By Mark Akers.

The concern for fire protection for the City of Merced can be traced back to the early 1870's. In a copy of the "Merced Tribune" dated October 18, 1873, a small article was written on the feasibility of protecting the city via the purchasing of a fire engine. The article read "Fire Company - A few of our citizens are again agitating the subject of organizing a fire company. The best time to purchase a fire engine is before the greater part of our town is in ashes, although some say we had better wait."

The citizens concern was real. Already Snelling, the former county seat, had been nearly destroyed by fire twice. The citizens of Merced did not want their town to be ravaged in the same manner.

So a few of the more prominent early Mercedians initiated meetings a fund raisers to attain the needed money for the purchase of Merced's first fire engine. Out of the committee meetings that ensued, a founding date for the area's first fire department was established, listed as November 3, 1873. Originally, the department was aptly named the "Merced Engine Company No.1", but was renamed "Eureka Engine Company No.1" on April 18, 1874.

One of the committee members who had been sent out in search of a suitable fire engine, caught wind of one that could be bought from the Eureka Engine Co.2 of Stockton. This pumper, a Jeffers end stroke hand engine, was ornate in design and had been built by William Jeffers & Co. of Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1860.

The newly purchased, but second hand, fire engine arrived in Merced from Stockton on April 3, 1874, with two hose carts and 1500 feet of 2-1/2 inch hose for $1800.00. Years later this fire engine would be christened "old Betsy" and would become the very emblem of the present fire department. (Old Betsy is on display in the Courthouse museum, located at XXX21st)

Prior to the construction of the first fire house, the fire engine was housed in various rented buildings or barns. It wasn't until some time in 1885 that an engine house was built. It stood between Canal St. and M St. on 18th St. until it was torn down in February of 1953. When the City of Merced was incorporated in 1889, the second floor of this building was fixed up as the city hall and council meeting chambers. By this time the fire department had acquired a Silsby steam engine, purchased in June of 1883.

On February 7, 1891 the Eureka Engine Company No.1 was replaced by the El Capitan Hose Company No.1. The El Capitan Hose Company would serve as a volunteer group until June of 1952 when they opted to disband.

After 61 years of service the El Capitan Hose Co. may be gone but it is not forgotten. In a newspaper article the month following the unit's disbanding, J.T. McInerny, the 65 year old postmaster of Merced, revived the memories of his active membership in the organization.

"It was a wonderful group said McInerny. "There was a closer bond of friendship in the El Capitan Hose Company of Merced than any fraternal or social organization of the city." "There were 25 active volunteer firemen belonging to the hose company. I was made a member in 1907 and served for 12 years. We were on a 24 hour call and many a night a member could be seen at a fire dressed in his 'long john' winter underwear or ankle length night gown."

Of course there were more than 25 members of the group, but only 25 were active. The rest were called "exempt" members or those on the retired list.

In the early days of the El Capitan Hose Co. there were no horses owned by the department. It was always a treacherous race among the various transfer express companies to see who could get to the fire house first. The first and second transfer express company there were permitted to let their horses pull the two hose carts. The third place company's horse was given the honor of pulling the heavier, but vital, steam fire engine.

"Things got pretty hot around the fire house when several horses would arrive about the same time" McInerny asserted.

It was a great day for Merced when the acquisition of the first fire horse was made.  A huge lumbering bay nag, it answered to the name of Grant.  "That was some animal," McInerny recalled. "It didn't make any difference where that horse was.  At the sound of the fire bell (regardless if the rider was in the vicinity or not) Grant would make an automatic beeline for the station."

McInerny went on to say that the horse was purchased in San Francisco by the Harrell brothers, Frank and Tom, who operated an ice company.

One of the several incidents which stood out in McInerny's mind was the time a fire broke out in the alley between twentieth and twenty first streets.  It was in mid July and hot.  James Garibaldi was chief of the volunteers at the time.  About ten barns were ablaze and after fighting the inferno for four hours tempers were short and tongues sharp.

Up stepped a spectator, a young visitor from San Francisco, and as the grimy, wet, and tired volunteers were wearily placing the hose back on the cart, the visitor laughed and remarked, "Well the only thing you saved is the lots."

Garibaldi, so the story goes, held himself in check and with remarkable reserve declared, "Now run along mister before something happens to you."  The heckler continued to barb the men and finally Garibaldi, addressing Ben Allen, a moose of a man, ordered "Take car of him Ben."  With a upswing haymaker that began at his ankles, Allen connected on the jaw of the San Franciscan, knocked him in the air ten feet and sent him sprawling forty feet down the alley.  although dazed the man was not out and the volunteers, with great alacrity hitched up the hose and sprayed the agitator.  He offered no further trouble.  The volunteers then hopped onto the carts and went back to their place of business and awaited the next call.

Such were the days of J. T. McInerny.  Today we still have the hecklers who shout out their unappreciated jests, but however tempting, we couldn't handle the situation like old Ben Allen.

In 1918, the department's first motorized fire engine came upon the scene.  This fire engine was a 1918 Garford chemical engine and hose wagon.  The following year the department purchased a 1919 American La France from Elmira, New York.  This fire engine has been retained and rebuilt by the department.  It has been run in numerous fire musters around the state and presently holds the state record for engines in it's class.  While still active on our apparatus roster, her duties have been relegated to parades and public relations duties.

In 1907 the city decided to build a brand new fire station.  This one would be much larger than the volunteer fire house and would be positioned approximately fifty yards away on the corner of 18th and M Streets.  This structure finally went the way of most old buildings and was replaced at the same site by a modern central fire station in April of 1952.  The only remaining physical evidence of the station is the bell that used to call out for the volunteers in time of need.  This bell is inscribed with "Merced F. D. 1910", and is mounted on the outside wall of the present central station.

On May 8th, 1949 George Coolures was appointed the first full time fire chief.  The new chief found nine paid firemen and a forty-eight man volunteer group in his command.  His first job was to pass a $250,000.00 bond issue to improve the department.  This issue passed and the money bought new fire alarm and radio systems, a new chief's car, a new fire engine, an aerial ladder unit, plus new fire stations at McNamara Park, f27th and K Streets, and rebuilt the central station.

Under Chief Coolures the Merced Fire Department became one of the first in the state to have telephone fire alarms "broadcast" over an amplifier system so that all of the firefighters in the stations could hear the request for help.

Fire Chief Coolures retired in March of 1974 after 25 years of excellent service.

One of the firemen brought on to the department in the early 1950's is "Denver" Don Walker.  "Denver", who acquired his nickname through his many vacations to his hometown Denver, Colorado, began his 35 years of service with the fire department in August of 1953.  He was promoted to captain in 1963, and retired on December 31, 1988.

Don recalled a couple of his most memorable experiences.  "The one that comes to mind first is the American Partition fire in October of 1959," said Walker.  "I believe the place was at 15th and O Streets at the time and the fire broke out late in the evening."

"I was with the first engine on the scene, and when we got there the whole roof of the building was on fire."  This fire resulted in $500,000.00 in damage and destroyed the entire plant.  The building was a 23,000 square foot aluminum one, and the fire was fed by the 500 tons of  paper inside.

"As soon as we arrived, we dropped lines immediately and started putting water on the fire," said Walker.  There were only 6 men on duty at the time, and nobody was hurt.  All 32 Merced firemen, whether on duty or not, fought the blaze and were aided by 15 reserves and volunteers  from the neighborhood.

"I stayed there all night long.  We even had to occasionally stop by the fire scene for a week after the fire, because those paper rolls continued to smolder."  One other incident stands out in Walker's mind.  "A fire started in an old rundown building on 16th Street, or "skid row", as it was called then.  This area was full of old brick buildings that held drunks and bums by the dozens.  We were always going into this area for fire and medical aid calls.  Anyway, on this one fire we pulled up and I was ordered to take a hose line into this burning, smoke filled building by my captain.  The smoke was so thick that you could hardly see, but I felt I had someone behind me.  So thinking it was another fireman, I turned around and was surprised to find an old wino helping with the hose.  I, of course, had to send him outside for safety reasons."

In October of 1956 another important individual was added to the Merced City Fire Department.  "Sparky",  plastic, mechanical talking Dalmatian, came on board to assist in fire prevention activities.  Sparky was purchased by the Merced Trade Club so that he could help educate the public in fire safety.

Along with the two sub-stations that were added in 1951,a third one was built on East 21st Street, and opened up in August of 1959.  These stations were sufficient until Merced expanded past their coverage capabilities.  It was under the direction of Acting Fire Chief Art "Buck" Buckingham that the planning of two new stations were initiated.  The first new station, Engine company Two, was completed in December of 1975 on Falcon Way next to the airport.  Once this station was activated the sub-station at McNamara Park was closed.  In June of 1977 the new Engine Company Three opened its doors at 800 Loughborough.

These stations were built during the tenure of Fire Chief Joe Ortiz.  He was appointed Fire Chief following the retirement of Coolures in 1974.  Ortiz resigned in February of 1982.  While in office, Ortiz supervised the purchase of some of our most modern fire engines.  They consisted of three rigs from the American LaFrance Company.  Two 1980, 1500 GPM pumpers and on 1980, 85 foot aerial platform or "Snorkel".

Upon Ortiz's resignation, Ken Mitten was appointed Acting Fire Chief in February 1982, and then Fire Chief in September of 1982.  Mitten started his fire service career with the Whittier Fire Department near Los Angeles in 1965, and then became a Merced fireman in 1966.  Rising through the ranks to his present position is one of his proudest achievements.

When asked what some of his most important accomplishments to date were, he responded, "I feel that the constant updating of our training, fire prevention, and fire apparatus are key items.  Staying in the mainstream of today's fire technology keeps us prepared for any emergency situation."

"A good example of our learning and applying new methods and techniques is the Incident Command System.  This system proved to be invaluable during the rash of major fires that stuck Merced in 1981 and 1982."  The fires of which Chief Mitten is speaking of were the Merced Hotel fire on March 17, 1981, which did $1.5 million in damage.  Then the G & T Market was destroyed by arson May 27, 1981.  On August 4, 1981, $400,000.00 in damage was done to the Central Hotel in downtown Merced.  Then on November 30, 1981, the Furniture U.S.A. store went up in flames resulting in a $650,000.00 loss.  The GreenBriar Apartments which burned twice, the first time on February 15th and the second time on April 15, 1982.

Mitten states, "These fires tested the department to the fullest."  Each and every time the citizens of Merced required the assistance of their firefighters, they were there rapidly and performed professionally.

The most recent large fire that the fire department has battled is the McNamara building fire, on the corner of 18th and Canal Streets.  This fire occurred on October 17, 1987.  The size of the blaze and complexity of the situation once again put the fire department to the test.

A New York fireman had heard of the fire and commented, "Here in New York with a fire of the magnitude, we would have not only lost the building next door, but quite possibly those across the street too.  Merced has a fire department to be proud of.:"

Every year the Merced City Fire Department responds to numerous emergency medical aid calls, structure fires, car fires, and everything in between.  Although the department is admittedly much smaller manpower wise than it should be for the city this size, it has a big heart.  And as long as the citizens of Merced realize that they have this Elite Corps of firefighters standing in readiness, prepared to respond at their beck and call, the illustrious history of the Merced City Fire Department will continue to grow, and serve the City of Merced well into the future.

Prepared by Engineer Mark H. Ackers who greatly appreciates the help of division chief Art "Buck" Buckingham (retired) and Engineer John McMillen who did a tremendous amount of research on the departments history.

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