Page 8 - History of the Colton Fire Department

Over 120 years of the Colton Fire dents attending a meeting on November
Department can be traced from actual log 11, 1889, organized the Colton Volunteer
books, newspaper articles, photographs Fire Department.
and interviews with active and retired By 1889 there were hydrants placed
members who have served within the de- through the downtown area that were
partment. It is our hope that through this gravity fed from a water tank. A thousand
work we preserve the history of this organ- feet of hose, a cart to carry the hose and 3
ization for future members to fully under- extinguishers were purchased for general
stand how the organization began and to fire protection of the downtown area. The
honor its rich history and to always protect extinguishers were placed at the City Hall,
and serve the citizens of Colton. The Livery Stable and The Southern Pa-
David D. Colton was referred to as cific Depot.
“General Colton” in many circles. He got
that name because of his appointment as
a brigadier general in the Sixth Division
(Siskiyou County) of the California State
Militia in 1855.
The Southern Pacific Railroad
Company founded Colton, CA. in 1875.
Officials of the company named the town
site Colton after David Douty Colton,
who, at that time, was vice president of the
Southern Pacific Railroad and a resident
of San Francisco. Colton incorporated as a
city in July 1887.
David Colton died at his home in
San Francisco on October 9, 1878. His
death was caused by an infection resulting
from medical treatment of internal injuries
he sustained in August when a horse fell
on him while riding at his ranch.
Prior to Colton’s incorporation as a
city, residents rallied informally to put out
fires. Fire buckets were placed at strate-
gic locations around town. Chains of resi-
dents--bucket brigades--were formed to
pass buckets of water from a water source
to the fire. Recognizing the need for a
more formal system of fighting fires, city
residents held a meeting on February 21,
1888, to discuss the formation of a volun-
teer fire department. Their efforts paid
8 off a year and a half later, when resi-