appreciation and gratitude for the honor given to my father with the board room dedication. This new station was very important to him and he expressed sadness and disappointment when it became clear he would not be able to see its completion. I know that he would be pleased with the finished product. He would be humbled by this recognition of his dedication to the community and Fire Protection District of Lakeside. Thank you very much to all involved for remembering a very special man in such a special way. Cynthia Smith
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