Day 7, March 19, 2009

I didn’t hear a single working fire in the Phoenix area yesterday, which is rather unusual. I got to bed around 2130 hours last night so that I could get out of town fast this morning.

I checked out of the Days Inn motel around 0615 hours and headed west. It took me 45 minutes just to get to the far side of Phoenix. I thought traffic was very heavy for that early in the morning, but maybe it’s always that way in Phoenix. The sun was a problem as it came up at 0630 here as I was going west on the 60 freeway. It just blinds you in the rear view and side mirrors. Oh well.

I encountered a number of marked squads parked near the freeway (mostly in construction zones) that had camera and lights on top of the squads for issuing photo citations, which are apparently the big thing now in Arizona. I have no idea how they work or what the fines are etc.

Once we got outside of Phoenix we started moving at 75 mph, the traffic on I-10 being relatively light. I remember taking this route in the old days with Duane long before here was an I-10. You’d travel west on Highway 85 out of Phoenix. Highway 85 would turn south after Buckeye and connect you with I-8 and you’d take that freeway west towards San Diego. That was the route you’d take leaving Phoenix unless you wanted to go all the way up to I-40 and then take that towards LA. In the old days everything was farmland west of 50th Avenue. Now it’s all built up almost the entire way to Highway 85.

I made it into California around 0945 hours. I stopped in Blythe, just west of the Colorado River, for some breakfast. The ChiP’s guys were out in force on I-10. I saw about 10 squad cars in the first 25 miles along I-10 in California. Most had cars stopped or were pursuing vehicles. Luckily, I wasn’t one of them.

It was very overcast (or foggy) as I descended the mountains down I-10 into the Indio area. It can usually be very picturesque as you descend into this area, which is usually very fertile (green) farmland in the valley between the mountain ranges. When I passed the thousands and thousands of wind turbines in the Palm Springs area all but a very few were perfectly still. Usually they are all spinning as you pass through this area.

I got off I-10 where the I-210 curves north and runs parallel of I-10 into the Pasadena area. The San Bernadino Freeway (I-10) in this area can be very, very congested. I saw a McDonalds off Baseline Avenue and made a brief rest stop right around noon. When I got back in the car I looked for a map of the area. The only one I had was very, very old. As it was sunny and I was in a good mood, I decided to do a little buffing in this area. The area by McDonald’s looked very nice. I found myself to be in Highland, CA, a city I never knew existed before today. I actually had some fire stations plotted from many years ago, so I started searching for the stations nearby that I had marked.

The first station I came across was Highland Station 1. I stopped and rang the doorbell, but no one answered the door. I looked through the station doors and saw the engine and some crew members out back. I walked around the station and introduced myself. The officer seemed very busy and ran off, but told me I could take photos. The engine shot out back was very poor. They had a fairly new Rescue Squad inside and one of the firefighters pulled it out so I could get photos. Just as he was putting the Squad back in, the engine got a run. I went out front and took a photo as they pulled out. I didn’t have time to get any serial numbers. The rescue squad is run my paid call personnel. Both rigs have State Fire Decals on the doors. A firefighter told me that the State of California funds the department for three months out of the year. He never got tot finish the explanation, as the run came in.

I looked for the next station on my old map, but apparently it has been moved or closed from where it used to be. I was surprised at how run-down the area became as I headed west towards the City of San Bernadino. I headed up E Street towards SB City Station 4. I saw what appeared to be the tiller cab of a fairly new tractor-trailer aerial parked outside up ahead with the lights flashing as I approached. It turned out that both Engine 4 and Truck 4 had brand new Pierce Arrow XT’s that had just gone into service. Station 4 had just been completely rebuilt and workers were just finishing the plaster on the front side of the station (which meant that the rigs had to be left out on the street- thank you!).

I went around back and introduced myself to firefighters that were moving lockers into the station from a stake truck parked behind the station. I took photos of the rigs and got the serial numbers. I looked for SB Station 3, but could not find it anywhere near where it was marked on my old map. I gave up looking for stations that weren’t there and tried to find my way back to I-210. I got lost as my map was printed way back before there was even any plans for I-210. I ended up going back south to I-10 - which may have been a good thing! (see why three paragraphs below)

It was fast approaching 1400 hours and I was still about 50 miles from Arcadia (where I was staying for the next two nights). Traffic was just terrible on I-10. It stopped perfectly still at least three times as I slowly made my way west. When I reached the 57 Freeway, I took it up to meet the 210. From there on it was smooth sailing. I got off in Arcadia and checked into an Extended Stay Hotel. After I unloaded most everything, I drove by nearby and new Arcadia Station 105. I got a shot of Ladder 105 just a few blocks from the station.

I headed up to Arcadia Station 3 (Engine 107), a station I hadn’t seen since Duane and I were there in 1977. Arcadia had built a new station in 2003 on the same site as the one we saw in 1977. The crew was out however. I decided to go to Pasadena Station 33, where they usually have training everyday until 1600 hours. Traffic was very heavy and it took me longer than I anticipated. Just as I pulled around the corner, two Pasadena engines left the tower lot. One looked like a brand new Pierce. (Dang!, a minute too late). I decided then to call it a day.

I got gas ($2.099) and a few groceries before heading back to the hotel. When I got back up to my room, I turned on the local news. I was absolutely shocked to see live video footage of a road rage shooting incident involving two cars in the City of San Bernadino at E Street over the I-210, which had happened around 1400 hours. One car had gun shot holes in the back window and two people in that vehicle had been wounded and taken to the hospital. A wrecker was just pulling their car off the curb on the bridge over I-210. The other vehicle (with the shooter) had sped off. (Maybe it was just as well that I didn’t find the 210 after visiting Station 4 in San Bernadino!!!!

Tomorrow I plan to hit some local area fire stations on the way down to the Los Angeles City FD shops. I hope to get an up-to-date LAFD apparatus roster and get some shots of the rigs that are always parked around the shop area.