Building History

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Fire Station No. 23, located at 225 E. 5th Street in downtown Los Angeles, was constructed in 1910. The 3-story, 13,600 square foot structure, which cost $53,000 to build, was constructed to serve the needs of the growing downtown wholesale and industrial district.

The Los Angeles Times headline covering the announcement of Fire Station No. 23 (along with a second new station) proclaimed, "Fire Stations to be Models." (1) The station was designed by the noted Los Angeles firm of Hudson and Munsell Architects.

Land for the new station was purchased in early 1909, for $28,500.(2) The lot was a narrow parcel, but long, measuring 26.3 feet x 170.85 feet, fronting on Fifth street to the south, and Winston Street to the north. The announcement of the proposed station was given wide press coverage, including a rendering in The Los Angeles Times.(3) The 3-story station was to cost $30,000-$35,000, according to various accounts.(4) The first floor would house the station's vehicles: a three-horse engine, a three-horse truck,hose wagon, and the chief's buggy. Stalls would be provided to pen 10 horses.

The second story was to include a dormitory for the firefighters, an assembly room, and quarters for the captains. The third floor, as described in The Times, "will be given over to the chief's private rooms, a reception-room and three chambers, with private baths, for visitors(5). The chief's suite would be accessed via an "automatic electric elevator." A hayloft, partitioned off from the occupied areas, was planned for the Winston Street end of the third floor, with access via a freight elevator.

Construction of the fire station was almost as controversial as the finished product. The contract for construction was awarded to the F.O. Engstrom Company in July of 1909.(6) Soon thereafter, the papers reported that the City was withholding payment to the contractor due to a dispute regarding the adequacy of the concrete construction. The City alleged that the concrete mix did not follow the project specifications. Given the relative novelty of concrete construction, a City Council-appointed subcommittee personally inspected the construction site, taking reports from all parties. The matter was concluded in the contractor's favor in March, 1910, based on the building inspector's declaration "that the work done was as good a job in reinforced concrete as he had ever seen.( 7)

Although planned under Chief Lips, the station was completed under the watch of Chief Eley in October, 1910. The cost by this time had risen to $53,000 or $57,000 or $60,000, depending on the source.(8) The new station was hugely controversial based on its alleged opulence and cost.

The Los Anqeles Times article accompanying the opening, titled "Sybaritical Effort, This," epitomized the widespread press mocking.(9) In its subheadings, The Times was only slightly more nuanced: "New Engine House Gorgeous Inside and Out," "Reception Room, Suites, and Boudoirs Provided," "Costs Tax-Payers Fifty-three Thousand Dollars.(10) The article declared:

The following day the Fire Commissioner Hawley "moved an expression that the commission deplored the extravagance, but was not responsible for it.(12) In answer, The Times dryly noted: "About the only excuse that can be made for this is that the world-beating character of the structure was "put over," but this seems weak, as the specifications were in the English language.(13) The Times continued: "The fact that horse stalls are provided for the automobile ladder truck may be explained, too, along with other idiosyncrasies of the interior and exterior. (14)

The issue of horsepower versus motors aside, the new station was advanced in design, from its concrete construction, electric lighting and elevators, to its carefully thought out time saving devices. The Times notes that each horse stall was equipped with an "automatic electric appliance to drop the chain at each alarm,"(15) whereupon the trained horse would walk to its harness position and wait for the saddle to automatically drop from the ceiling.

The Times also noted that the horse stalls "are floored with wood and provided with sanitary arrangements, which the horses must appreciate in time(16) As for the fire engines, according to Paul Ditzel, a Fire Department historian, a basement "boiler included a hose pre-connected to the steam fire engines, thus maintaining proper boiler pressure in the pumper. The coupling between the boiler and the engine automatically separated when the engine got a run.(17)

As the City's premiere (and last built) station for horses, the most notable of the City's fire horses - Jerry the Fire Eater and Searchlight - were transferred to Fire Station No. 23. Jerry entertained the ranks by allegedly eating lit cigars, while Searchlight was known for his uncanny ability to find short-cuts to reach fire locations.

Successive chief engineers of the Fire Department resided in the station until 1928. Chief Eley was in residence through 1919, followed by Chief Ralph J. Scott. Truck 5 was added to the station's inventory in 1912, and the station's horses and horse-drawn equipment phased out beginning sometime after 1915.

Relatively minor alterations were made to Fire Station No. 23 in the 1920's and 1930's, according to available building permits. When the hayloft was no longer needed, a door was cut into the wall separating it from the remainder of the third floor. Six windows were cut into the long north-south walls, primarily on the third floor, and various rooms and bathrooms were remodeled. The rooftop elevator penthouse was rebuilt in 1933, possibly in response to damage from the Long Beach earthquake of that year. In the 1940's, the freight elevator, no longer needed for hauling animal feed, was removed, and the shaft filled in at each floor to create additional storage space. A kitchen was installed on the second floor in 1941, and the roof was replaced in 1944. Further toilet room and other minor changes were permitted by the City in the 1940's.

Fire Station No. 23 ceased functioning as a fire station in 1960, after responding to a reported 60,000 alarms over its 50-year history. The number 23 designation was transferred to a new station in Pacific Palisades. "Old 23," as it is now called within the Fire Department, was used as a medical records storage location for the department and then a training center, until the department vacated the structure in 1966. In that same year, the station was declared to be Historic-Cultural Monument #37 by the City of Los Angeles.

In the decade following its closure, the station suffered from significant vandalism. Brass door hardware, copper piping, and other materials of value were stripped from the building. In 1979, after some years of planning, the station was selected to be the site of an official Fire Department museum, but the plan was not realized, and the museum designation was shifted to Fire Station No. 27 in Hollywood in 1988. Fire Station No. 23 was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

1 Los Angeles Times, "Fire Stations to be Models," June 13, 1909, Part V. p.1. 2 Fire Station Inventory 1-49, Fire Department Historical Society and Museum. 3 Los Angeles Times. June 13, 1909 4 Los Angeles Times, May 13, and June 13, 1909 5 Los Angeles Times, June 13, 1909 6 National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form, September, 14, 1979. 7 Ibid. 8 Los Angeles Times, "Sybaritical Effort, This," September 29,1910, Part II, p.2, and National Register, 1979. 9 Los Angeles Times. September. 29. 1910 10 Ibid. 11 Ibid. 12 Los Angeles Times, "Luxurious Engine House," September 30,1910, Part II, p.2 13 Ibid. 14 Ibid. 15 Los Angeles Times, September 29,1910 16 Ibid .. '17 Ditzel, Paul, A Century of Service 1886-1986 The Centennial History of The. Los Angeles Fire Department Los Angeles Fireman's Relief Association, 1986.