Venice Turns Out for Fire Station #63

Dozens of Venice residents turned out Saturday morning for the seventh annual pancake breakfast to benefit the the Los Angeles Fire Department's historic Fire Station #63.

The Rotary Club of Playa Venice Sunrise sponsored the event that featured a $5 breakfast with sausages, eggs, pancakes and coffee and orange juice. There also were demonstrations of firefighters shooting down the firepole, including headfirst; free balloon animals, a children's bouncer, popcorn and access to fire trucks and engines. Venice Paparazzi also was on hand and snapping up photos of children and families donning fire gear and posing with signs and cut-outs.

Station #63 serves Venice and Venice Beach and is the busiest fire station in Battalion 4, which includes seven fire stations spanning a 23-square-mile area, including Mar Vista, Del Rey, Westchester and the Los Angeles International Airport area.

The crew at Station #63 typically have 20 to 40 runs per 24-hour shift and recently had 18 engine runs alone in one shift, said station Capt. Rex Vilaubi.

"This really brings the community closer to the fire station," Vilaubi said as families dined on breakfast inside while children played outside and parents mingled on the lawn. "It benefits everyone here at the fire station and it benefits everyone here in the community.

The fundraiser has helped supply the station with office equipment, exercise equipment and with new lockers that cost about $16,000, Vilaubi said

New carpet for the station may be coming up next. The fundraiser on average annually yields about $4,000 for the fire station.

Station #63 is one of three annual pancake breakfasts sponsored by the Rotary Club of Playa Venice Sunrise and it has the most grassroots, community support, said Jim Vuchsas, the incoming president of the philanthropic club.

"That's because Venice is a tight-knit community and always has been," Vuchsas said.

The club meets weekly and is part of the international organization that has more than 34,000 clubs worldwide.