The year 1857 proved to be a very busy period for the colonists of Anaheim. It was in this year that the City of Anaheim was incorporated and the City’s volunteer fire system was established. A force of twenty men donated their time and energy to make up this organization. For 58 years, the Anaheim Volunteers used primitive equipment on horse-drawn wagons to fight the occasional fires in the City. In 1915 a big step forward was taken by the City when the motorized vehicle was purchased.
Coupled with the purchase of this small ladder truck, the City Council authorized the employment of two full-time firemen. These men worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and made their permanent home at the Anaheim Fire Station.
Nine years later, in 1926, the first full-time Fire Chief was appointed. Also at this time, the Department added two additional full-time firemen, which bolstered the total strength of the full-time staff to one chief and four firemen. This provided the department with two men on a shift. The two men on the day shift worked ten hours a day; the night shift was on duty for 14 hours a day. Up until 1936, when a relief man was hired, the Anaheim firemen worked seven days a week — with no provisions for time off or vacations! The Fire Chief was responsible for building inspections, trash collection, and the normal fire duties of a small town.
To quote the Board of Fire Underwriters in its evaluation of the Department in 1930 will give a more vivid picture of the Anaheim Fire Department. The Board rated the Department a Class 8. “Organization- fair; appointment and promotion made by Chief with no definite requirements; rules and regulations are few and very incomplete; station is crowded and poorly arranged; pumping capacity is deficient; ladder service – poor; discipline is lax, due largely to lack of proper rules and regulations; Chief’s time partly required for other duties; inspections made by Chief are unsystematic, and records are not kept.” All this produced 2,835 deficiency points in the Department.
In 1947, the full-time personnel was increased to 7. The total full-time strength remained at seven until 1950 when the Department moved out of the City Hall to the Sation at 115 East Broadway. In 1950, the City employees voted to become members of the California State Retirement System. At this time, the Council “retired” all employees over 65 years of age. The Chief was one of these individuals who was let go.
“The Hitchhiking Chief”, Ed. Stringer was appointed on October 1, 1950. Chief Stringer was known throughout the sate by this nickname because he did not have an emergency car. When the Chief was unable to “hitch” a ride in a police car, he had to make his way to the fires in his unadorned ’36 Plymouth, no red light, no siren – indeed not much of anything. This situation was promptly resolved in early 1951 when he arrived at the scene of a fire after the blaze had been put out and the fire trucks were on their way back to the station.
The Board of Fire Underwriters arrived on the scene two months after Chief Stringer assumed command of the Department. Again, we will quote from the Board’s evaluation fo the organization, equipment and general character of the Department. “Anaheim Fire Department organized on the basis of a combination paid and volunteer department; supervision is under the Chief, but no paid men have been appointed as company officers; rules and regulations are fair but only general in scopes; station facilities are deficient as to dormitory space; records, in general, are poor – there are no records of building inspections, hydrant tests or hose tests; old fire records are poor and incomplete; there is no fire prevention bureau, inspections are made irregularly by the Fire Chief.” Not too encouraging for a new Chief to assume command facing an overall deficiency of 2,948 points, of which 1,116 were assigned to the Fire Department. This gave the City an overall Class 6 and the Department a Class 8 rating.
They are armed with the Board’s recommendations to improve his Department, the Chief mad som organizational and personnel changes. The position of Fire Engineer was created in 1951; the following year, company officers withe the rank of Captain were established. Radios were installed in the rolling equipment in 1952. Up until this time, it was very difficult to perform in the most efficient manner with no quick emergency communication system. In the 1950s many other advancements were made by the Anaheim Fire Department. One of the most dramatic changes as far as the personnel was concerned came in 1953 when the 24-off, a 24-on shift was inaugurated by the Department.
In 1955, the Fire Prevention Bureau was established to provide the City with a much-needed service of inspection and enforcing the Fire Prevention Code. This program was carried on by a Captain.
The City’s Merit System began to take shape in 1956, and the first examination in the City of Anaheim was conducted in April of 1956. Several firemen were appointed as a result of this first endeavor.
With Anaheim population bubbling up over the 60,000 marks in 1956, Station #2 was built to augment the Headquarters Station. The additional stations were added in the 1950s with the population and area of the City still mushrooming.
|
Station
|
Year Built
|
Population
|
Area
|
| First Headquarters |
1857
|
800
|
2.63 Sq. Mi.
|
| Second Headquarters |
1923
|
6,000
|
3.39 ” “
|
| Third Headquarters |
1950
|
14,500
|
4.38 ” “
|
| Fourth Headquarters |
|
|
|
| Station #2 |
1956
|
60,327
|
19.31 ” “
|
| Station #3 |
1957
|
73,000
|
21.56 ” “
|
| Station #4 |
1959
|
91,100
|
24.76 ” “
|
| Station #5 |
1961
|
114,100
|
26.00 ” “
|
In March of 1957, an Assistant Chief was appointed. Captain James Heying earned the Department’s number two position over a field of 60 applicants from all over the country. One month later, three Battalion Chiefs were appointed from within the Department; one in prevention and two in suppression. Six Captains were also added at this time. All new positions were filled by competitive examination.
For 103 years the Volunteer Firemen played an important role in the Anaheim Fire Department. Throughout this period the Volunteers, who maintained a group of 20 men, performed an admirable service to the citizens of Anaheim. The Volunteers continued to be an active group until 1960 when they were disbanded. In 1960, when the number of calls reached nearly a thousand, it was felt that the Department should be comprised 100% by professional technically trained fire personnel.
The Department’s training program was established on a scheduled and intensified basis in 1959, with the appointment of the Department’s first Drillmaster. Company drilling was begun, and academic training was stressed to prepare the Anaheim Firemen for future promotions. Training is stressed even more emphatically now, so that the department can prove the ultimate in fire and disaster protection, and the individual members of the Department can strive for higher goals within the organization. It is within the group of men that comprise the Anaheim Fire Department that will come our future Chiefs, Assistant Chiefs, and other high ranking officers.
Collectively and individually, the men of the Anaheim Fire Department have grown with the City. The Department has progressed over the years from a complete volunteer organization, to a highly technical and specialized group of over 100 full-time devoted firemen. The future looms ahead with nothing in sight but opportunity; opportunity for the Department as a whole and for the individuals who comprise the Department to achieve the goals that they have established for themselves.
This history was obtained from the Anaheim Fire Department Drill Manual (March 1963).
It is compiled By: James L. Buskirk, and other members of the Anaheim Fire Department.
Originally written by Ed. J. Stringer
| Anaheim Fire Department – the Past 35 Years |
| If the growth of the fire service may be compared to a foot-race, then one could say that the Anaheim Fire Department sprinted around the corner from 1979, ran fast through the 80s and has continued a hard pace throughout the 1990s. The Department had seen significant growth and change during the 1970s, including such events as the introduction of paramedic service in the City, and the opening of new fire stations in the eastern portion of the City. This “tradition” of change sustained itself easily through the 1980s and well through the 1990s as the City continued to grow in size and population, and the Fire Department designed and implemented innovative programs and policies to keep pace with the increased demand for service.
In the face of many retirements, new hires, promotions and, sadly, even deaths, the Fire Department’s census changed dramatically during the 1980-1990s. The new decade he has brought in a new Fire Chief, Bob Simpson, who was appointed by the City Council in February of 1980. Chief Simpson oversaw the Fire Department for five years until his appointment as Deputy City Manager in mid-1985.
In turn, Chief Simpson eventually served as the City Manager for two years until his retirement in May 1990. Chief Darrel Hartshorn served as the interim fire chief from mid-1985 up until a disabling back injury forced him to leave active duty during 1986. After a national recruitment process, Anaheim’s own Jeff Bowman was appointed Fire Chief in December of 1986, and still leads the Fire Department in its mission of providing Anaheim’s citizens with progressive, innovative and aggressive fire protection.
The Fire Department staff was reorganized twice during the decade of the 1980s. Assistant Chiefs Ron Evans and Martel Thompson played prominent roles in the Department’s administration throughout the first half of the decade, until Chief Thompson’s appointment as Fire Chief for the City of Orange in 1983 and Chief Evan’s retirement in 1987. Chief Bowman organized his Department’s staff into three divisions, each reporting to the Fire Chief: Operations (Fire Suppression), Administration, Fire Prevention and Emergency Services. The Division Chief positions are filled by upgrading battalion chiefs, on a minimum two-year rotational basis; with the exception of the Emergency Services Division, which is led by a civilian specialist in the area of disaster preparedness.
In 1979 the Department staffed nine fire stations which housed a total of 11 engine companies, 3 trucks, 2 paramedic vans, and 2 battalion chiefs. The engines were staffed with 4 personnel and the trucks with 3. Fire department members responded to 10,500 incidents that year, and the fire dispatch center was in operation at Station 1. By 1990, just ten years later, the Department added another station. Fire Station 10 (Weir Canyon Station) in the East End of the city, and has plans for as many as two (2) new fire stations. Fire Station 11 is planned for the far east end of Anaheim, where the development of residential and commercial occupancies continues. The Department now staffs 13 engine companies, nine of which are designated paramedic companies; 4 truck companies; 1 hazardous-materials unit; and two (2) Battalions, which are housed in Fire Station 3 (Resort Fire Station) and Station 8 (Riverdale Station). Both the engines and the trucks are each staffed with four (4) personnel, and the hazardous-materials unit is cross-staffed by Station 8 (Riverdale Station) personnel when an incident occurs. The Department employs a total of 269 sworn and civilian personnel, the Fire Department responded to 21,069 incidents in 1989. A decade later in 1999, The Anaheim Fire responded to a total of 23,476. Fire units are dispatched through the Metro Cities Fire Agency. This is a “Net” type of dispatch center. The word “Net” means that multiple fire agencies are dispatched through one dispatch center. The Anaheim Fire Department manages the day to day operations of the center.
In the 1980s we saw the development and implementation of countless new policies, programs and procedures in the Fire Department, including:civilianization of the rank of Fire Inspector; introduction of the “Paramedic Engine” service; transition to computer-aided dispatch and record keeping; CPR training provided cost-free to citizens, installation of MDA life-safety alarms; daily standardized use of the Incident Command System; establishment of the Hazardous Materials Team; annual physical fitness/medical assessment; introduction of a hearing loss prevention program, including specification and purchase of rear-engine, enclosed-cab pumpers; reconstruction of three fire stations; transition to the County-wide 800-megahertz radio system; creation of a volunteer “work experience” program and initialization of the CAMEO (Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations) program. 1990 brought the implementation of the critical Incident stress debriefing program; the development of a “Environmental Protection Section” operating in the Fire Prevention Division; the move into technical specialties such as the Swift Water rescue team and the current development of a dedicated Urban Search and Rescue team (U.S.A.R). Most recently is the addition of Automatic External Defibrillators on allFire apparatus.
Perhaps its most notable accomplishment during the 80-90s, the Fire Department acquired a “Class One City” rating from the Insurance Services Office, which served to dramatically reduce commercial fire-insurance rates for businesses located in the City. Anaheim is one of the only seven cities in the State to receive a Class One rating. The 1980s contained its share of major fire-department incidents: most notably the “Ball-Euclid” fire of April 1982, which originated early in the morning of April 21, during an extreme Santa Ana wind condition, and which eventually consumed over 50 buildings and 500 apartment units that were nearly all covered by flammable wood shake roofs. A total of 118 fire companies from departments throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties engaged the wind-driven conflagration, which was only extinguished after a late-afternoon break in the winds. This fire would prompt legislation banning non-fire-retardant roofs in Anaheim and many other cities.
Other notable incidents of the decade included the “Gypsum Canyon” wildland fire which occurred that same year, and the 1985 “Larry Fricker” Fertilizer Company fire which served as a “rite of initiation” for the Department’s newly formed Hazardous Materials Team; this incident lasted four days and forced evacuation of approximately 10,000 persons from the area surrounding the site.
T he 1990s brought in a new set of challenges, the Fire Department responded to such notable instances as Firestorm of 1993, where wildland fires ravaged the entire Southern California basin from Santa Barbara to San Diego. As construction methods change so do the type of fires, we respond to with frequency. The 1990s brought numerous center hallway constructed apartment fires and hazardous material incidents such as the Mobil Oil tanker fire of 1997 that closed the eastbound 91 freeway for approximately 10 hours.
The 1980s was a decade of professional growth and accomplishment for the Anaheim Firefighters’ Association (AFA). The Association affiliated with the International Association of Firefighters in 1983, and became Local 2899. Its membership strengthened as a labor group and emerged with a fortified commitment to benevolent activities. In 1981 we saw the birth of the Annual Catalina Sailboat Race. In 1983 the Union and the Fire Department jointly initiated the use of MDA Life Safety Alarms for the elderly and invalid in Anaheim. The Firefighters started their first year of participation in the MDA “Fill the Boot” program in 1984, where firefighters collect donations for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. In 1985 the members of “Firefighters for Christ” from Anaheim and other departments traveled to Mexico to assist the residents of that earthquake-ravaged country.
1986 witnessedthe birth of the “Hose Bowl” Charity Football Game, as well as the initiation of the “Caroling for Cans” program – a Christmastime drive conducted jointly with the Anaheim Police Department to collect food for needy families. In 1987, the AFA hosted the I.A.F.F. sponsored Redmond Symposium on Firefighter Health and Safety, which was comprised of four days of information-sharing in areas of current concern to firefighters from across the nation. In 1988 the AFA participated for the first time in the ‘World’s Greatest Working Truck Show”, a charitable event which benefits the Crippled Children’s Society (and they would then go on to host this event at the Anaheim Stadium in 1989 and 1990); 1988 was also the first year in which the Association operated its “Haunted House” fund-raiser, where a portion of the proceeds go to aid the senior citizens and homeless families in Anaheim. Also, in 1988 Anaheim become involved with the annual Dr. George Fishbeck “Burn Relay” to benefit the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation (an event that raised over $300,000 in 1989 and that was participated in by over 60 California fire departments). In through the 1990s ,the Firefighter’s association has continued it’s community involvement by participating in “Paint Your Heart Out”, an event that assist’s low-income families by painting their home. In 1997 a new fundraiser was started. “Santa in the Hills” is a holiday fundraiser that brings a full time Santa to the East End of the city at the Anaheim Hills Festival shopping center. The theme of the event is the “North Pole Fire Department” and offers photos with Santa, the opportunity to “dress up” in real firefighters’ equipment and even ride on an antique fire engine. Proceeds from this event benefit community programs that the Firefighters Association participate in and also helps many local charities such as; The Boys and Girls Club, The Senior Citizen’s Center and The Muscular Dystrophy Association to name just a few. As we move through 1998-1999, the Anaheim Fire Department continues to be community active in a big way. Risk Watch teaches children how to be safe in a variety of different ways whether playing outside or being around household items in the home, Risk Watch has proven to be a valuable tool in educating the children of Anaheim. Speaking of education, The Anaheim Fire Department is one of the few in the nation that has received a grant from the National Fire Protection Association to perform “Learn not to Burn”. This valuable program teaches school age children how to fire safe. Another extremely valuable program available in the City of Anaheim is “Heartsmart”. This program offers free CPR programs to citizens who have had a family member suffer a heart attack. In looking back over the years, much has changed in the fire service during the past twenty-five years, and the members of the Anaheim Fire Department are proud to have had the opportunity to help shape the changes which have improved our service to the Community. We welcome the challenge to continue this “Tradition of progress” during the next thirty years and beyond. |
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