Department History

For more than 110 years, City of San Diego firefighters have kept a vigilant watch over their community. The Department's history is as rich and diverse as the area it serves.

• Firefighting, Pre-1900
  
• A Fire Department Is Born
  
• Early Fire Pay And Duties
  
• An Uneasy Beginning
  
• Raising The Bar
  
• Looking Forward
  
• Fire Chiefs
  
• Fire House Museum
• Major Fires

Firefighting Pre-1900

• Before 1889, San Diego had only volunteer firefighters and at times no organized fire protection at all.
   
  
• In 1872 the City's first Engine Company (Company 1) opened, staffed by volunteers.
   
  
• In 1872, a fire rig consisted of a thin, high-wheeled, horse drawn wagon. Twelve buckets, which were hand-filled with water and used to fight fire, hung between the front and rear wheel carriage.
   
  
• By 1887 volunteers used steam engines to battle blazes, the volunteer fire department had 2 steam fire engines, a hose wagon, 11 horses and 3,500 feet of hose.

A Fire Department Is Born

A series of events in the 1880s brought the need for a paid fire department to the forefront.

• In December 1884, a huge fire destroyed one of the town's planing mills.
   
  
• In 1888, there were a series of disastrous incendiary fires where little else but the sidewalks were saved. Because of a shortage of horses, ladder trucks had to be pulled by the firefighters.

Finally, on August 5, 1889, a City Charter Amendment established the San Diego City Fire Department. The department started with forty-one men, eleven horses, two Steam Fire Engines; one Hose Wagon, two Hose Carts, one Hook & Ladder; and four thousand feet of hose. The total worth of the department, in materials, apparatus, horses and equipment, was $22,572.75.

Early Fire Pay And Duties

The City's first overall pay structure for the Fire Department was established in 1889 to attract veteran talent from throughout the country. The City Charter Amendment allowed for the payment of firemen then known as Foremen and Extramen:

• Foremen received $12.50 a month
   
  
• Extramen were paid $10.00 a month.
   
  
• Engine Drivers and Hose Carriage Driver ($75.00 a month) made considerably more because of their additional responsibilities.
   
  
• Top pay was reserved for Engineers ($100 a month) who had the duty of maintaining the fire steamers. As the fire team left its quarter to respond to an alarm, the Engineer rode on the rear step of the steamer. His first job was to ignite the boiler.

An Uneasy Beginning

In 1904, a new era in San Diego firefighting began with the appearance of the city's first fire hydrants. Firefighters no longer had to draw water from wells and cisterns to extinguish flames.

But the San Diego City Fire Department's early days remained difficult:

• From the start, the Department struggled with a limited budget.
   
  
• As 1907 rolled around, the Fire Department was riding with short crews, worn out equipment and using mostly condemned hose.
   
  
• That same year, the Department made a significant change when it introduced the dormitory system designed to eliminate the crews' families from living in the station.
   
  
• In 1909 with morale and conditions at the stations at an all time low, a young, successful businessman and former member of the Department, Louis Almgren, stepped in to take over the helm.

Raising The Bar

Starting in 1909, Chief Almgren's reign as Chief Engineer, marked a golden era of expansion and innovation for the San Diego City Fire Department. The benchmarks of Almgren's tenure as the top administrator include:

• A change in the work schedule. Firefighters went from working 24 hours a day, 28 days in a row with one day off, to 12 hour rotating shifts on a 28 consecutive day schedule with two days off.
   
  
• Department standards were significantly raised by the introduction of training and physical conditioning programs.
   
  
• The Merit System was established as a more equitable means of selecting and promoting personnel.
   
  
• San Diego became the first major fire department on the West Coast to be totally mechanized. In 1917, the last team of fire horses was turned over to the City Yards where they continued their service, including hauling trash to the City dump.
   
  
• In 1919, the San Diego Fire Department christened the first gasoline powered fire boat in the world. The boat was built from the keel up at the San Diego Fire Department shop, by firefighters.

In 1935, a quarter century after he began as its esteemed Chief Engineer, Louis Almgren retired from the Fire Department, due to ill health. Chief Almgren will be remembered for putting the San Diego Fire Department on a path of high professionalism and performance, a path traveled by those who have followed him.

Looking Forward

Throughout the 1900s, the San Diego City Fire Department has continued to strive to be the best.

• The Department continually places at the top of the National per-capita fire loss index (the amount of fire loss compared to the amount of money spent on the department).
   
  
• Pre-employment, formal education with fire science classes offered at Miramar College has become the norm.
   
  
• The Department participated in formulating San Diego County's Mutual Aid program.
   
  
• San Diego was among the first departments to hire women firefighters.
   
  
• The San Diego City Fire Department provided emergency medical care.
   
  
• Through a partnership with Rural/Metro Corporation the Department provides the City of San Diego with comprehensive 9-1-1 paramedic service.

In 2003 the Department changed its name to San Diego Fire-Rescue Department; a change which reflects the Department embracing both lifeguards and paramedics in its service. The name may have changed but the commitment and willingness of its men and women to face danger in an effort to save the lives and property of fellow citizens has not.

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1889-1905
1905-1907
1907-1909
1909-1935
1935-1947
1947-1960
1960-1968
1968-1975
1975-1979
1979-1984
1984-1985
1985-1992
1992-2002
2002-2006
2006-Present