History
The Fullerton Fire Department was formally established as a volunteer department on August 10, 1908. The initial apparatus included a hand-drawn hook and ladder truck, a hand-drawn chemical wagon, and some ancillary equipment. In 1913 the voters passed a $5,000 bond issue, which was used to purchase the first piece of motorized apparatus, a 1913 Seagrave triple-combination (ladder, hose, and chemical) engine that was housed in rented quarters in the 200 block of North Spadra (now Harbor Boulevard). The city's first formal fire station was opened in 1926 in the 100 block of West Wilshire Avenue. This building housed the department's apparatus on the ground floor, while the second floor housed the city hall. In 1942, when a new city hall was built, the second floor of the Wilshire Avenue building was converted into sleeping quarters for the firefighters.
A second station was added at Brookhurst and Valencia in 1953 to serve the west side of the city, and a third was added at 700 S. Acacia to serve the east side of the city. By 1961 the department had made the transition from a volunteer department to one staffed by career firefighters. A bond issue passed in the mid-1960s funded the construction of a new fire department headquarters building at 312 E. Commonwealth. At that time the Wilshire Avenue station was leveled. The same bond funded the construction of a fourth station at 3251 N. Harbor Blvd. to serve the north-central part of the city, and a fifth station at 2555 E. Yorba Linda Blvd. to serve the rapidly growing east side of the city, which included the Cal State Fullerton campus.
A sixth station was opened at 1500 North Gilbert on the west side of the city in 1968. In 2004 this station was replaced by a new $3.4 million station that was built for the city by private developers as part of an agreement that allowed the developers to build on property owned by Chevron Land and Development.
The Fullerton Fire Department celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2008.
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