Larkspur Volunteer Fireman Jim Niven was following in his father George's footsteps when he shot the re-enactment film titled "Going on a Call" in 1963. Jim and his father George were amateur filmmakers, using 16mm equipment and film. Back then editing was done by "cutting and splicing" the film with tape, rather than using software today. Jim even edited in some actual fire footage from another day to make the response appear seamless. As previously posted, Jim was tragically killed while responding to a reported structure fire in 1978 in Larkspur. This 3-minute film footage is classic, and serves to remind us of Jim and his many contributions. See this film on the Larkspur FD history page under the current departments menu. “One moment the world is as it is. The next, it is something entirely different. Something it has never been before.” - Anne Rice, Pandora
Today our new content includes a view from the tailboard of the 1978 Line of Duty Death of Larkspur Fireman Jim Niven. At that time Robert Sinnott was a junior at Redwood High School, and had recently joined the Larkspur Fire Department as a volunteer. Sinnott was on the tailboard of Larkspur Engine 1 during the response and terrible crash, and shares his experience in this addition to the page in our Line of Duty Deaths section. Bob Sinnott would continue to serve in LFD after the accident, and a few years later was hired as a firefighter. He would eventually promote to Fire Chief of Larkspur, and retired in 2015 after 38 years the job. He then accepted a position as Deputy Fire Chief with the City of San Rafael FD. We reached out to Bob to seek his story from that day, and thank him for this contribution to our history site. Scroll down below the story from Bill Lellis, and below the photos, to read Bob's story. The photo below shows young Bob Sinnott at a wildland fire drill with Larkspur Captain George Rogers, who has since passed away.. This week we are featuring the history of the Tamalpais Forest Fire District, in existence from 1917-1941. This organization was the father to the creation of the Marin County Fire Department. We've uploaded a great historical document the TFFD published in 1940, just before the end. You can scroll through and read the entire publication.
Originally created by an act of the California State Legislature, the group served admirably for roughly 25 years. Note that most of the leaders were from the communities adjacent to the mountain along it's various flanks. Thanks to Marin County FD for sharing the document, to retired MCFD Captains Greg Jennings and Pete Martin for the photo, and to retired MCFD Firefighter Todd Lando for the logo. Check it out under the Departments<Former<Tamalpais Forest Fire District menu, or click the button below. It was once common for career and volunteer Fire Chiefs to work up until a typical mandatory retirement age of 65 or even 70. Fire Chiefs and firefighters typically have shorter tenures today, with greatly improved public employee retirement systems that typically target 30 years of service. Before the 1980's, however, not only was early retirement unusual, it was sometimes the case that the Chief loved the job so much that they'd say 'I'd like to keep working' if only there were no mandate to step down. Sometimes, of course, physical health issues would also require the separation. San Anselmo Fire Department, for example, had only a handful of Fire Chiefs spanning a period of over 70 years before becoming part of the Ross Valley Fire Protection District in 1980. We will eventually publish all of their biographies.
This week we are sharing the story of San Anselmo Fire Chief Frank Sousa, who served his community for 40 years, retiring in 1973. With thanks to his son Antone Sousa and the Ross Valley Reporter/Marinscope Newspapers, we have the story from 1986 about Frank that was published after he passed away that year. Thanks also to reporter Sue Barnett of the Ross Valley Reporter. Antone, now retired from a teaching career, serves on the San Anselmo Historical Commission, and volunteers at the museum. He has graciously shared many great photos of the San Anselmo Fire Department taken during his father's career. We look forward to updating the story soon with more information on Frank's descendants, and more photos. |
AuthorOur Blog announces new site content, and gives the context of the topic and it's relationship to fire service history. Written by Bill Lellis & Paul Smith Archives
August 2022
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