I was scrolling through the City of Fullerton’s website when I discovered that local residents can see inside the Fullerton Fire Department’s historic Station 1, located at 312 East Commonwealth Avenue, by scheduling a free public tour. According to the city’s website, free tours are offered at any of the six Fullerton Fire Department (FFD) Station locations throughout the city, but must be approved by a chief officer first. Schools, groups or families interested in experiencing the FFD’s educational walkabout must submit a request form at least 30 days in advance. So, after submitting the form and giving the fire department plenty of notice, I had the chance to tour the fire department headquarters on Commonwealth with Station 1 Battalion Chief Bryan McConnell and Engine 1 Firefighter Keller in mid-January.
Ringing the call button next to the historic Commonwealth building’s red front door, I met McConnell, who explained that Station 1 is the Fullerton Fire Department’s largest station. It consists of two stories and a basement. The left side of the station houses administrative offices, while the right side includes dormitory areas, classrooms, a basement gym and living quarters for fire department crews. According to McConnell, firefighters remain “in-service” during tour hours and may have to respond to emergency calls abruptly.
Interestingly, I learned that these free public tours have been taking place for a long time; so long that McConnell said they started before his time. Later, after my tour, I visited the public library’s Local History Room, but didn’t find any historical documents or records indicating when the FFD first started providing public station tours. When I visited the Commonwealth station, the front-line battalion chief vehicle and reserve battalion chief vehicle were stationed inside; Engine 1 later pulled into the station. McConnell said, “We house one engine company, which as of now comes out of the station, with a truck company, which is soon to come back down here May first. That’s when we’ll be getting our Engine Six back.”…