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From the Idyllwild Town Crier weekly newspaper, 12.09.10 edition.

The history of Idyllwild Fire

By Carey Powers, News Intern

Editor’s note: A complete history of the Idyllwild Fire Department does not exist. The Idyllwild Area Historical Society has obtained only donated photographs. The Town Crier’s archives of previous issues contain the history; however, they have not yet been compiled and organized. Most of the volunteer firemen and chiefs present in the district’s earliest days have retired. The following consists of remembered stories, gleaned facts, and scattered details making up a small history of the department.

At the turn of the 20th century, as major logging dwindled and owners of luxury mountain homes began to desire the scenic beauty of dense forestation, Idyllwild became more prone to wildfire. Several fires raised local landmarks such as the Sanatorium in 1902 and the Idyllwild Inn 40 years later.

Often it has been said that Idyllwild is “ripe for disaster,” as a Press-Enterprise article dated approximately 1980 declared. As part of an ongoing pre-planning program created in 1955, the department has endeavored to make the woods less threatening.

Before the district began in 1946, Idyllwild had an all-volunteer force, loosely organized, which began near the turn of the century. “It wasn’t uncommon in earlier years to find townsfolk on the firelines,” said a former district ranger. First Fire Chief Bill Price cautioned that all volunteers responding to a fire should report to him so that they would be authorized and protected by insurance.

Up until 1960, the department remained an all-volunteer company. When the department became primarily paid-call staff, three dispatchers were hired to cover the station at all times because of a growing need for 24-hour service, said Bud Hunt, fire chief from 1972 to 1985. In 1965, the staffing was comprised of a chief and four full-time firefighters. As the department acquired a bigger budget, they could afford to hire.

Volunteers, now known as paid-call volunteers, were there primarily to augment career firefighting staff, volunteer Capt. Larry Donahoo explained. They also served as the bond between the department and the community; many were, in fact, property and business owners. Their worth was unmistakable and “kept a relationship between the fire department and the community,” said Don Gilden, fire chief from 1990 to 1998.

More so than today, the department used to be the information center for the town. It was more than just a fire station; community service and public relations were its additional concerns. Much of the same attitude exists today, though to a lesser degree. People would call the station to ask for directions and about weather conditions.

“It was very informal back then,” said Hunt.

Across the street from the old location of the fire department, now the site of a thrift shop on Highway 243, was a place called Burley’s Beer Bar. Laughingly, he explained how the intoxicated or those wounded from fistfights would only have to cross the street to receive aid.

The informality of the department lessened as budget grew. When Hunt became engineer in 1963, the district’s budget was $120,000; in 1985, it was approaching $500,000. “The public was more inclined to depend upon an organized fire department,” said a 1985 Town Crier article.

“The community was behind us 100 percent,” Hunt opined. “My time as chief was a healthy building to a more paid and efficient department.”

When Hunt was a paid-call volunteer, it became clear that an ambulance service was needed. An incident near Idyllwild Pines Camp helped form the decision. A man had broken his arm and the Hemet ambulance took more than an hour to reach him. In the meantime, volunteers prepared a splint with a Life magazine. “Hey, we’re going to have to get ourselves an ambulance,” they all agreed. The department hired its first paramedic-firefighter in 1974.

A new paramedic program began in 1985 and used off-duty paramedics from other departments to fill in at the station when regular Idyllwild Fire Protection District (IFPD) paramedics were not available. This type of thinking has always been part of the mutual aid program, originating around 1950, which allowed out-of-district response, according to Paul Riggi. At one time, paramedics answered from home and it took more time for them to get to the station for medical aids. It was around this time that paramedics were also required to be firefighters.

“The terrain is too radical and the fuel buildup too much” was the statement made by California Department of Forestry Battalion Chief Fletcher Jackson in 1980, regarding the difficulties of Pine Cove abatement. Fire prevention has always been a high priority, but since Riggi became a fire commissioner three years ago, it seems to have increased in importance. Jackson said only 1.5 percent of the more than 900 residents in Pine Cove were not in compliance with fire regulations, an impressive percentage probably unmatched today. Further back in history, flicking away burning cigarettes used to be a major fire prevention issue, along with abatement.

But the major difference between now and then was the number of volunteer firefighters versus career firefighters. However, it was not a switch but rather a supplementation or an addition of staff. Many of the department’s career firefighters now live off the Hill, when once the community was rich with volunteers. Still, the department has strived to preserve a relationship with the town and its commitment to duty, community relations, and high morale.

E-mail Carey Powers at [email protected].

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