Volunteers make firehouse glow
Lighthouse Point project cost $90K
Television cameras captured the renovation of Lighthouse Point’s firehouse during four days in June, when a production crew for the show “Designing Spaces” filmed an estimated $90,000worth of improvements.
Twenty-four firefighters, men and women, live and work at the house, at 3740 NE 22nd Ave. which is four decades’ old, during three shifts while they protect the city of 2.5 square miles.
“Morale-wise, the station needed a face-lift,” said Fire Chief David Donzella. “And they live here a third of their lives. So while they’re trying to deal with the stress of the emergencies or traumatic incidents they respond to, they
should have a nice, comfortable respite to chill out in after an event.”
The results of the “Hometown Heroes” segment of the show will be revealed Aug. 4 at 7:30 a.m. on the Lifetime channel. It will be shown again on Aug. 11.
“This is the first fire station for the show,” said Arash Farsi, a producer-director for BrandStar, a marketing and television production company in Deerfield Beach.
Vendors donated labor, equipment and expertise and BrandStar filmed their efforts.
“We do a military makeover show, we’ve worked with animal shelters and hospitals in the past,” Farsi said.“We like to give back to those that give to us.”
A firefighter who retired from another agency scouted stations in the area that needed updating and Lighthouse Point’s was chosen.
“It’s fast-paced-in budgetall for the good of these great people,” said Heidi Pettee of Heidi Pettee Designs. “I’ve done chicken coops and horse farms. This is my first fire station.”
Other improvements: commercial-grade carpet tiles and vinyl floors donated by Philadelphia Commercial Flooring; a laminate kitchen counter that looks like brown marble from Home Depot and a backsplash of subway tiles and white cabinets from Innovation Cabinetry of Tampa, said Farsi.
A brick wall lines one side of the dining room, inspired by 19th century fire stations in New York and Chicago, Pettee said. It will be decorated with a giant version of the agency’s patch; memorabilia and notes from residents will hang on an opposite wall.
Upstairs, Pettee wanted a serene feel, and used paint in three shades of gray to hide wear and tear. A top item on the wish list: Dividers installed between beds to give firefighters some privacy.
“Women don’t have separate quarters,” said Donzella. “[Male and female firefighters] all sleep together. Some snore, some sleepwalk, some talk in their sleep.”
With any renovation there can be surprises.
“Re-doing the kitchen meant redoing the electric wiring,” Pettee said. “And luckily one of the guys is an electrician. We haven’t run into too many issues.”
Above fire truck bays, new red pipes and heat-activated sprinklers formed a grid along the ceiling. It’s part of a system donated by four fire suppression companies — Wiginton Fire Systems in West Palm Beach; Wayne Automatic Fire Sprinklers in Pompano Beach; Summers Fire Sprinklers in Boca Raton and Milton J. Wood Fire Protection in Jacksonville — installed throughout the two-story building.
“Small cities like Lighthouse Point don’t have the funding to build new fire stations,” Joel Summerfield of Wiginton Fire Systems said as he watched the filming. “Any time we can step in and help, we will do that. When they’re gone and leave their stove on because they had to save some one else’s life, their station won’t be burned downwhen they get back.”
Their efforts over two months included designing the system, getting permits, connecting it to awater supply and then installing, testing and certifying it.
According to the office of Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater (who is also the state fire marshal), the requirement to install sprinkler systems in newly built firehouses was included in the National Fire Prevention Association fire prevention code, andin Florida’s fire prevention code as well. The new rules went into effect in 2005 and don’t apply to old stations like Lighthouse Point’s.
Thought he firehouse will look better and be safer for staff and firefighters, it’s not strong enough to withstand a Category 4 hurricane.
When a Category 3 storm is predicted, firehouse personnel will take shelter at Broward Health North in Deerfield Beach until it’s safe to respond to emergencies. Fire trucks will be left behind, parked outside the hospital or in other departments’ garages, said Mayor Glenn Troast.
During the new budget cycle in October, Troast said he plans to bring up building a new fire station before the commission, a project that could cost more than $5 million.
“On a $14 million annual municipal budget, with 80 percent of that personnel costs, outside of a bond issue or a significant raise in tax rates you wouldn’t see anew station,” Troast said.
During one production day, camera operators filmed firefighters who slid down a brass pole while volunteers from Home Depot painted headboards and rooms.
About 22 employees from Home Depot stores in Deerfield Beach, Boca Raton and West Delray Beach pitched in and also did demolition work. The company donated light fixtures and a microwave, too.
“It’s night and day,” Maja Hurtado, operations manager of the Home Depot in Deerfield Beach said of the changes, especially to the kitchen. “The original look was kind of institutional. This made it very homey.”
She estimated the company’s contribution was $1,800 in materials and $3,600 in labor.
Donzella said the completed project was “really nice. We are veryhappy with the results of the makeover.”