Old and new come together at Moorpark’s Fire Station 42
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com
I.G. Tanner's fire tank on display
The county’s newest fire station—Station 42 in Moorpark—opened last week to the pomp and circumstance accorded a visiting dignitary. The 8,000-square-foot building with extra-deep bays for its engine and firefighting equipment fits nicely with the turn-of-the century architecture of downtown Moorpark.
Keith Mashburn, Ventura County Fire Department Battalion Chief, said the old station no longer met the needs of a modern fire-fighting crew, such as individual sleeping quarters for a crew that can include female firefighters. Rather, it followed the design trend of the day, with accommodations for only the fire captain and his family.
In addition to accommodations for up to eight firefighters, the new station includes a state-of-the art air filtration system that keeps exhaust from accumulating in the bays when the fire engine is running. There is also a backup dispatch center in the facility in case central dispatch in Camarillo is rendered inoperative in times of disaster.
The station features old technology as well—a pole firefighters on the second floor can slide down to gain quick access to the ground floor. However, a pole is unnecessary at most county fire stations because they are single-story buildings.
MORRIS COHEN/Moorpark Acorn DEDICATION-Mayor Patrick Hunter of Moorpark, front, County Supervisor Judy Mikels (not visible), and Ventura County Fire Chief Bob Roper cut the "Fire-Line" tape during the dedication of the new Fire Station 42 in Moorpark. Although the dedication was held last Wednesday, the station will not be in service until early next week. Once open, the new station at 295 High Street will replace the outdated facility across from city hall on Moorpark Avenue.
"It’s definitely not new technology," Mashburn said. "But . . . it works for us."
In the days when Model Ts and horse-drawn wagons shared rutted dirt roads in Moorpark, the Mission Garage served as the first fire station in the community. Owned by Moorpark icon I. G. Tanner, the garage housed the station’s first piece of firefighting equipment—a two-wheel cart mounted with chemical tanks. Tanner was the first fire chief. The all-volunteer crew raised money for equipment, like hoses and sirens, from donations and proceeds from dances.
In 1928, the Ventura County Fire Protection District was formed, and a dozen or so years later, the first fire station was built. Tanner, who was instrumental in getting it constructed, and two other firefighters were now on the county’s payroll.
Ten years later, a new station was built a little over a hundred feet north of the corner of Moorpark Avenue and High Street, a few blocks from where the current one now sits. It would serve the community for the next 50 years.
EARLY OFFICERS AND GENTLEMEN-Left to right, Dep. Chief Jim Achilles, County Fire Chief Pete Little, Battalion Chief Val Smith, First Captain for Moorpark-Ross Slade, Second Captain for Moorpark- Paul Robb, unknown firefighter, Firefighter Charles Wilson, volunteer Fire Chief I.G. Tanner.
Larry Dransfeldt, the fourth man on the Ventura County Fire Protection District’s payroll, remembers the sense of community he experienced those early days at the station.
It wasn’t strangers responding to residents’ calls for help, it was your friends, he said.
In one particularly poignant story, Dransfeldt illustrates the camaraderie of firefighters at Station 42. A fellow firefighter, hospitalized with cancer, was unable to build the playhouse he had promised his three young daughters. All of the firefighters pitched in and built a playhouse his daughters would never forget. This was the playhouse their dad was going to build for them, the firefighters told the girls.
Dransfeldt gave more than most who were stationed there. The now- retired fire captain lost a finger in 1986 while practicing drills out in the field. While loading the hose back onto the truck, Dransfeldt caught his finger on an exposed corner of a truck new to the department, cutting off his third finger. The finger was located, but Dransfeldt chose not to have it re-attached after doctors told him it would not be functional. He retired the following year.
EARLY DAYS-Moorpark's first fire station on Walnut Street was a Spartan living experience at best. The "new" station built in the early 1950s was greeted enthusiastically by the local firemen.
Moorpark’s charm seems to lie in its sweet blend of old and new, epitomized by its new fire station. Perhaps Tanner, interviewed in 1971 at the age of 88 by a local newspaper, summed it up best.
"Moorpark will develop into a nice city someday. . . . We don’t want to grow like some places around here have grown."
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