FIRE STATIONS IN THE SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS
Around
1930-31 the State Division of Forestry established its first station in the
mountains. I'm not certain, but I think the first station was in the old hall at
the junction of Old Santa Cruz Highway; and Summit Road.
George Curtis was one of the drivers, and I believe
the truck was stationed in Los Gatos for a year at the McAbee and Brugge wood
yard on West Main. Later it was stationed on the comer of Old Santa Cruz and
Foster Road, now known as Idylwild Drive. I remember this well because they kept
it in a garage made of prune-drying trays.
About
this time, the State built a station at the junction of Old Santa Cruz and
Wright Station Road. This became the Headquarters Station for the Santa Clara
Ranger Unit; Walt Winters was the State Ranger. When he was transferred to
Sacramento, George Britton became Ranger. This was in the days of C.C.C. camps,
whose members built telephone lines that ran from La Honda to Big Basin, Felton,
and to Alma, Almaden, Loma Prieta, Mt. Madonna. Gilroy and Coyote Dam. This was
quite a communications network.
During
this period, a State Division of Forestry Fire Warden by the name of Carol Harrb,
who was working at Alma Station, tried to start a volunteer fire department at
Holy City. They had a truck that was housed in between the service station and
the old garage. The department did not last very long.
Alma
served as the Headquarters Station for the Santa Clara County Ranger Unit. It
was at this station in June of 1942 that I started my career as a fireman at
$85.00 a month with $20.00 for room and board. We worked 24 hour days with 2
days off a month. Fire season ran from April 15th to November 1st. During that
time, all fires in the area were considered wild land fires and were responded
to by the Division of Forestry.
In
the non-fire season, the County would contract with the State to provide
protection to the unincorporated areas. We had about five stations in the
county. Each station had one man, one truck and no radios. When you left the
station, you had better know where you were going or look for the glow in the
sky.
In
1952 the Lexington Dam was being built and the headquarters for the Santa Clara
County Ranger Unit was moved to Morgan Hill. The old fire station was moved to
its present site on Highway 17. The building on the left, which is now the
barracks, was the old barracks and mess hall. The garage you see now was one
half of the old garage; the other half was moved to the Stevens Creek Station.
The Fire District still contracted with the State for off-season protection, but
the area was growing. We felt we needed more than just that. We needed a
year-around contract.
In
1961 we hired sleeper-students who came in and slept at the station from six at
night to six in the morning. This gave us two men to a truck at night. We next
purchased a class "A" fire truck from P.E. Van Pelt of Oakdale,CA. We
also had a 2000 gallon tanker that we made up from two trucks, one from Lakeside
and the other from Soquel Fire Department.
We
then contracted with the State to man these trucks on a year-round basis. All of
this cost money, but the people of the district went along with all our
development. We also worked with the residents of Santa Clara County and Santa
Cruz County to start the Loma Prieta Volunteer Fire Department, which still is
going today.
Then
in 1969-70 a consolidation move was started with the town of Los Gatos, Burbank
Fire District, Alma Fire District, and Central Fire District. This gave us a
chance to really improve our fire protection. Those men who worked under
contract with us were given the choice to come to Central if they wanted. I
believe four did, two of which are still with Central, Keith Melior, who still
works at the Redwood station, and Bill Hardwicke, who is fire investigator. Bill
first went to work for me as a firefighter in 1954. I became a Fire Commissioner
for the Central District, serving for the next nine years.
Alma still remains as part of the Department of
Forestry. It is open during fire season for wild land protection. The
consolidated Central District built Redwood station for the old Alma Fire
District protection.
As
we move ahead, we now have water supplies and fire hydrants we never dreamed of
having 30 thirty years ago. We have qualified medical technicians, 911dispatch,
and so much more. I believe the pay and hours are a little better than when I
started, too. I am proud to have had a part of fire service in Central
California for the past 50 plus years.
Bruce
Franks