Grand Marshall
2017 Morgan Hill Freedom Fest Parade Grand Marshall Organization
Firefighters of Morgan Hill and America’s Firefighters
By Maureen Hunt
Some information from
reports by Chief Brad
Spencer and a big
thank you to
Jim Xavier
The 1926
Seagraves is
followed by the
newest Morgan
Hill engine, a 2013
Pierce, 105-foot
ladder truck.
A very short history of the Morgan Hill Fire Department:
I
n 1904 Morgan Hill’s firefighters protected the city of under 650
citizens. The original Department had sixteen volunteer members,
a hand wagon, and a horse-drawn engine. Fred Stone rang the bell
to call the volunteers to the first fire.
In 1907 Ordinance #14 made it official and authorized the
establishment of the Morgan Hill Fire Department. In June of that year
a fire station was built to house a hose cart.
January 1915 was an exciting time for the volunteer fire fighters, a
policy was adopted that would compensate any volunteer if they were
the first to hitch their horse to the fire wagon . . . when it wasn’t fire
season. During fire season, the City provided a horse at the fire station.
The fire department sold the chemical fire engine that had been
purchased in 1920 for a new 1926 Seagraves which is still being used
today in the Freedom Fest July 4th Parades. Several years later the city
built a facility which housed City Hall, the Police Department and the
Fire Department. It was located on the southwest corner of Monterey
and Main Avenue.
By the 1950s, Morgan Hill had more than doubled in size and had a
population of 1,627. The Fire Department added a First Aid wagon
and in 1956, bought a 750 GPM Dodge-Van Pelt pumper, which
cost $17,300!
22
In 1964 the city appointed it’s first full time firefighter, Harold
Burke, who worked Monday through Friday, 9am to 6pm. Volunteers
covered the station the rest of the time. A new 1,000 GPM GMC-Van
Pelt pumper, which cost $23,441, was purchased. By this time,
Morgan Hill had grown to over 3,151 citizens!
In the 1970s Morgan Hill had reached just under 6,000 people.
Since then the cities’ population has grown to over 42,000 today.
With the equipment and electronics of today the Fire Department can
answer your call within 8 minutes, 95% of the time! Morgan Hill’s
firefighters have 3 to 20 years of structural firefighting, wild land fire-
fighting, emergency medical service and rescue response experience.
The story of Morgan Hill’s fire fighters is similar to those across
the country. Their goal is the protection of life, property, and the
environment and doing what it takes to ensure the safety of their com-
munity. Last year’s Soberanes fire, the most expensive fire in United
States history, and the Santa Cruz fire, which had the City of Morgan
Hill engulfed in smoke for most of the summer and into the fall was
a visual reminder of how much we owe not just the Morgan Hill Fire
Department but fire departments and fire personnel across the nation.
This year as we celebrate America’s National Parks let’s remember
to be thankful for our fire personnel across the country and at home
for keeping us and our Parks safe from the ravages of fires, floods and
other disasters.
America’s NATIONAL PARKS H Morgan Hill Freedom Fest 2017