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The area known as Rio
Linda, in northern Sacramento County, was primarily used for poultry farming
and consisted of large open areas of grass between the scattered ranches,
which was a fire concern for the local residents. The first meeting to form
a Fire District in the Rio Linda area was held on May 28, 1923, with the
help of Mr. George Mott, who did not live in the District, but was an
interested farmer living north of U Street. The old timers affectionately
called him “the father of the Rio Linda Fire Department.” The first three
commissioners appointed to act as the governing board of the District were
J. W. Smith, Dan Nash and Paul Norbryhn. The Sacramento County Board of
Supervisors approved the Incorporation papers for the Rio Linda Fire
District on June 4, 1923. In a letter written to the Sacramento Suburban
Fruit Lands Company, dated September 15, 1923, it is stated that “the
building proposed for the fire hall will be of frame construction covered,
sides and roof, with galvanized sheet iron and its dimensions will be 20 x
24 feet. A volunteer fire company is now in process of organization and
every effort will be made to make this equipment prove its greatest
efficiency.” This letter was signed by J. W. Smith, Chairman, Paul Norbryhn
and Daniel Nash. The lot on which the original fire hall stood was deeded to
the District by the Sacramento Suburban Fruit Land Company on September 25,
1923.
The Rio Linda Outpost of
Fire Protection, as the firefighting force was called at that time,
purchased a 1923 Dodge/American LaFrance Chemical Engine. It was purchased
on July 7, 1923, from the American LaFrance Fire Engine Company for the
price of $2,525. This engine somehow received the nickname “Old Betsy” early
on and it still remains in effect today. It was first housed on Chester
Walsingham’s property at 26th and E Street until the main hall was built.
The first Fire Chief was
Lester Thorn; he served from 1922 until 1932 and had a roster of 13
volunteers. In the early years, all fires were handled with “Old Betsy,” a
soda and acid type fire engine, until 1928 when an up-to-date American
LaFrance Pumper was purchased. In 1932, Les Thorn resigned as Fire Chief,
and Everett Fisher was appointed to serve in that capacity. Following
Fisher, was Elmer Fillback, who assumed office in 1936 and served for only a
short time until August 5, 1938, when Ray Gilmore took charge of the
District.
Much credit goes to Mr.
Frank Hull, an honorary member of the department, for his excellent service
as receiver and screener of fire calls, until the time of his death in 1947.
Frank and his wife Betty operated the first fire answering and dispatch
center for Rio Linda Fire District from their home on the southwest corner
of Seventh and L Street. They operated the area operator and switchboard for
the telephone company when it still had hand crank telephones, as well as
the rotary dial phones with the Wyndote prefix prior to the 991 prefix. The
emergency call would come in on the manual switchboard and they would go
down the fireman roster, calling to notify them of the location of the
emergency. The first fireman to arrive at the station would manually start
the siren to notify those firemen that did not have a telephone. In the
50’s, the main fire station was upgraded and full-time personnel were hired
to answer the fire phone, sound the siren, write the address of the
emergency on a chalkboard and respond with the first fire engine. Battalion
Chief Ollie Gross, a former school district employee, and Captain Conrad
Gerolamy, a local businessman and fire commissioner, were the first to
assume this responsibility. Mrs. Jewel Crane was hired as a relief and
alternate dispatcher; she worked out of her home next door to the Vineland
Fire Station. Assistant Chief Les Crane installed automated radios and tone
activated switching devices, allowing the sirens to be activated from remote
locations. He also implemented the home radio receivers for all the firemen
so they could be notified more quickly as to the location of the emergency.
Elsie Brown was hired to alternate with Jewel Crane’s duties; when Jewel
retired, Phyllis Larkins was hired to alternate with Elsie. As more
full-time firefighters were added in the early 70’s and 80’s, these faithful
home dispatcher’s main duties came during the nighttime. These women were
the mainstay of the quick response to the emergencies. The more rapidly fire
personnel arrived at the emergency scene, the greater the reduction of
property damage and the greater chance of saving lives. Their jobs were
phased out in the late 80’s, when most of the fire districts in the county
joined together to build and staff a full-time, around-the-clock, emergency
dispatch center for all 23 fire districts in Sacramento County.
Increased population
through the years necessitated the purchase of more equipment. The third
piece was purchased in 1937 and a fourth truck was added in 1945. The
formation of the Rio Linda County Water District made it possible to operate
a pumper. In 1951 a 750-gallon per minute American LaFrance
pumper, capable of carrying 1,200 feet of hose and 500 gallons of water, was
purchased. Another lot next to the fire hall was purchased in 1940 and the
present Station 111 was built. An interesting note is that the siren used to
sound the alarm at the main fire hall is the same one used all through the
years. The District covered more than 9,000 acres extending from Watt Avenue
on the east to the Western Pacific Railroad tracks on the west, and from A
Street on the south to U Street on the north.
The first full-time paid
employee in the District was Clarence “Babe” Best, when he was appointed
Fire Chief in July 1953. By 1955 the Rio Linda Fire District grew to nine
pieces of modern equipment consisting of one 750-gallon per minute pumper,
one 750-gallon pumper with a high pressure fog unit, one squad truck which
carried a resuscitator, first aid and salvage gear, one 250 gallon pumper,
one 150 gallon pumper, the chief’s pickup, a tanker and “Old Betsy,” which
had been modified and was still serviceable. The main station, located at
6749 Front Street in Rio Linda, housed four fire trucks and the chief’s
pickup, had a two-way radio equipped office, a recreation room and a
kitchen.
In 1954, the necessity
for additional fire protection for the rapidly expanding east end of the
District was seen; therefore, the Vineland Station at 2501 I Street was
established, with Assistant Chief Les Crane, officer in charge, on a
half-day-pay basis. Three fire trucks and a 2000-gallon tanker were housed
at the Vineland Station. A third fire station was built at 34th and Elkhorn
Blvd. in 1958 and is known today as Station 112. The District supplied its
own maintenance shop at the Vineland Station. Chief Best, with his 23 years
of garage experience, and Assistant Chief Crane, with 20 years of body shop
experience, saved the District a tremendous amount of money by painting,
repairing and rebuilding smaller trucks to meet specifications. In 1949, a
new Dodge Power Wagon chassis was purchased and on May 9, 1950, Les Crane
received the bid to build the fire truck. It was completed in September
1950. This truck was called “The Power Wagon” or Number Seven.
It was then decided that
a second resuscitator was needed for the Vineland Station; a community drive
was organized to buy a second mechanical “gadget.” The churches raised funds
and donated money, the Lions Club put on a Carnival, and various other
organizations had money-raising ventures. Every man, woman, and child had a
part in raising money towards this project. In fact, the venture was so
successful it snowballed, somewhere along the way, into plans to purchase a
Rescue Truck using money over and above what was needed for the
resuscitator. The next year Les Crane, at the direction of Chief Best, made
a trip to Ohio and drove back a Rescue Truck, arriving in Rio Linda on
November 2, 1955. By this time the second resuscitator had already been duly
installed at the I Street Fire Hall. The new Rescue Truck was a 1955
Chevrolet, in the one-ton van delivery class, commonly called a “walk-in
delivery.” It was fitted with an ambulance type gurney and an army type
stretcher.
The Rio Linda Fire
District was a community project operated by mostly volunteer firemen who
would leave their business places and farms to answer calls when the fire
siren blew. They received two dollars for each call on which they responded,
regardless of whether it was a one hour or eight hours duration, and the
same amount for a monthly fire drill. Many times the fellows were caught
with their good clothes on and the remuneration scarcely compensated for
their cleaning costs. The turnout gear the firemen wore was furnished by the
department, but all dress uniforms had to be supplied by the men themselves.
The many hours of special training and numerous other drills the men had to
attend, all without pay, leave little doubt that each firemen serving in the
District was imbued with a patriotic duty and a great concern for the well
being of his neighbors.
The second piece of
firefighting equipment that Rio Linda purchased, a 1927 American LaFrance
Pumper, remained in service until 1953. It was sold for surplus and ended up
being used on the ranch of Silmer Scheidel in Pleasant Grove. It remained in
the barn until just recently. The local Rio Linda/Elverta Historical Society
received a grant from the Sacramento County Board of Supervisor’s that
allowed this second piece of Rio Linda Fire District’s history to be brought
back home. Hopefully, in the near future, this fire engine can also receive
the same treatment as “Old Betsy,” and be reintroduced into the community.
Written by Margaret
Posehn and Randy Johnson |
