Search

Home > Desert Oracle Radio > Desert Region Fire Safe Council cuts ribbon at their newly occupied Fire Station #2 in Morongo Valley
Podcast: Desert Oracle Radio
Episode:

Desert Region Fire Safe Council cuts ribbon at their newly occupied Fire Station #2 in Morongo Valley
Category: Society & Culture
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2025-10-30 15:20:03
Description:

Yesterday, The Desert Region Fire Safe Council held the official ribbon cutting ceremony for their new fire safety resource space in the long vacant Fire Station #2 in Morongo Valley.

Located on the corner of Bella Vista and Hwy 62, Morongo Valley’s Fire Station #2 sat vacant in disrepair for almost twenty years. With caved-in ceilings and water-damaged drywall, it was a near-condemned structure until Desert Region Fire Safe Council’s Justin Merino saw its potential. Merino said it had been the goal of the Council to find a home like this.

“So driving past this station on my commute every day, it struck me that we could partner up with the CSD and turn this unused station that’s been unmanned for the last 20 years back into a community resource. You could imagine what a facility looks like when it’s been unmanned for 20 years—it was quite the undertaking more work than I planned or suspected but with the help of volunteers and our team and family members we were able to turn it into what it is today.”

Interior office

With generous donations from Whitewater Rock for the exterior and grants from California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, Yamaha, and Southern California Edison, Merino says this doesn’t cost Morongo Valley taxpayers anything, its emphasis being a community space where they’ll offer fire safety workshops as well as a general meeting room and cooling center during the hotter months. I asked Merino about the ultimate goal of the new Fire Safe Council office: to make neighborhoods “firewise.”

“Our plan is to break Morongo Valley up into four quadrants: Morongo north, east, south and west. The idea around firewise is to get neighbors talking to each other, to act with each other and to make their homes fire safe, which makes the community fire safe. Some of the residual benefits of being fire safe are insurance discounts, but most of all it teaches folks and it allows them to connect and to actually be able to make a plan come together and make their home safe.”

Desert Region Fire Safe’s focus on resident’s “Zone 0,” the ember-resistant ignition area extending 0-5 feet from the outer walls of a structure, including attached decks and chairs. The goal is to reduce fire ignition risk from wind-borne embers—the leading cause of structural wildfire damage. Morongo Valley’s new Desert Region Fire Safe office is located at 9492 Sundown Trail, adjacent to the stoplight at Bella Vista. For more information, please visit: desertfire.org.

Justin Merino receives a Certificate of Appreciation from the Office of Greg Wallis, accompanied by the Morongo Valley Fire Crew and CSD.

Previously Reported:

The post Desert Region Fire Safe Council cuts ribbon at their newly occupied Fire Station #2 in Morongo Valley appeared first on Z107.7 FM Joshua Tree.
Total Play: 0