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Mountain View News Saturday, April 13, 2024 

HISTORY OF THE SIERRA MADRE FIRE DEPARTMENTHISTORY OF THE SIERRA MADRE FIRE DEPARTMENT


Submitted by MarTH Walsworth

The history of the Sierra Madre Fire Department began 
over one century ago on the morning of January 21, 
1921, when a raging fire broke out at the Sierra Madre 
Bakery and the closest responding unit was 30 minutes 
away. Once the fire was extinguished a conversation arose 
between the city and its residents for the essential need 
of a local fire agency. It was this incident that sparked 
the development of the Sierra Madre Volunteer Fire 
Department. 

The community of Sierra Madre was served by committed 
individuals (many of whom worked and lived in the city) 
that volunteered their time to aid in fire suppression and 
medical emergencies. Included in the photo above is my 
husband’s grandfather Roy Walsworth. My husband 
volunteered as well for over 20 years and we are proud to 
be part of this SMFD Family.

As time went on emergency medicine advanced, and of 
course Sierra Madre residents deserve the best service 
comparable to our neighbors and industry standards. In 
2007 the residents of Sierra Madre elected to go from Basic 
Life Support (EMS) to a paramedic program (Advanced 
Life Support) This required the hiring of paramedic staff 
and other fire personnel to maintain the department. 
This was a huge increase in costs to the city and the UUT 
was implemented to support the Paramedic Program and 
further staffing costs for police personnel. 

During the next 10 years the City struggled with staffing 
an all-volunteer department and slowly transitioned from 
a volunteer fire department to a combination of volunteer 
and paid personnel in 2011. By 2015 Sierra Madre could 
no longer adequately staff the fire department in order to 
respond to calls and the city then considered contracting 
the fire services to another entity such as Arcadia, 
maintaining our own department, or exploring various 
options. The residents of Sierra Madre made their wishes 
very clear to city officials that they wanted to maintain our 
own Sierra Madre Fire Department. 

After many years of transitional and challenging times, 
the Sierra Madre Fire Department made the monumental 
change to a full-time career Fire Department on 
September 1, 2019. A full-time career department is a huge 
budget increase for the city and the department has been 
struggling to recruit and retain good, qualified people 
since they were earning 12-25% less than the comparable 
cities. To stop the continuous revolving door in both our 
police and fire departments, salary increases were applied 
to both departments in 2023 and we are now able to retain 
and recruit amazing men and women to our first responder 
family.

Sierra Madre is unique in that we are among the smallest 
cities in Los Angeles County at 3.5 square miles with 
approximately 11,000 population. We are also unique 
in that we are a full-service city with its own Police 
Department, Recreation and Community Services, Public 
Works, Sewer, Public Library and Fire Department.

Our public safety departments are excellent with excellent 
response times and highly qualified and trained personnel. 
We all want to live here because of the sense of community 
and safety in our city.

• 3-to-5-minute response times

• Professional Fire Department

• Little to no homeless issues

• Paramedic services

• Low crime rate

The current budget for the Fire Department is $3.7M and the Police Department is $6.3M. The city does not have the revenues to support the rising costs to maintain these departments. 

Residents of Sierra Madre and community leaders are putting forth a petition for circulation to place a ballot initiative on the November 2024 ballot. The Public Safety for Sierra Madre 
Measure will protect and preserve the public safety and emergency services of Sierra Madre. This will address the long-term problems generating approximately $2.2M annually over 
the next 7 years. 

The residents of the city have made their wishes very clear in that they want to continue to be a full-service city and maintain our police and fire departments. The city does not have the 
revenues to sustain the departments and without an additional revenue source this puts both departments in jeopardy.


THIS SUNDAY!
April 14, 2024, 10:30-4:00ART OF THEGARDENCREATIVE ARTS GROUP626-355-8350TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE ATCREATIVEARTSGROUP.ORG 
Visit five stunning gardens that capture thediversity of our Southern California landscape. 
Sierra Madre Civic Club 
brings to you the 
Sierra Madre Events Calendar 
Sierra Madre Civic Club 
April 6 – Annual Luncheon. 11am 
at Methodist Church. 
April 11 – Membership Meeting. 
7:30pm at Hart Park House. 
April 12 - Educational Awards 
Applications due. See our website 
for more details. 
Friends of the Library 
April 5 & 6 – Best Used Book Sale 
at 350 W Sierra Madre Blvd. 4/5: 
3pm to 7pm. 4/6: 10a-2p. 
Chamber of Commerce 
April 11 – Spring Mixer at The 
Kensington. 5p-7p 
Rose Float Assoc 
April 13 - Legendary Bingo. 
6:30pm at Recreation Center. $20 
Donation at the door. Pizza, wine, 
beer & soda will be available. 
Community Foundation 
April 13 – Whiskey & Wine Event. 
6:30pm to 9:30pm at Mia Italia 
(457 N Lima St). Tickets are $125-
$175 and available at 
auctria.events/whiskeywine2024 
Creative Arts Group 
April 14 – Art of the Garden Tour. 
10:30am to 4pm. Tickets available 
at creativeartsgroup.org 
City of Sierra Madre 
April 13 – Community Bike Ride 
and Wellness Fair. 10a-1p. Free 
Registration. Call 626-355-5278 for 
more info. 
April 18 – Bunny Bingo. 12:30p-
2:30p at Hart Park House Senior 
Center. Cost is $7 which includes 
Bingo, light lunch & prizes. 
April 20 – Compost Giveaway. 
8a to 12p at Sierra Vista Park. 
Every activity in which Civic Club participates or 
creates re􀏐lects our shared commitment to 
promote our community. 
P. O. Box 413 
Sierra Madre, CA 91025 
www.sierramadrecivicclub.org 
To add your organization events, please send an 
email to smadreevents24@gmail.com 
Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com