The History of the Angel Island Fire Department, U.S. Army Base and the Nike Missile Base SF-91. Scroll to bottom for structural burn training story and photos from 1970's.
The Fire Station at Angel Island, circa 1940's. Photo courtesy Greg Jennings, Marin County FD retired and Angel Island volunteer.
by Greg Jennings, August 2015, Senior Captain Marin County FD retired, and volunteer Fort McDowell, Angel Island State Park, Battery Townsley, GGNRA, Battery Godfrey, GGNRA
"This U.S. Army fire station was constructed on Angel Island's Fort McDowell's North Garrison in 1941. It was the second one ever built on the island. The first one (1912) was a very small 2 stall garage (extant) affair next to the post hospital and is labeled by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Historic Building Book as containing a Hook and Ladder. Looking at the buildings dimensions it's hard to believe that it would hold anything larger than a pickup truck or ambulance.
The newer (1941) fire station pictured above was part of a new garrison 1/2 mile north of the main post and was named North Garrison. The new North Garrison contained a Guard House, fire station, Barracks, Infirmary,Mess Hall, Recreation Hall, and the original Barracks and Hospital from the former Immigration Station that closed in 1940, and was then returned to the Army. The entire Island was abandoned by the Army 1946, and then in 1954 parts were revamped to accomodate Army personnel for the Nike Missile site on the southern end of the island. The Army finally left the island for good in 1962.
Some of us older folks in Marin fire departments will probably remember being invited by California State Parks to come on out to the island and burn many of the buildings at North Garrison. It provide a huge amout of live fire training for many of our departments for quite a long time.
Attached is a photo of the new (1941) fire fire station. It's still there and I've actually slept there several times over the years. Currently it houses an old Marin County FD engine which is now non-operational. Interestingly enough State Park rangers and maintenance staff are not trained/qualified to fight fires, so they have to wait for Tiburon Fire Protection District to respond by fireboat to the island and then be transported to the fire station. Arriving at the station TFPD firefighters would have to fill the engines water tank and then proceed to the incident."
Additional information below on fire engines pictured inside station, by Captain Ed Cunha, Diamond Springs El Dorado Fire Protection District, retired:
"Ok that was tough one with only a part of the front of the engines visible. I believe the one on the left is a Holabird, these were built by the military, Fort Holabird was the military department in Maryland that designed fire engines for the Army Quartermaster Corps, and then most were built to those specifications by manufacturers.
The third and final version of the Holabird fire truck appeared in 1938. It also used the Continental engine and was equipped with a single stage 750 gpm pump. The letters USA were cast onto the upper portion of the now one-piece radiator. It was even more modern in appearance and sported large military type tires. A chrome handrail was also fitted to the entire engine cowl. All versions of the Holabird pumper were of open cab design and none were equipped with windshields. It was equipped with a 150 gallon water tank, and 150 feet of 1 inch hose was carried in a basket mounted over the fire pump. The hose bed could carry 800 ft. of 2 1/2 inch hose.
The final version of the Holabird pumper was know as the Class BF 750. Research by FTAW (Fire Trucks at War) has been able to document some 100 of these rigs. With the onset of World War II the production of the Holabird pumper came to a end. The Army's need for fire apparatus was far greater then what the Quartermaster Depot could supply. Commercial truck and fire apparatus manufacturers were mobilized by the government to meet the needs of the Army for fire equipment. These manufacturers built over 8500 fire engines.
The one on the right looks like a 1941 Ford with a squirrel tail suction. I first thought that it was a Marmon Harrington 4wd but looking at fire engines at war web site type 300-500 it appears the 2 wheel drive units were delivered with traction tires on the front. See photos below."
"This U.S. Army fire station was constructed on Angel Island's Fort McDowell's North Garrison in 1941. It was the second one ever built on the island. The first one (1912) was a very small 2 stall garage (extant) affair next to the post hospital and is labeled by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Historic Building Book as containing a Hook and Ladder. Looking at the buildings dimensions it's hard to believe that it would hold anything larger than a pickup truck or ambulance.
The newer (1941) fire station pictured above was part of a new garrison 1/2 mile north of the main post and was named North Garrison. The new North Garrison contained a Guard House, fire station, Barracks, Infirmary,Mess Hall, Recreation Hall, and the original Barracks and Hospital from the former Immigration Station that closed in 1940, and was then returned to the Army. The entire Island was abandoned by the Army 1946, and then in 1954 parts were revamped to accomodate Army personnel for the Nike Missile site on the southern end of the island. The Army finally left the island for good in 1962.
Some of us older folks in Marin fire departments will probably remember being invited by California State Parks to come on out to the island and burn many of the buildings at North Garrison. It provide a huge amout of live fire training for many of our departments for quite a long time.
Attached is a photo of the new (1941) fire fire station. It's still there and I've actually slept there several times over the years. Currently it houses an old Marin County FD engine which is now non-operational. Interestingly enough State Park rangers and maintenance staff are not trained/qualified to fight fires, so they have to wait for Tiburon Fire Protection District to respond by fireboat to the island and then be transported to the fire station. Arriving at the station TFPD firefighters would have to fill the engines water tank and then proceed to the incident."
Additional information below on fire engines pictured inside station, by Captain Ed Cunha, Diamond Springs El Dorado Fire Protection District, retired:
"Ok that was tough one with only a part of the front of the engines visible. I believe the one on the left is a Holabird, these were built by the military, Fort Holabird was the military department in Maryland that designed fire engines for the Army Quartermaster Corps, and then most were built to those specifications by manufacturers.
The third and final version of the Holabird fire truck appeared in 1938. It also used the Continental engine and was equipped with a single stage 750 gpm pump. The letters USA were cast onto the upper portion of the now one-piece radiator. It was even more modern in appearance and sported large military type tires. A chrome handrail was also fitted to the entire engine cowl. All versions of the Holabird pumper were of open cab design and none were equipped with windshields. It was equipped with a 150 gallon water tank, and 150 feet of 1 inch hose was carried in a basket mounted over the fire pump. The hose bed could carry 800 ft. of 2 1/2 inch hose.
The final version of the Holabird pumper was know as the Class BF 750. Research by FTAW (Fire Trucks at War) has been able to document some 100 of these rigs. With the onset of World War II the production of the Holabird pumper came to a end. The Army's need for fire apparatus was far greater then what the Quartermaster Depot could supply. Commercial truck and fire apparatus manufacturers were mobilized by the government to meet the needs of the Army for fire equipment. These manufacturers built over 8500 fire engines.
The one on the right looks like a 1941 Ford with a squirrel tail suction. I first thought that it was a Marmon Harrington 4wd but looking at fire engines at war web site type 300-500 it appears the 2 wheel drive units were delivered with traction tires on the front. See photos below."
A Holabird Fire Pumper.
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A 1941 Ford Fire Pumper with the "squirrel tail" hard suction hose across the front, used for drafting.
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The History of Angel Island and use by the U.S. Government
Angel Island is the largest natural island in the San Francisco Bay. It comprises approx. 1.2 square miles and it's highest elevation is 789 feet, Mount Livermore. The island is almost entirely in the city of Tiburon in Marin County, although a small part is in the City and County of San Francisco. The island is separated from the mainland of Marin County by the Raccoon Straits.
The earliest known human inhabitants were the Coast Miwok, using it as a seasonal hunting and gathering location. Spanish explorers later used it as a safe refuge and supply stop, such as Juan Manuel de Ayala, one of the first to map the San Francisco Bay. The Island became a cattle ranch and, later, with the beginning with the Civil War at Camp Reynolds, the Island had over 100 years of military history.
From 1910 to 1940, the U.S. Immigration Station processed hundreds of thousands of immigrants here, the majority from China. During World War II, Japanese, and German POWs were detained at the Station before being sent to facilities farther inland. With the outbreaks of WWI and WWII, thousands of troops both returning and embarking for conflicts around the world were processed through Angel Island. In the 1950's and 1960's, the Island saw its last military service as a home to a Nike missile base.
In 1954 the transition of Angel Island to a California State Park began. In the early 1960's the final departure of the military eventually resulted in all of Angel Island becoming state park lands.
The earliest known human inhabitants were the Coast Miwok, using it as a seasonal hunting and gathering location. Spanish explorers later used it as a safe refuge and supply stop, such as Juan Manuel de Ayala, one of the first to map the San Francisco Bay. The Island became a cattle ranch and, later, with the beginning with the Civil War at Camp Reynolds, the Island had over 100 years of military history.
From 1910 to 1940, the U.S. Immigration Station processed hundreds of thousands of immigrants here, the majority from China. During World War II, Japanese, and German POWs were detained at the Station before being sent to facilities farther inland. With the outbreaks of WWI and WWII, thousands of troops both returning and embarking for conflicts around the world were processed through Angel Island. In the 1950's and 1960's, the Island saw its last military service as a home to a Nike missile base.
In 1954 the transition of Angel Island to a California State Park began. In the early 1960's the final departure of the military eventually resulted in all of Angel Island becoming state park lands.
Nike Missle Base SF-91, Angel Island
Project Nike, (Greek for"Victory"), was a U.S. Army project that began in 1944 when the War Department demanded a new air defense system to combat new Jet aircraft. These included the German Me-262 Schwalbe, or Swallow, and the Japanese Navy's Nakajima J9Y Kikka, or Chrysanthemum. Existing gun-based systems proved largely incapable of dealing with the speeds and altitudes at which jet aircraft operated.
Bell Laboratories proposed in May 1945 to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft missile system in 1953, the Nike Ajax. The missile's first-stage solid rocket booster became the foundation for many types of rocket including the Nike Hercules missile. The system would have to deal with bombers flying at 500 mph (800 km/h) or more at altitudes of up to 60,000 ft (20,000 m). At these speeds, even a supersonic rocket is no longer fast enough to be simply aimed at the target. The missile must "lead" the target to ensure the target is hit before the missile runs out of fuel. This means that the missile and target cannot be tracked by a single radar, increasing the complexity of the system.
The SF-91 Nike Base, located on Angel Island, opened in 1955 to help protect the San Francisco Bay Area from possible attack during the cold war era. The IFC (radar) area was located at the top of Mount Livermore, the highest point on the island. All that is left of the IFC is one building, some concrete radar pads, a redwood water tank and some cables sticking out of the ground. The administration area was located at Fort McDowell, an Army base opened before W.W. I. The Fort was pretty much abandoned when the Nike Base moved in. The base hospital became Battery headquarters. The men moved into the abandoned officers homes. This site was closed in 1961, manned originally by Battery D of the 9th Anti Aircraft Guided Missile Battalion, which was replaced in 1958 by Battery D, 2nd Missile Battalion, 51 Artillery. The unit was equipped with the original Nike Ajax Missile only, not the later versions. See slide show below.
Bell Laboratories proposed in May 1945 to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft missile system in 1953, the Nike Ajax. The missile's first-stage solid rocket booster became the foundation for many types of rocket including the Nike Hercules missile. The system would have to deal with bombers flying at 500 mph (800 km/h) or more at altitudes of up to 60,000 ft (20,000 m). At these speeds, even a supersonic rocket is no longer fast enough to be simply aimed at the target. The missile must "lead" the target to ensure the target is hit before the missile runs out of fuel. This means that the missile and target cannot be tracked by a single radar, increasing the complexity of the system.
The SF-91 Nike Base, located on Angel Island, opened in 1955 to help protect the San Francisco Bay Area from possible attack during the cold war era. The IFC (radar) area was located at the top of Mount Livermore, the highest point on the island. All that is left of the IFC is one building, some concrete radar pads, a redwood water tank and some cables sticking out of the ground. The administration area was located at Fort McDowell, an Army base opened before W.W. I. The Fort was pretty much abandoned when the Nike Base moved in. The base hospital became Battery headquarters. The men moved into the abandoned officers homes. This site was closed in 1961, manned originally by Battery D of the 9th Anti Aircraft Guided Missile Battalion, which was replaced in 1958 by Battery D, 2nd Missile Battalion, 51 Artillery. The unit was equipped with the original Nike Ajax Missile only, not the later versions. See slide show below.
Controlled Structural Training Burns on the Island
Thanks to retired Marin County FD Senior Captain Greg Jennings for these photos.
Background from Greg: "I can't remember the specific year or date of these, but they are from the 1970's era when Marin fire departments were invited to Angel Island to burn down historic structures. Looks like everyone was hot, so this most likely took place in the summer. I'll send you what I have. I had my camera at the time, but remember being busy attacking interior fires in several WW11 barracks.
I'm sure there's someone out there that remembers this better than I do. I shot these on one of the days that Kentfield Fire and Marin County Fire were conducting training on buildings State Parks wanted destroyed. This day they targeted buildings dated from early 1900's through WW11. All are in the North Garrison area near the Fire House. Almost 40% of the structures on the island were removed in this manner."
Additional memories about this burn training from Captain Grant Welling, Kentfield FPD, retired:
"We used OES 165 [International cab and chassis] to pump the burns - the water was sourced from the old steel-framed collapsible drafting pits. The challenge ferrying OES 165 to Angel Island was in backing the engine onto the State's military surplus LCM-8 landing craft. Given the ebb and flow of bay water at the Tiburon boat ramp, it simply came down to reading the rhythm of the waves, taking a deep breath, and getting the timing right.
With 165 emptied of its water, and the tailboard pointed down the boat ramp toward the waiting LCM, we put her into reverse and gunned it. Once the rear duals jumped up onto the LCM's ramp and cleared the summit where the ramp hinged to the LCM hull, the tailboard and rear axle plummeted down the wet interior ramp, spring-boarding 165's front axle and cab into the air - and everything contained within the cab, hence the flat spot on the top of my head. With Dog Man standing up near the LCM wheelhouse and well out of the way of the rapidly descending 165, the OES slid to a stop just shy of hitting the back of the LCM cargo area. Yes, there are massive benefits of being trained to drive effectively by the likes of Ron Darrington, Frank Berthinier, Guido Mariani and Frank Zita, and then there was just pure luck...lots of luck that day!
During one of the nights staying over in the Island fire house, the plan was to mess with the new KFD volunteer Chet Travirca. The plan was hatched and everyone but Chet was clued in. With all bedded down for the night, CJ Molseed climbed up onto the hose bed of 165 in order to reach the fire bell hung high on one of the interior beams of the station. With spanner in hand, CJ wailed on the bell, banging out some mysterious alarm code. With the alarm sounded, we all jumped out of bed yelling "It's the hospital...it's on fire!" The plan was for us to race down into the engine room, fire up the respective apparatus, and with Chet given no direction on what tailboard to jump onto, both engines would roar out of the barn leaving Chet standing empty handed in what would soon be empty engine bays.
Not sure what happened but Chet outsmarted us all and landed a spot on one of the two engines. We then drove around the Island code 3 until we saw lights come on in one of the far off ranger's quarters - we then turning everything off but our running lights so as to slink back to the station without further detection!
Let's not forget the 'special' salami sandwich we made for 'Davis Lake' Dave; Bordenave's sourdough roll + salami + cheddar cheese + mustard + lots of mayo + one MASSIVE, fully-deployed yet unused Trojan condom. I can still remember the 'SNAP' as Dave bit down into the sourdough roll, and with both hands pulled the sandwich back and away from his mouth - all while he unsuspectingly stretched out that latex condom until it snapped out of the roll and slapped him in the face. Sweet Jesus, I'm howling as I'm writing this...It was the funniest thing this Mormon kid had ever seen!
Other memories include melting our fire helmets on the second floor of a barracks while using a Bean gun...learned a lot about thermodynamics! The champion inter-agency teamwork. Between Angel Island and multiple Hamilton Field burns, this was some of the best structural fire and engineer training ever."
Background from Greg: "I can't remember the specific year or date of these, but they are from the 1970's era when Marin fire departments were invited to Angel Island to burn down historic structures. Looks like everyone was hot, so this most likely took place in the summer. I'll send you what I have. I had my camera at the time, but remember being busy attacking interior fires in several WW11 barracks.
I'm sure there's someone out there that remembers this better than I do. I shot these on one of the days that Kentfield Fire and Marin County Fire were conducting training on buildings State Parks wanted destroyed. This day they targeted buildings dated from early 1900's through WW11. All are in the North Garrison area near the Fire House. Almost 40% of the structures on the island were removed in this manner."
Additional memories about this burn training from Captain Grant Welling, Kentfield FPD, retired:
"We used OES 165 [International cab and chassis] to pump the burns - the water was sourced from the old steel-framed collapsible drafting pits. The challenge ferrying OES 165 to Angel Island was in backing the engine onto the State's military surplus LCM-8 landing craft. Given the ebb and flow of bay water at the Tiburon boat ramp, it simply came down to reading the rhythm of the waves, taking a deep breath, and getting the timing right.
With 165 emptied of its water, and the tailboard pointed down the boat ramp toward the waiting LCM, we put her into reverse and gunned it. Once the rear duals jumped up onto the LCM's ramp and cleared the summit where the ramp hinged to the LCM hull, the tailboard and rear axle plummeted down the wet interior ramp, spring-boarding 165's front axle and cab into the air - and everything contained within the cab, hence the flat spot on the top of my head. With Dog Man standing up near the LCM wheelhouse and well out of the way of the rapidly descending 165, the OES slid to a stop just shy of hitting the back of the LCM cargo area. Yes, there are massive benefits of being trained to drive effectively by the likes of Ron Darrington, Frank Berthinier, Guido Mariani and Frank Zita, and then there was just pure luck...lots of luck that day!
During one of the nights staying over in the Island fire house, the plan was to mess with the new KFD volunteer Chet Travirca. The plan was hatched and everyone but Chet was clued in. With all bedded down for the night, CJ Molseed climbed up onto the hose bed of 165 in order to reach the fire bell hung high on one of the interior beams of the station. With spanner in hand, CJ wailed on the bell, banging out some mysterious alarm code. With the alarm sounded, we all jumped out of bed yelling "It's the hospital...it's on fire!" The plan was for us to race down into the engine room, fire up the respective apparatus, and with Chet given no direction on what tailboard to jump onto, both engines would roar out of the barn leaving Chet standing empty handed in what would soon be empty engine bays.
Not sure what happened but Chet outsmarted us all and landed a spot on one of the two engines. We then drove around the Island code 3 until we saw lights come on in one of the far off ranger's quarters - we then turning everything off but our running lights so as to slink back to the station without further detection!
Let's not forget the 'special' salami sandwich we made for 'Davis Lake' Dave; Bordenave's sourdough roll + salami + cheddar cheese + mustard + lots of mayo + one MASSIVE, fully-deployed yet unused Trojan condom. I can still remember the 'SNAP' as Dave bit down into the sourdough roll, and with both hands pulled the sandwich back and away from his mouth - all while he unsuspectingly stretched out that latex condom until it snapped out of the roll and slapped him in the face. Sweet Jesus, I'm howling as I'm writing this...It was the funniest thing this Mormon kid had ever seen!
Other memories include melting our fire helmets on the second floor of a barracks while using a Bean gun...learned a lot about thermodynamics! The champion inter-agency teamwork. Between Angel Island and multiple Hamilton Field burns, this was some of the best structural fire and engineer training ever."
An LCM-8, similar to the one that transported OES 165 to the island for the burn training. The LCM-8 ("Mike Boat") is a river boat and mechanized landing craft used by the United States Navy and Army during the Vietnam War and subsequent operations. They are currently used by governments and private organizations throughout the world. The acronym stands for "Landing Craft Mechanized, Mark 8".
(l-r) standing: Dave Mariani, ________, Jim Selfridge, Jim Love, Marty Medin, John Lando, Dave Crottogini, ________, Mike Vonada, Bill 'Boomer' Partridge, Chet Travirca, Grant Welling, Ken Carter, Jim Galli, Craig Danford, ________, Ed Mestre, _______. Kneeling: CJ Molseed, _________, Jerry Van Soest, Bob Mariani. Photo by Greg Jennings.
Photo by Greg Jennings.
Photo by Greg Jennings.
Photo by Greg Jennings.
"Let's toss our Training Officers in the drafting pit..." Photo by Greg Jennings.
Jerry Van Soest and Bob Mariani in the drafting pit. Photo by Greg Jennings.
Bob and Jerry drying off. Photo by Greg Jennings.
At the end of WW II. Greg Jennings Photo