By Stephen Witt, Los Angeles County Politics
U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman (D, Burbank, Glendale, West Hollywood, Hollywood) announced Monday a $500,000 federal earmark to help replace Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 8 in West Hollywood — a 73-year-old building that county engineers have deemed vulnerable to collapse in a major earthquake.
Friedman made the announcement alongside LA County Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath (D – Western Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley, including Pacoima, Panorama City, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Malibu), West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman, and LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone at the station, located at 7643 W. Santa Monica Blvd.
“The firefighters of Station 8 have spent 73 years walking out of this building and into danger to protect this community,” said Friedman. “They’ve done it without hesitation, without complaint, and from a building where they lay their heads at night, knowing it’s been deemed vulnerable to collapse. The men and women who work here deserve a station that’s safe, modern, and built for the emergencies of today — not 1953. This $500,000 federal investment is a down payment on that promise, and I’m going to keep fighting until it’s finished.”
The federal dollars represent a fraction of the total project cost. Marrone disclosed that $19.5 million in Measure E funding — approved by county voters for critical infrastructure — has also been secured, bringing the replacement project close to full funding. A new site has yet to be finalized; Marrone said the county is actively working with West Hollywood to identify a property and expressed hope a ribbon-cutting on a new station could happen by 2028.
Built in 1953, Station 8 was constructed with rigid, outdated concrete that does not meet modern seismic standards. In 2023, LA County flagged it as one of 33 county-owned buildings vulnerable to collapse in an earthquake. This comes while the station’s response area includes the Sunset Strip and Santa Monica Boulevard corridor — some of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Los Angeles County — and the building is too small to accommodate modern fire apparatus.
Horvath noted that Station 8 crews responded to the Sunset Fire that broke out in West Hollywood just before the January 2025 Palisades disaster.
“Had it not been for their response, that could have been an even bigger issue, as we saw throughout the region. Making sure that we invest in this facility means investment in a broader region and investment in impacts far beyond the boundaries of just this city or even this neighborhood,” she said.
Heilman, who helped found West Hollywood more than 40 years ago, pledged the city’s full partnership in moving the project forward.
“We stand ready as a city to be partners to make sure that this new facility gets built,” he said. “We are going to commit ourselves to do everything we can to find an appropriate location to get this project expedited and to get it built so that in the future, you’ll have a home that will be safe for you, so you can continue to keep all of us safe.”
Marrone, who began his career at Station 8 in 1986, called Monday’s announcement a long time coming.
“For too many years, our firefighters have worked tirelessly in this aging and outdated fire station, a station that has served us well but simply cannot meet the demands of a modern emergency service agency,” he said. “To Congressmember Friedman, Supervisor Horvath and all of our voters, you didn’t just deliver funding. You have delivered peace of mind to our residents and firefighters alike.”
The announcement builds on a February earmark in which Friedman secured more than $1 million to modernize the Verdugo Fire Communications Center (VFCC), the dispatch nerve center serving more than 944,000 residents across 13 cities in LA County. The VFCC had been running on 1997 technology — fielding 2,121 calls in a single day during the January fires, or one call every 11 seconds at peak volume.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympics both coming to Los Angeles, Friedman said the timeline is non-negotiable.
“We don’t need to be ready in 10 years. We need to be ready now, as soon as we can,” said Friedman.
