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Early History of the Florin Community
In 1852, James Rutter, a
horticulturist, and E.B. Crocker, the Railroad “Baron,” purchased 240 acres
at the corner of what is today Florin Road and Power Inn Road. Rutter lived
on the ranch planting grapes, including the first Tokay grapes, and started
a winery. The name Florin was given to the developing community in 1864 by
now Judge Crocker, because of the wide variety of wild flowers in the area.
The name became official when the Central Pacific Railroad was built through
the town in 1868 and a station was built on Florin Road at the tracks.
Florin became a small rural community located about 9 miles southeast of
downtown Sacramento.
The community thrived as
an agricultural center with nearly 200 growers shipping their products
worldwide. By the 30’s, Florin was known as the “Strawberry Capitol of the
World”. Florin was always a multi-ethnic community. Early Chinese workers
on the Railroad settled in the Florin area, followed by Japanese farmers who
developed much of the grape and fruit farming.
The community changed
forever when World War II forced the local Japanese from the area and a new
war economy closed down many of the businesses.
Beginning of the Florin Fire District
In 1918, local merchants
and citizens, seeing a need for fire protection, purchased a hand drawn
chemical cart for $950. Soon the area grew and the chemical cart was drawn
by men sitting on the backs of motor vehicles. In the 1930’s, the cart was
no longer serviceable and the area was without any organized fire
protection.
Harry French, Founder of the Florin
Fire District
Harry J. French was an
early pioneer in the Florin area and took the lead in developing a
firefighting force. In 1910, he was appointed a State Fire Warden and in
1925 he became a Deputy County Fire Warden. In 1910, he hooked up his own
horses to a wagon and pulled it to fires loaded with tubs of water, hoping
others would respond and help him. As the owner of the local Studebaker
Dealership, he attempted to raise donations for fire equipment. When this
was not adequate, he found he could get a surplus fire truck for one dollar
from the State Forestry. The stipulation for the truck was that it would
respond anywhere in Sacramento County, which it did, mostly north of the
American River. With no budget, the fire truck/District operated out of the
back of his Studebaker Dealership. On July 26, 1942, the Florin Fire
District was formally organized. The first official act of the new three
member Board of Directors (Christie Frasinetti, Bruce Camp and Wally Brinsen)
was to appoint Harry French Fire Chief.
Growth/Annexations/Tribulations
In 1951, the new District
moved in to its first official fire station at 8481 Florin Road, across the
street from Harry French’s auto dealership. Built at a cost of $18,000, the
concrete block building was the headquarter station for the District until
1990. In 1951, Harry French retired as Fire Chief and Russell Gordon
succeeded him and became a District full-time paid employee, living in the
station with his family. The District boundaries originally extended from
the American River on the north, where Sacramento State University and the
Sacramento City Filtration Plant are (annexed in 1954), south down 65th
Street Expressway/Stockton Boulevard, west to Stockton Boulevard to Lemon
Hill Road and then roughly down to Calvine Road just west of what today is
Highway 99. The southern boundary was east along Calvine Road to about
Excelsior Road, then north to Kiefer Boulevard through current Rosemont,
then a half mile east of Watt Avenue back to the American River. There were
approximately 40 square miles in the District. In 1957, twenty-nine square
miles were annexed at the request of landowners. The land lay east of
Bradshaw Road, behind Mather Air Force Base, north across Douglas Road and
north to just south of the current Sacramento County Off Road Park. At 69
square miles, this was the largest size that the District would become.
Annexations by the City of Sacramento then reduced the District boundaries
on the north and west sides continuing for many years.
In 1956, a second fire
station was acquired on 14th Avenue west of 65th Street. This station was
annexed along with 48% of the District’s assessed valuation in 1958. The
District had grown to seven paid full-time firefighters and 30 volunteers at
this time. Three of the seven full-time members left with the annexation to
the City. In 1962, the District built another Fire Station, Station 2, in
College Greens/Perkins area at the cost of $58,160. This station, now
Station 60, was annexed in 1964 to the City of Sacramento and four
firefighters went to the City. In 1965, the third fire station, Station 3,
and a three-story drill tower were built on Elder Creek Road east of
Bradshaw Road. The new station was staffed with two firefighters until
1997.
In 1963, volunteer
Assistant Chief Bob Fletcher became the Fire Chief when Chief Gordon left.
Chief Fletcher had been a volunteer with Harry French during the early years
of the District. Chief Fletcher created a lifetime bond between himself,
the Japanese community, and thus the Fire District, when he maintained
several of the Japanese Farms in the Florin area for their owners until they
could return from internment camps after World War II.
The District grew in the
60’s as more homes and businesses were built in the northwest corner of the
District. The biggest development in the District was the new Florin Center
Mall located at Stockton Boulevard and Florin Road. This shopping mall and
surrounding development required a new fire station, firefighters and
equipment. In 1967, Station 3 was built at Fleming Avenue just east of
Stockton Boulevard.
A temporary Station 4 was
built in 1973 at the corner of Fredric Avenue and Manlove Road (now South
Watt). This residential home with a large garage was to serve the Rosemont
US-50/Watt Avenue area. In 1974, the District employed 30 people. During
1974 Chief Fletcher retired after 32 years of service and Assistant Chief
Keith Roberts assumed command until 1981 when Battalion Chief Harlan Imbery
was appointed to the position. Deputy Chief Curt Grieve was appointed Fire
Chief in 1986 to replace retiring Chief Imbery.
New Stations
Station 55 at 7776
Excelsior Road was built in 1985 in one of the few remaining open spaces
available for development in the area. This station provided protection in
the rapidly growing southeasterly Vineyard portion of the District.
The Harry J. French
Memorial Fire Station and Administration complex at 8880 Gerber Road, now
known as Station 50, was built in 1990. This complex was built to replace
the original fire station at 8481 Florin Road, the automotive repair shops
and the “Greenhouse” administration building (a former barracks building
from Mather Air Force Base). The new building provided a Board of Directors
meeting room, classrooms, conference rooms, offices, the Fire Prevention
Division and a comprehensive shop.
Continued growth in the
Calvine US 99 area required the building of a new fire station in the
countryside community. This station started as a mobile home on Citizens
Utilities Water District property and in 1993 moved into its permanent home
next door at 8210 Meadowhaven Drive.
Memorable Fires
The District throughout
its existence fought a large number of grass/wildland fires in the District
and in the south county area. It was not uncommon each summer to fight
large north wind driven fires over a thousand acres all day and into the
evening. The ladies auxiliary, formed in the 40’s, came to these fires and
provided food and drink. Throughout the 40’s and 50’s and into the 60’s,
large wooden packing sheds, lumberyard and woodworking shops burned in the
Florin area. Lack of an adequate water supply was always a problem during
these years. The most tragic and publicized loss occurred on December 16,
1982, when a strategic Air Force B-52 Bomber on a training flight crashed 45
seconds after takeoff from Mather Air Force Base. Nine crewmembers perished
in the crash near the intersection of Fruitridge Road and Mayhew Road. The
largest life and fire loss ($38 million) in the District’s history occurred
that morning. The only firefighter death ever to occur during a Florin
emergency was Ronald Chapman, a fireman from Fruitridge Fire Department who
died when his fire truck collided with an auto at the intersection of
Bradshaw and Gerber Roads in the 1950’s.
Budgeting Woes and Prop 13
The District had a
tradition of being frugal with citizens’ money, but even with growth and
budget limitations such as SB90, the District managed to be fiscally sound.
In 1978, the citizens approved Proposition 13, which severely limited the
District’s ability to maintain its budget. With layoffs for one-fourth of
the District, a real possibility on January 1, 1979, members decided to give
back to the District $100 a month in current salary and future pay raises.
This action by all members of the District from Chief to recruit saved jobs
until State bailout funds became available one year later.
Communications
The Florin Fire District
was a leader in merging communications and dispatch services in Sacramento
County. Starting in 1972 with a pilot program with the Veterans
Administration, three Veterans were hired and trained as Dispatchers. They
worked 24 hours on-duty and 48 hours off-duty. In 1975, a new Joint
Dispatch Center called Central was created between Fruitridge, Florin and
Pacific Fire Districts. A new dispatch room was added to the Florin
Administration Building at 8481 Florin Road. Shortly after operation began,
Sloughouse Fire joined Central Dispatch. In 1981, North Highlands, Citrus
Heights and Rancho Cordova Fire Districts consolidated their dispatch
operation and the Sacramento County Fire Communications Center was formed.
The communications room was moved from Florin and Fire Chief Imbery then
moved in to his “new office”.
First Aid and Emergency Medical Service
(EMS)
The District since its
early beginnings had been the source of emergency first aid in the
community. In 1961, recognizing the time and distances necessary for
patients to reach medical services, the District decided to operate its own
ambulance. A 1961 Chevrolet Suburban was purchased for $2,782 and converted
by the firefighters to an ambulance. This service grew from 42 medical aid
responses the first year of operation to over 4,900 in 1996. All Fire
Chiefs and Board of Directors supported this service. Employees after 1961
served dual roles during their careers on the ambulance/medics as
Firefighter EMT/Attendants. In 1971, District personnel became the first
firefighters accepted and trained in Sacramento as Emergency Medical
Technicians (EMT’s). The District supported its members and provided one of
the first computer aided training programs in the mid 70’s, so all employees
would be EMT-1A trained. EMT-II (Advanced Life Support) was provided in
1979 for all District employees who wished to advance. Paramedic training
followed in the 90’s.
A major development in
delivery of EMS occurred in 1991 when Ric Maloney, a Methodist Hospital
Emergency Nurse, was hired to develop and oversee a Continuous Quality
Assurance program (CQI). Quality equipment, continuing education, skills
verification, peer review, and open forums provided for a high quality
response team. Computerized patient report forms were developed and
utilized with the local hospitals.
Fire Apparatus
The District’s first fire
truck was a State Department of Forestry surplus unit, which cost one
dollar. In its first years, the District purchased used or surplus
apparatus. Three areas of apparatus usage differed at times from other
districts. These were specialized grass trucks starting in 1955, Studebaker
chassis fire trucks from Chief French’s Studebaker Dealership and
standardization in 1976 on Ford C-8000 Commercial chassis built under State
Office of Emergency Services bids and specifications.
Because of the large
grasslands, small off-road trucks designed by Chief Carl Thiele of
Springlake Fire District (now Woodland) were developed in the early 50’s.
The Jeeps were purchased from Winter Motors in 1955 and built by Perkins
Welding and Sacramento Machine Works. The small agile fire trucks were
judged a success and Florin continued to design special apparatus for
grass/wildland fires.
Several fire trucks were
built on Studebaker chassis with Chief French’s help during the 40’s and
50’s. The last Studebaker fire truck was a 1951 V-8 powered, skid mounted
(separated motor), 500 GPM fire truck built by Van Pelt Fire Truck Company.
This unit was rebuilt several times by District personnel and was still in
service into the 70’s.
In 1956, the District
purchased two fire engines from Mack Trucks: a factory re-built World War II
Mack 750 GPM pumper and a new 1956 Mack B-95 Thermodyne 1,000 GPM pumper.
The Classic 1956 Mack remained on the District’s roster until 1997 when it
became part of Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District’s collection. Custom
fire apparatus was a rare purchase by the District due to cost and ability
to service them locally. In 1964, Florin made an exception and purchased a
custom 1,250 GPM pumper from Capital Fire and Howe Fire Apparatus of
Indiana. Because of the new Florin Shopping Center and related commercial
growth, the District purchased its first aerial truck in 1967, an 85-foot
Hi-Ranger elevating platform mounted on a custom International chassis and
assembled by Van Pelt Fire Apparatus Company.
A voter-approved 25-cent
tax levy was approved in 1976 for new equipment, which allowed the District
to purchase new Ford chassis Van Pelt fire engines and one 2,000-gallon
water tanker. These new engines were purchased under Statewide Office of
Emergency Services specifications, which offered standard quality at a
competitive price. All future fire engine purchases would follow this
standard. Full time dedicated truck service including rescue, ventilation
and aerial operations began in 1989 with the purchase of a Grumman 102 foot
aerial truck.
Until the early 90’s,
when an Equipment Maintenance Technician was hired to staff the new
Maintenance Shop at Station 50, District members using outside vendors
handled maintenance of apparatus and equipment.
Last Meetings
In May
1996, the Board of Directors appointed Fire Chief Rick Martinez, American
River Fire Protection District, as interim successor to Chief Grieve pending
completion of the merger process with American River Fire District. In
December of 1996, just before Christmas, the Board of Directors met to
conduct the last official business of the District. On January 1, 1997, the
Florin Fire Protection District became part of the American River Fire
Protection District. On that Sunday morning at 8880 Gerber Road, Chief
Martinez presented new badges and gave the new oath to all former Florin
Fire District employees. |
