"We were pleased that we were able to rebuild the station in its current location with cash on hand and without any new debt," Mayor John Noak said, in a community update.

This station also serves as the headquarters for Fire Department Administration. Emergency personnel will begin moving into the new facility during the coming weeks.

A Torrance company has been awarded the contract to build an $8 million fire station in Fillmore, replacing one dating from the early 1950s.

Public works officials OK'd the award this week from a field of 15 bidders. The station is one of five that the Ventura County Fire Department plans to replace. The others are in the Upper Ojai, Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Lake Sherwood.

Construction on the Fillmore station is due to start in October and be done in early 2018, officials said.

Tobo Construction Inc. submitted the winning bid of $8.13 million, almost $200,000 under the estimate of county engineering specialists.

The station will be built on a vacant 2.7-acre site near the intersection of Highway 126 and C Street. County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen said the current station at 613 Old Telegraph Road is outdated, extremely small and the site is too cramped to allow expansion.

Fillmore has a volunteer fire department, but the county agency covers the unincorporated area and assists on fires within the city.

At 15,000 square feet, the new station will be more than three times the size of the current station. It will provide improved access to the highway, modern utility systems and adequate room for fire engines, Lorenzen said.

“The window exploded,” he said. “We don’t know if someone threw a rock at it or if someone shot at it.”

Broken glass hit the EMT sitting next to the window and she suffered minor cuts on her arm, he said. “She was turned toward the driver at the time, thank God,” the chief said.

The window was broken at about 3 p.m. on eastbound Sunrise Highway, just east of Station Road, Voelger said.

The incident came on the same day the ambulance company learned its $20,000 grant request to buy bullet-resistant vests had been rejected by FEMA, Voelger said. The money would have purchased about 50 vests for the company, which has six full-time, paid EMTs and a core of 50 volunteers, he said.

Voelger said his members have been concerned about safety due in large part to tense relations between police and some communities across the nation.

He said he’s trying to pursue funding with state officials.