The Aztec Fire Crew

The Aztec Fire Crew is a gang intervention program for "at risk" young adults, 18 and over. Those who qualify must complete a 40-hour Firefighting Training Course outside of LA for 21 days, and become a part of a paid on-call firefighting unit.

The force has recently been approved by Los Angeles to supplement and assist LAFD and others involved in fire suppression, helping to respond to the threat of brush and forest fires.

The group has recently been recognized and rewarded for their efforts by Councilman Ed Reyes, CD1, and will share a refurbished building, an old firehouse in Lincoln Heights, with a regional office of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE):

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEWS From the First Council District

ED P. REYES, COUNCILMEMBER
200 N. Spring Street, Room 410, Los Angeles, CA 90012

NEW NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL REGIONAL OFFICE, ANTI-GANG SERVICE AGENCY COME TO LINCOLN HEIGHTS - Reyes Dedicates 4,000 Square-Foot Rehabilitated Fire Station to Serve As Location for the Two Entities

Standing directly across the second oldest high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, Councilmember Ed P. Reyes today joined with community members, officials of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE), and representatives of an anti-gang agency to dedicate a rehabilitated Fire Station to the local neighborhood.

As part of Reyes' ongoing effort to bring services closer to communities, the two agencies will share the more than 4,000 square foot facility the cost more than $1 million to rehabilitate and that has been closed since December 1996.

"Our goal was to empower this community. By bringing in these two entities, we are doing just that," said Reyes who grew up in the local neighborhood and attended a nearby elementary school.

Originally constructed in 1936, the art deco style structure remained a fire station until 1972. In subsequent years the facility housed the Northeast Little Sisters program as well as a separate city mural program.

Today, the facility will operate as one of only three current Regional Access Centers citywide for the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. The centers are designed to act as a headquarters of DONE's operations for the Northeast Los Angeles Communities which include El Sereno, Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Glassell Park and Atwater and Cypress Park. The other two offices are located in the San Fernando Valley and South Los Angeles.

"Residents of the these neighborhoods understand that an organized community is an empowered community. We have problems that include crime and access to jobs and other basic city services and we know that by working with DONE, we can work in unison to deal with a lot of the problems that impact our residents," Reyes said.

The fire station will also house a branch of the Aztec Fire Fuels Crew-an on-call firefighting unit consisting of youth recruited from throughout Los Angeles. The organization also interacts with gang affiliated youths and works to engage them in activities that will take them away from the gang culture.

"Lincoln Heights has been a hotbed of activity for some time, and we need intervention specialist like the Aztecs to help deal with the problem," Reyes also said.