Morgan Hill firefighters battle ‘the beast’ as part of the Santa
Clara County Fire Department
Morgan Hill – Though no longer officially named “Morgan Hill Fire Department,” the group that offers fire protection and other services to Morgan Hill will celebrate its 100th birthday Wednesday.
Over the years, the department has gone through many changes, perhaps the biggest when it became a part of the Santa Clara County Fire Department in 1995.
The department, which has two stations in Morgan Hill, has a contract with the city through next year.
Former Battalion Chief Brad Spencer compiled a history of the department, starting with its location downtown when it was manned in 24-hour shifts by a single volunteer firefighter. He said he used minutes from the City Council meetings as well as early editions of The Times to put together the information.
In 1904, there were 15 members of an unofficial department, according to Spencer’s notes, with a hand wagon and a horse-drawn engine. Then, on Jan. 17, 1907, the Morgan Hill City Council approved Ordinance 14, which authorized the establishment of the Morgan Hill Fire Department. On June 5 of that year, a station was built to house a hose cart.
Spencer, who served for 29 years in the department from 1965 until 1994, said there are many memorable events during those years.
“Lots of things I remember back in the early years, when you were on duty by yourself,” he said. “The first full-time chief set up the department to have one person on duty at all times, then other volunteers.”
One of the incidents that stands out in his mind, Spencer said, was when he delivered a baby for the first time. Someone banged on the station house door very early in the morning, around 5am, he said, yelling that there was a woman in the back seat of the car having a baby.
“I had taught childbirth classes in advanced first aid, but I’d never really done it,” he said. “I was going all through the notes in my head, what to do, what not to do. When babies first come out, they’re slippery, so you have to hang on to them. I remember I kept saying to myself, over and over, ‘You have to hang on to it, you have to hang on to it.’ Then, the woman’s shoe fell off and made a clunk sound, and I said, ‘Oh no.’ ”
The city made arrangements with the county to take over fire service because of the economic situation at the time, Spencer said.
“It was a way of continuing to provide service,” he said. “But what I see is that it’s still a close-knit group of people, that’s the feeling I get. Even though the sister stations are separated by miles, they still feel close to each other and still feel a closeness to Morgan Hill. I like to see that.”
The department provides a variety of public education services to the community, including demonstrations of apparatus, bicycle safety, Boy Scout and Girl Scout fire safety merit badge training, career presentations, car seat and passenger safety, child welfare and abuse prevention, community events, a community reading program, CPR First Aid training, disaster preparedness and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training, the Hug-A-Bear program, juvenile firesetter intervention program, and fire and life safety programs for preschool and grade-school children, college students, senior citizens and for the home and workplace.
HOT SPOTS IN MH FIRE DEPARTMENT’S HISTORY
- Nov. 19, 1908 – A 36-inch fire bell was ordered at a cost of $70.81.
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Feb. 5, 1914 – The town marshal was ordered to stop ringing the bell as a curfew warning.
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January 1915 – A city policy was adopted that would compensate a fire volunteer $2 if he was the first to hitch up their horse to the fire wagon.
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March 1, 1923 – The fire department no longer used the bell to alert volunteers; the city purchased a siren which was placed on the roof of the Farmers Union Hardware Store in downtown.
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June 22, 1926 – Morgan Hill purchased a Seagrave fire engine, making the final payment in 1928; the department had a party to celebrate the final payment.
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July 1929 – The new fire department, a facility the department shared with the Morgan Hill Police Department and City Hall, was completed. It was located on the southwest corner of Monterey Road and West Main Avenue.
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Aug. 21, 1929 – Volunteers claimed they would all resign if the fire siren was not removed from the roof of the Farmers Union Hardware. The siren was removed.
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1948 – Morgan Hill purchased a new engine, the first new unit since the Seagrave.
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1964 – The department’s first full-time paid firefighter, Harold Burke, was hired. He worked Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm. Volunteers covered the rest of the time.
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Jan. 1, 1967 – Bert Embree was appointed as the first full-time chief.
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Aug. 6, 1970 – All South County fire agencies met to discuss the possibility of consolidating into one department.
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Oct. 15, 1974 – The El Toro Fire Station moved from the West Main Avenue location to Old Monterey Road, its current location.
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1995 – A 10-year service contract is signed with the Santa Clara County Fire Department; all Morgan Hill personnel are hired by the SCCFD. On-duty staffing increased from four on duty at two stations to six on duty at the two stations.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at
md****@*************es.com.
