Page 106 - History of the Colton Fire Department

Chief Teague retired in 1982. Al Teague was
hired by Chief Nick Carter and talks very highly of Nick.
Al was a 6 month seasonal fireman for Colton in 1950
and was hired full time in 1951 prior to station 2 being
built. There was 9 paid personnel at the time, two shifts
of 4 and the chief. Station 3 has been on the chalk boards
for a couple of years due to the city’s rapid growth projec-
tions.
Al Teague remembers one fire as a Captain. It
was the Market Villa and a bar that was on the corner of
Colton and Mt. Vernon which is now a vacant lot. Before
vertical ventilation was a science and sometimes ignored,
the firemen would make their way through the front door
to find the seat of the fire. That day, Captain Teague’s
crew did just that. But soon after their entry, Captain Staion 3 (213)
Crabtree’s crew came in the back door. Their was so
much confined heated air and gasses, that a flash over
exploded around them. Picking themselves off of the
floor, the 2 crews managed to make it out of the building
from the same way they came. Everyone was accounted
for with no major injuries. Captain Al Teague suffered
some face and scalp burns. This was well before they
had hoods to cover the head surface.
Chief Ron Gemmel that was hired by Chief Tem-
by in 1956 as manning for the new station #2 and was
excited to be on board with the Colton Fire Department.
Like several other retirees that I have talked to, Ron took
a pay cut when he began with the Colton Fire Depart-
ment. He enjoyed the Firefighter roll because of the
many challenges from call to call. Ron said as a Fire- Above: 2009 - “A” Shift, L/R from top, Dennis Bickers, John Vail,
fighter you get to do it all. Many people would say that Jake Novak, Jeff Miller, Henry Perez, Rick Housley, Dave Lodarski,
the Engineers job is the best but when Ron promoted to Kent Willmore, Jamie Wixon, Ray Bruno, Annalisa Laube, Battalion
Chief Craig White, Frank Ojeda, Jonathan Cripe
Engineer he didn’t agree. He
liked the excitement and action
that he was use to as a Firefight-
er. Polishing equipment all the
time and on your back under an
engine was not his idea of fun.
As a Firefighter there was more
interaction among the guys and
he would much rather be hold-

Right: A Traffic Collision on the I-10
freeway where Paramedic Jon Knut-
son rendered care to his patient as he
is moving toward the ambulance.

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