Page 3 - History of the Colton Fire Department

As a 26 year career firefighter, I served the Rubidoux Fire Dis-
trict as a Firefighter and the City of Redlands as their Fire Marshal.
I taught Fire Science classes at Riverside City College and Crafton
Hills College and a past president of the San Bernardino County Fire
Prevention Officers Association. In coauthoring the History of the
Colton Fire Department with Dennis Bickers I have added personal
history from my family through photographs, articles and department
journals and personal family history as my father, Chief Ed Temby
was a member of the department from 1946 to 1977 and served as
Chief of the Department from 1955 to 1977.
Through this research of written articles, oral history of this
department, I have come to realize the tremendous contributions that
was made to the city of Colton by all the members who served on the
department from its founding members through the countless early
volunteers to the paid professionals who altogether have served over
120 years.
So often as citizens and firefighters we visit our local fire sta-
tions and observe the physical history such as antique apparatus, old
helmets, nozzles, alarm boxes, etc, but in many cases much of the
written history of these departments has been lost due to time. It is
our hope that through our efforts of this book that we preserve the
written history for future generations to learn from, respect and ad-
mire.
Leonard E. Temby
Retired Redlands Fire Department

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