Marin County Fire History
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​





​The Tocaloma Hotel​ Fire
Burned down on December 26, 1916

Introduction from Tom Forster, Marin Fire History:

So where the heck is Tocaloma? Historian and Author Dewey Livingston has been a good friend to the Marin County Fire History project, and has graciously agreed to share an excerpt about Tocaloma from his upcoming book. We asked him for this since we are guessing most readers will be unaware this place even existed. Thanks Dewey! The link to our project is not only with several historical fires in that immediate area, but also the fact that Tocaloma was the birthplace in 1887 of Marin County Fire Department Chief Sam Mazza, who tragically died in the Line of Duty at a fire in Nicasio in 1948. His story can be found under our Line of Duty Deaths menu.

It is important to view historical fires in the context of the time and place in which they happened. 1916 was two years after World War I started, although America would not enter the conflict until the following year. Marin County had a population of only about 10% of what it is today, or 26,000 people spread over the vast area. Very few of the roads were paved back then, but were was railroad service linking most populated areas, including right next to where this fire was. The Northwestern Pacific Railroad line ran up the Ross Valley, came through the Bothin Tunnel linking Fairfax and Woodacre, continued out to Point Reyes Station, and went on up to Cazadero in Sonoma County. The Golden Gate Bridge would not exist for another 21 years, and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge was not in service for another 40 years. The Mt. Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railroad was very much in business, including the Tavern of Tamalpais, which would burn down in 1923. Read about that under our Major Fires, Incidents menu>Structure Fires, 1923.

While the short-lived Tamalpais Fire Association had formed a few years prior, the Tamalpais Forest Fire District would not be organized until the following year. The Marin County Fire Department did not exist until 1941, after the TFFD ended. The fire departments operating at that time included Sausalito, Mill Valley, Corte Madera, Larkspur, Ross, San Anselmo, Fairfax, San Rafael, San Quentin, and Novato. Almost all of the firemen were volunteers, usually working and living in the towns where they served. Motorized apparatus was in its infancy, with the first motor-driven chemical engine known to be purchased coming to Ross in 1910. Fire hose carts and wagons were still in use, and water systems were limited. Firefighting at that time still included community members willingly jumping in to help save furniture and belongings from burning structures, with most buildings usually burning to the ground within a few hours.

The name Tocaloma is believed to be of Miwok Indian origin, with the ending suggesting -yome, meaning "place", where an Indian village may have been located. The nearby stream was once called Arroyo Tokelalume, and the Central Sierra Miwok language included tokoloma, meaning "land salamander." Did you know that Tocaloma is just 1/2 mile west down the dirt road, creek, and rail line from the Pioneer Paper Mill that Samuel P. Taylor built in 1856? It was a huge structure, and the very first paper mill on the entire West Coast of America, supplying paper to businesses such as all of the major newspapers of the day. Sadly, it too burned down in 1916, almost nine months before the Tocaloma fire, but that's a story for another day.

The photo above and the first one below is courtesy of Dewey Livingston, and originally courtesy of the late Rae Codoni. Thanks also to the Anne T. Kent California History Room of the Marin County Free Library, and the California Digital Newspaper Collection for access to the related 
articles and images from historical newspapers. 
A Place Called Tocaloma
by Dewey Livingston
Excerpt from Historian and Author Dewey Livingston’s book about the Point Reyes area, due Spring of  2018.
​

“TOCALOMA! called the musical voice of the conductor as the train stopped at a little depot a short distance beyond Taylorville,” wrote a visitor in 1890. This little hamlet, a couple of miles east of Olema on the banks of Lagunitas Creek, didn’t find its way into Bay Area consciousness until more than a decade after the North Pacific Coast Railroad came through and it became a resort region.

​As time went by, Tocaloma retreated into obscurity, only to become part of the common local language again in the 2000s when various newsworthy events occurred there. This “blink and you’ll miss it” place has a fascinating and surprisingly rich history.

​This paper tells the story of the Tocaloma Hotel.
Picture
Picture
Marin Journal, Volume 19, Number 28, 18 September 1879.
Tocaloma as a popular resort 

While the local dairy ranches gave a sense of stability to the area, it soon became a popular place for visitors, especially hunters and fishermen. The arrival of the North Pacific Coast Railroad in 1875 solidified the position of Tocaloma in Marin County, with a depot that served nearby Olema and official place name of its own. Now a crossroads—with rail, the main road from San Rafael to Olema and beyond, and another road leading north and east to Petaluma—it proved to be a fine place for a roadhouse catering to sportsmen. 

It was a Greek named John Lycurgus who breached the Swiss sensibility of the place. In 1879, across from the Giuseppe Codoni ranch, he built the Tocaloma House, a two-story hotel “furnished with every comfort for guests” and featuring what they called a Swiss Bowling Alley. “It is situated in the very midst of the finest sporting district to be found anywhere near the city,” reported the San Rafael paper, “its streams abounding with fish and its hills with game…. Tocaloma will be the destination of many Nimrods and Waltons next week.”

Lycurgus passed the business to one Joseph Adams in 1882, and three years later it burned. The site had been so successful that a rebuild was required, and Frenchman Joseph Bertrand arrived for the job. Bertrand spent a reported $25,000 on a fine hotel that opened in 1889. Building contractor N. O. Anderson, who operated a blacksmith shop in Bolinas, built a structure as large and elaborate as any seen in western Marin to that date; the San Francisco Call deemed it “handsome” and that was an understatement.
The 42-room hotel was rather imposing, with a full three stories and additional attic space. Decorative spires adorned each gable end and fine woodwork was seen both inside and out. The hotel’s two wide balconies faced the scenic creek while the North Pacific Coast Railroad delivered passengers to the equally fine west side, their tracks only steps from the entrance. 

Bertrand also had several cottages constructed, and provided cleared areas in the adjacent woods for camping. Water came piped from a spring on the hill, and gas for lighting was manufactured on site. Guests found entertainment in the large dance hall and challenged new and old friends in the billiard rooms. An elegant kitchen and dining room fed scores of guests, who could linger and enjoy the site or travel out on foot, train or stagecoach in all directions.
​

Hotel patrons spent anywhere from a single night to the full summer at the comfortable hostelry, paying $8 to $12 per week, with special rates for families. Its restaurant and bar were open to the public, and renowned.
Picture
An ad in the August 8, 1894 edition of the San Francisco Call.
There was plenty to do in and around Tocaloma in the 1890s. Fishermen headed up or down the creek and sought out good pools and active tributaries for the steelhead trout and salmon. Hunters took to the hills, with permission of nearby ranchers, for bucks, birds and assorted “varmints.” Hikers “tramped” here and there, to the ocean, the mountaintops or merely finding a quiet glade for a picnic. Swimming was perfect on the hot summer days. Stage service took passengers to “splendid” Bear Valley, the lighthouse and other popular destinations like Bolinas or Willow Camp. The train delivered hotel guests on day trips to Camp Taylor, Point Reyes Station, Millerton and Marshall.

Or, if a party wanted to stay close, the grounds featured typical Victorian entertainments like croquet courts and swings, as well as short hiking trails with “rustic benches and tables for lunching parties … scattered at convenient intervals.” Train service to Tocaloma appears to have been scheduled for the convenience of visitors, especially the mostly male family members who worked in the city. “The trains will prove a great convenience to those business men whose families will spend the summer in Marin County,” wrote the Call. An early train left Tocaloma at 6:50 a.m., depositing passengers in San Francisco at 8:45; they returned on the 5:00 train, arriving at the hotel by 7:10 in time for dinner. 

Mssr. Bertrand’s Tocaloma Hotel hosted grand balls, well publicized in Marin County and San Francisco. For instance, a “special ball” in July of 1891 featured Blum’s Orchestra from San Francisco. “Dr. Deas and Miss Maud Garcia led the grand march, in which some seventy couples participated,” reported the Call. “During the intervals of dancing the Misses Plagemann of this city rendered some choice vocal selections.” In a dancing contest, the winners were presented with a silver medal and a diamond breastpin.

The hotel was busy throughout its heyday from 1890 into the 20th century. During one day during the summer of 1895 Bertrand’s hotel showed on its guest register 12 families, 11 couples and 34 individuals, probably about 100 people.
It attracted organized groups, such as the Annual Outing of the Harmonie Society of San Francisco, which, in 1892, chartered a special train and “gathered in the woods at Tocaloma Saturday night to witness the occultation of Mars,” according to the San Francisco Call. It was a fun-loving group of wealthy immigrant German businessmen: “In the absence of telescopes inverted beer-glasses were used to observe the rare astronomical event.” 

Bertrand and his “comely wife and pretty daughter” made ready for the group, preparing a feast and decorating the hotel with Japanese lanterns and bunting. The full train’s arrival was noted by the Call correspondent: To the tune of “Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ray” the songsters stepped from the train into the dining-room. Here the menu and the decorations were splendid. Redwood boughs, ferns and beautiful wildflowers hid the bare walls and covered that part of the tables not occupied by the fricasse chicken and sundry long black bottles. “Hurrah for the host! hurrah for the committee! hurrah for everybody” cried the songsters. Then they fell to and made the viands look sick and the bottles empty. 
Members of the Harmonie Society were proud of their musicality.

“The wild woods rang with merriment, and the hillsides echoed and re-echoed the happy voices and clinking glasses,” wrote the scribe in the Call. “You never saw a merrier crowd of staid business men in all your life [who] passed the hours till midnight in song and unalloyed fun.”  The next morning the large group left for a picnic in Bear Valley, with a visit to the ocean bluffs. “Every wagon and stage in the country for miles around was pressed into service, and behind the gay procession came the lunch-wagon.” The luncheon featured “Tocaloma salads” and cold chicken legs—“and there was something to wash it down with, too.” The happy men returned to the hotel for dinner and more songs, only to return to work early the next morning. 
During this period in the mid-1890s, the Tocaloma Hotel attracted bicyclists from the city, who rode in organized and sponsored groups like the Bay City Wheelmen, Pacific Cycling Club (whose dozen members had “a pleasant ride and an excellent dinner” in 1890), Camera Club Cyclists and the Olympic Club’s cycling annex. Tocaloma offered good food and lodging and so the cyclists came, called in one article the “able-bodied knights of the rubbered wheel.” 
Picture
"Wheelmen" cycling near Tocaloma and Camp Taylor in the 1890's.
Picture
A cycling map showing the route through Tocaloma.
Bertrand sold the hotel to San Francisco chef Caesar Ronchi in 1913. Caesar was somewhat of a fabled character, having fled from San Francisco that May after informing on members of an “Italian bunko gang,” leading to the indictment of eight men with whom he had formerly been associated. Ronchi got a letter with a skull and crossbones reading, “Beware —the gang ballotted on you last night. A word to the wise is sufficient. You know what is to be the fate of all traitors. Signed, Black Hand.” A frightened Ronchi pleaded with the police for protection but, as the newspaper reported “the police would rather see him out of the way, so he will get little protection.” Ronchi and his wife Isolina settled in at Tocaloma, hoping it would be out of sight, but he soon became a local celebrity for his engaging personality, not to mention his fine food and drink.
Who knows if his tormenters finally got to him—but a mysterious fire destroyed the venerable hotel on December 26, 1916. [see article below]

Ronchi quickly announced plans to rebuild a $15,000 replacement, only half of which would be covered by insurance. He had a smaller building constructed on the same site, a tavern with a steep sloping roof and no hotel rooms.

​Caesar’s Tavern opened in May of 1917. The place was reportedly a good spot for a drink during prohibition, and when Sir Francis Drake Highway opened in 1929, a steady stream of motorists adopted Caesar’s as a regular stop on their way to the coast through the 1930s. 


Picture
Sausalito News, Volume 33, Number 1, 6 January 1917.
Neighboring rancher Don McIsaac noted that Ronchi sang opera, his voice heard down the road at the ranch. Historian Jack Mason wrote that Caesar “was a portly Italian tenor whose connection with the world of grand opera was as nebulous as his reputed alliance with San Francisco’s prohibition gangland.” Caesar’s became a private residence and over the past decades, largely abandoned, it has fallen into ruin. The forgotten Tocaloma bridge sits silently as its neighbor, but the solid old concrete bridge will surely outlive Caesar’s Tavern.

Picture
The Marin Journal Vol. 54 No. 52, 1916-12-28. Courtesy Anne T. Kent California Room, Marin County Free Library.
Picture
Picture
Mill Valley Record, Number 45, 30 December 1916.
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      • Angel Island Fire Department, U.S. Army
      • Bello Beach
      • Belvedere FD
      • Corte Madera FD
      • California Park VFD
      • Corte Madera Volunteer Fire Department Ltd.
      • Fairfax FD
      • Forest Knolls VFD
      • Hamilton Field & Hamilton Air Force Base
      • Homestead Valley VFD
      • Larkspur FD
      • Marin City VFD
      • Marinship FD
      • Northwestern Pacific Railroad Depot Tiburon FD
      • Olema VFD
      • Presidio FD
      • Ross FD
      • San Anselmo FD
      • San Geronimo Valley VFD
      • Sausalito Fire Department
      • Synanon Fire Department
      • Tamalpais Valley Fire Protection District
      • Tamalpais Forest Fire District
      • Terra Linda FD
      • Tiburon Naval Net Depot FD
      • Tomales VFD
  • Blog
  • Videos & LIVE! Stream
  • Line of Duty Deaths
    • 1909 S.J. Frooman Died Fighting Jute Mill Fire
    • 1914 Fireman Aristid Papadimetrion Ross VFD
    • 1924 Fire Chief Walter A. Cook, Sausalito FD
    • 1932 Fire Warden Clarence C. Grimm, Tamalpais Forest Fire District
    • 1936 Captain Robert A. "Bert" Meagor, San Anselmo FD
    • 1937 Fireman Louis H. Hewelcke, San Rafael FD
    • 1948 Fire Chief Samuel L. Mazza, Marin County FD
    • 1950 Fireman Aubrey E. "Jack" Miller, San Rafael FD
    • 1950 Fireman William "Sonny" Bottini Jr., San Rafael FD
    • 1958 Battalion Chief David A. Coutts, San Rafael FD
    • 1960 Cheda, Virgilio San Rafael FD Fire Marshal
    • 1961 Fireman Paul Hogancamp Marin County FD
    • 1961 Fireman Frank Kinsler, Alto Fire District
    • 1962 Fireman Thomas James Sutton Jr., Marinwood FD
    • 1967 Lake Keeper Raymond Paul Halderman, MMWD
    • 1969 Fire Chief George J. Cavallero, Novato FPD
    • 1970 Assistant Fire Chief Samuel J. Blumenberg, Hamilton Air Force Base FD
    • 1978 Fireman James Niven, Larkspur FD
    • 1980 - William Marsh, San Rafael FD
    • 2003 Firefighter Steven Rucker, Novato FPD
    • 2006 Paramedic and Captain Robert Paoli, Marinwood FD
    • 2008 Deputy Chief Jeff Powers, Southern Marin FPD
  • Major Fires, Incidents
    • Structure Fires >
      • 1875 Saucelito House Fire, in Sausalito
      • 1876 Structure Fire San Quentin Prison
      • 1884 Steamer Sausalito Ship Fire San Quentin
      • 1885 Tocaloma Hotel Tocaloma
      • 1890 Tiburon Burns Down
      • 1893 Sausalito Stables Fire
      • 1893 Sausalito Downtown Fire
      • 1893 San Rafael Buildings Burn
      • 1894 Larkspur Inn Burned Down
      • 1898 Tomales Downtown Burns
      • 1907 Original Muir Woods Inn
      • 1907 San Anselmo Structures
      • 1908 Lagunitas Country Club Fire in Ross
      • 1909 Jute Mill Fire, San Quentin Prison
      • 1910 Corte Madera Homes Burned
      • 1910 Rossi's Villa Fire San Anselmo
      • 1911 Pastori's in Fairfax
      • 1913 Robert Dollar School Fire San Anselmo
      • 1913 Muir Woods Inn
      • 1913 Corte Madera Structure Fires
      • 1914 Town of Ross Structure Fires
      • 1915 Warehouse Fire San Rafael
      • 1915 B Street Fire, San Rafael
      • 1916 Samuel P. Taylor Paper Mill Fire
      • 1916 Tocaloma Hotel Fire
      • 1917 Belvedere Union Fish Plant
      • 1918 E.K. Woods Lumber Company San Anselmo
      • 1919 St Raphael's Church
      • 1920 The Great Tomales Fire
      • 1920 Madden Shipyards Fire Sausalito
      • 1920 St. Francis Club, Kentfield
      • 1921 Tiburon, NWPRR Machine Shops
      • 1921 Tiburon Main Street Fire
      • 1923 Tavern of Tamalpais Burns Down
      • 1923 Mason Distillery Fire Sausalito
      • 1924 Shriner's Lodge San Rafael
      • 1926 Alta Mira Villa Fire, Sausalito
      • 1928 Rafael Hotel Fire
      • 1929 Tam O'Shanter Inn Corte Madera
      • 1929 Larkspur Nursery Explosion & Fire
      • 1929 Hotel Rossi Fairfax
      • 1929 Red Mill Inn, San Quentin
      • 1934 St. Cecilia's Church, San Geronimo
      • 1937 Belvedere, Union Fish Company Cod Plant
      • 1937 Orpheus Theater San Rafael
      • 1940 Hotel Nicasio Burns Down
      • 1940 Christiansen Lumber Mill San Rafael
      • 1945 Pini Building Novato
      • 1946 Crockett Warehouse Fire
      • 1949 Bath House Fire San Rafael
      • 1950 Marin Storage & Trucking Company Fire San Rafael
      • 1950 Mar Vista Motors San Rafael
      • 1951 Food Bank Fire, Larkspur
      • 1951 Jute Mill Fire, San Quentin Prison
      • 1952 San Rafael Building & Plumbing Fire
      • 1952 Little Heating & Sheet Metal San Anselmo
      • 1952 Jocko's Hotel Nicasio
      • 1955 Bleu Baie Tavern, Marshall
      • 1955 Lodge Fire San Rafael
      • 1956 Olema Fatality Fire - Three Children
      • 1957 Hotaling Mansion Fire San Anselmo
      • 1957 Fourth St. Fire San Rafael
      • 1958 Simmons Building Downtown Novato
      • 1958 Bellach Furniture Fire San Rafael
      • 1960 Shipyards Fire Sausalito
      • 1960 O'Neill and Logan Fire
      • 1961 Puerto Suello Tunnel
      • 1963 College of Marin Gymnasium Kentfield
      • 1963 American Distilling Company Fire in Sausalito
      • 1964 Duplex Fires Tiburon FPD
      • 1969 Novato Olompali Mansion Burns
      • 1969 San Rafael Tire & Brake
      • 1971 Court House Fires, San Rafael
      • 1975 New Joes Fire, Corte Madera
      • 1976 Peter Donahue Building Fire Tiburon
      • 1977 Lumber Yard Fire Novato
      • 1990 Dominican Convent Fire SR
      • 2008 Upland Fire, Corte Madera
    • Wildfires >
      • 1800's >
        • 1852 Marin County Wildfires
        • 1859 Mt. Tamalpais Fire, Mill Valley
        • 1865 Forest Fire Bolinas Bay Woods
        • 1878 Nicasio Wildfire
        • 1881 Forest Fire Blithedale Canyon Mill Valley
        • 1889 Forest Fire Corte Madera
        • 1890 Forest Fire San Rafael to Bolinas
        • 1891 Forest Fire Bill Williams Gulch
        • 1892 Wildfire Bolinas Road
        • 1893 Forest Fire Mill Valley and Mt. Tam
        • 1894 Forest Fire Mill Valley
        • 1899 Corte Madera, Mill Valley, Larkspur Wildfire
      • 1904 Forest Fire Bolinas Ridge
      • 1909 Larkspur Forest Fire
      • 1913 Mt. Tamalpais, Larkspur, and Muir Woods Fire
      • 1917 Inverness Ridge Wildfire
      • 1919 Muir Woods and Mt. Tam
      • 1919 Sausalito Hills
      • 1923 Wildfires including Ignacio to Bolinas Ridge, Fairfax
      • 1926 Tamalpais Fires
      • 1928 Wildfire Fort Barry
      • 1929 The Great Mill Valley Fire
      • 1932 Shafter Ranch Fire West Marin
      • 1932 Thanksgiving Day Wildfire, Near Alpine Club
      • 1936 Bolinas Ridge Wildfire
      • 1943 Bald Hill Fire Ross Valley
      • 1945 The Mill Fire, Carson Canyon
      • 1947 Corte Madera Wildfire
      • 1949 Ignacio Big Rock Ridge Wildfire
      • 1953 St. Vincents Marinwood
      • 1953 Sausalito, Wildfire
      • 1954 Guide Dogs for the Blind Terra Linda MCFD
      • 1958 Black Canyon San Rafael Wildfire
      • 1959 Kent Canyon, Brazil Ranch Wildfire
      • 1964 Hanly Fire, Sonoma County Mutual Aid
      • 1965 Muir Woods Wildfire
      • 1965 Chileno Valley Wildfire
      • 1966 Marincello Wildfire, Southern Marin Headlands
      • 1967 Bald Hill Fire, Ross
      • 1969 - Red Hill Fire, San Anselmo
      • 1972 Angel Island State Park
      • 1972 Kent Woodlands, October 9
      • 1976 Sorich Park Wildfire San Rafael
      • 1991 The Oakland Fire Mutual Aid
      • 1995 Mount Vision Fire Inverness
      • 2008 Angel Island Wildfire
    • Storms and Weather
    • Accidents and Rescues
    • Hazardous Materials Incidents
  • Special Recognition & Award Recipients
    • Bain, Mert, Fireman Larkspur Fire Department
    • Bent, Edward W. State Fire Training
    • Coleman, Ronny J. State Fire Marshal, retired
    • Dufficy, Dr. Rafael Jr. San Rafael FD
    • Marcucci, Robert, Chief San Rafael FD, retired
    • McLaren, Richard Evans, Chief San Anselmo FD
    • Massucco, Ken, Chief Marin County FD
    • Nelson, Ron, Lieutenant, Larkspur FD
    • Reilley, Charles R. (Jr.) Chief Marin County FD
    • Selby, Norman, "Kid McCoy" Fire Chief San Quentin
    • Wedemeyer, Arthur E. (Jr.), US Marine Corps, Larkspur FD
    • Wilson, Irwin "Willie" , Engineer Larkspur FD
  • Biographies
    • Corte Madera FD Biographies >
      • Childress, John Corte Madera FD Captain/Medic
      • Ferguson, Joseph Stanley - CMVFD Ltd., Artist, Cartoonist
      • Forster, Jack William, Corte Madera Volunteer FD Ltd.
      • Kelly, Harold - Assistant Chief, Corte Madera VFD Ltd.
      • Larson, Lee Assistant Fire Chief Corte Madera FD
      • Moreno, Anthony "Tony" Corte Madera VFD
      • Nelson, Franklin Lars - Chief Corte Madera VFD Ltd.
      • Nelson, William Corte Madera VFD
      • Ralston, Bud Corte Madera FD
      • Salarpi, Larry Corte Madera FD
      • Walker, James Corte Madera VFD
    • Kentfield FPD Biographies >
      • Kamp, Kenny - Chief Kentfield FPD
      • Mariani, Guido Kentfield FPD Asst. Chief
      • Mariani, Robert - Chief Kentfield FPD
      • Ruhland, Fred Kentfield FPD
    • Larkspur Fire Department Biographies >
      • Archer, Douglas - Deputy Chief Larkspur FD, retired, Historian
      • Bartram, George Larkspur FD Chief
      • Doherty, Dolph - Chief, Larkspur FD
      • Lellis, William - Chief, Larkspur FD retired, Photographer & Historian
      • Nelson, Rudolph "Rudy", Filmmaker
      • Raggio, John Fire Chief, Larkspur FD
      • Shurtz, Craig Larkspur FD Chief
      • Wedemeyer, Arthur Edward Sr., Filmmaker, Pilot, Mayor
    • Marin County FD Biographies >
      • Bloom, Louis - Chief, Marin County FD
      • De la Montanya, Lloyd - Chief, Marin County FD
      • Jennings, Greg , Senior Captain Marin County FD retired, Historian
      • Martin, Pete - Captain, Marin County FD, retired, Historian
      • Meuser, Brian Marin County FD
      • Nunes, Clarence Marin County FD
      • Rowan, Stan - Chief, Marin County FD, retired
      • Selfridge, James - Deputy Chief, Marin County FD, retired
    • Mill Valley FD Biographies >
      • Davidson, Jeff Mill Valley Chief
    • Novato Fire District Biographies >
      • Bacon, Harold A. "Tony", Captain, Novato FPD retired
      • Berthinier, James - Chief, Novato FPD, retired
      • Meston, Jeff, Chief Novato FPD, retired
      • Rentz, John - Chief, Novato FPD, retired
    • San Anselmo FD Biographies >
      • Beedle, Robert San Anselmo FD Chief
      • Cartwright, Charles San Anselmo FD
      • Marcucci, Marty Battalion Chief Ross Valley FPD, retired
      • Marcucci, Nello Fire Chief San Anselmo FD
      • Meagor, Linda Louise San Anselmo FD
      • Sousa, Frank Chief, San Anselmo FD
    • San Rafael Fire Biographies >
      • Castro, Walter San Rafael FD
      • Diego, John San Rafael FD
      • Daniels, Charles I., Jr. (Chuck)
      • Johansen, Clarence Fritz San Rafael FD Chief
      • Johansen, Martin San Rafael FD Chief
      • Martin, Bruce - San Rafael FD Chief
      • Mizroch, Dr. Stephen, M.D. - SR Fire Commissioner, Historian & Collector
      • Scheuer, Fred J. San Rafael FD Chief
      • Schneider, D.N. San Rafael FD Chief
      • Williams, John - Captain, San Rafael FD, retired, Historian
    • Sausalito FD Biographies >
      • Bogel, Steve - Chief, Sausalito FD
      • Bunker, Fred - Division Chief Sausalito FD, retired.
      • Pedersen, Swede Sausalito FD
      • Perry, Matts Sausalito FD
      • Poole, Gene Sausalito and San Rafael FD's
      • Quayle, Robert - Chief, Sausalito FD
    • Tiburon FPD Biographies >
      • Rappole Bliss, Rosemary - Chief, Tiburon FPD
      • Buscher, Franklin - Chief, Tiburon FPD
    • Barrows, Richard "Dick", Chief State OES
    • Drady, Harold "Spike" Nicasio VFD Chief
    • Gardner, Edwiin B. Tamalpais Forest Fire District
    • Goodson, Carl - Battalion Chief, Santa Rosa FD, retired.
    • Hensley, William J. Tamalpais Forest Fire District
    • Heynen, Carl Otto, Jr. Alto Richardson Bay FD
    • Kobseff, Nicolas 'Nick' Chief Nicasio VFD
    • Livingston, Dewey - West Marin Historian
    • McMurray, Bill Marin County Communications, MCSO
    • Mersereau, Laurence "Bunk" - Chief, Belvedere FD
    • Rogers, Art - Photographer
    • Souza, Robert - Chief, Tamalpais FPD
    • White, Dan - Ambulance Company Owner, Businessman & Videographer
  • Current Fire Service Associations
    • California Fire Chiefs Association
    • California State Firefighters Association
    • Retired Fire Service Groups
    • Fire Safe Marin
    • Fire Training Officers Section MCFCA
    • Fire Prevention Officers Section MCFCA >
      • Fire Investigation Team
    • International Association of Fire Chiefs
    • Marin County Fire Chiefs Association >
      • 2017 Installation Dinner
      • 2018 Installation Dinner Ignacio
      • Perpetual Leadership Award Recipients
    • Marin Office of Emergency Services
    • Northern California Fire Prevention Officers, CFCA
    • Northern California Fire Training Officers, CFCA
    • Operation Chiefs Section MCFCA
    • Sonoma County Fire Chiefs Association
  • Former Fire Service Associations
    • Larkspur FD Ladies Auxiliary
    • Lucas Valley Volunteer Fire Association
    • Marin County Association of Fire Departments
    • Marin County Association of FD's Ladies Auxiliary
    • Marin Sonoma Fire Training Officers Association
    • Pacific Coast Association of Fire Chiefs
    • Redwood Empire Tri-County Fireman's Association
    • Redwood Fire and Protective Association
    • Stockmens Protective Association
    • Tamalpais Forestry Association
  • Competitions, Sports, and Events
    • Baseball & Softball Teams
    • Chili Cookoffs
    • Football Team
    • Hose Cart Racing
    • Larkspur Fire Muster 1978-1984
    • Oregon & Nevada Musters
    • California Fire Musters
    • Water Fights
    • 4th of July Fireworks Displays
  • National Fire Heritage Center
  • Emergency Medical Services
    • Annual EMS Survivors Dinner
  • The Hazardous Materials Team
  • College Fire Science and Technology Programs
    • Santa Rosa Junior College
    • College of Marin
  • Residential "Sleeper" Programs at FD's
    • Corte Madera FD Sleeper Program
    • Kentfield FPD Sleeper Program
    • Ross Fire Department Sleeper Program
    • Tiburon Fire Protection District Sleeper Program
  • History of California State Fire Training
  • Marin County Fire Training
  • Fire Water Systems
  • Communications Systems, Radios, MERA
  • Urban Search & Rescue Team (USAR)
  • Tamalpais Fire Crew
  • Sanborn Fire Maps
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • National Fire History, Related
    • The 10 Standard Firefighting Orders, Origin
  • Fire Apparatus & Equipment
    • C.A.M. Manufacturing & Louis P. Soldavini
    • The Transition to Motorized Apparatus
    • Historical List of Apparatus For Marin County
    • 1850 Austrian Hand Pumper, Larkspur FD
    • 1916 Ford Model T Chemical Engine Larkspur
    • 1922 Stutz Fire Pumper San Rafael
    • 1923 American La France Pumper, Mill Valley FD
    • 1923 Ford Model T, Novato FD
    • 1927 American La France Pumper, Kentfield
    • 1929 Seagrave Pumper, Fairfax FD