Page 95 - History of the Colton Fire Department

a fire insurance classification grade 3 since 1960 and the There was an intense classroom phase and then
only City in Southern California with the population un- the students would gravitate toward the field to hone their
der 25,000 to accomplish this goal. skills. They would start in the hospital setting under a
controlled environment, then move to a field paramedic
1974 unit for 12 to 20 shifts under the guidance of a paramedic
Chief Temby was in touch with the latest progress instructor who would verify that their skills meet the
in every phase of emergency services. He was involved paramedic standards. Los Angeles County provided the
in the development of the first Paramedic Program in San field training portion of the curriculum due to the fact
Bernardino County. The San Bernardino County Board that they had a preexisting paramedic program. In 1976
of Supervisors created the Emergency Care Committee there was an inconclusive national survey that found 214
of which Dr. Thomas Zirkle of Loma Linda University paramedic services were operational in the United States.
Medical Center the Deputy Fire Chief of Loma Linda Loma Linda ended their paramedic program around
along with Chief Ed Temby as the fire service liaison 1981. Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa began their Para-
where he contacted Los Angeles County for assistance in medic program in 1978 and by 2011 has produced over
developing a curriculum and guidelines for the establish- 1500 Paramedics. Victor Valley College in Victorville
ment of a paramedic program. Also another instrumental began their Paramedic Program in 1988. As of Janu-
area physician was Dr. Paul Letson of San Bernardino ary 2011 there were a total of 3296 Paramedics certified
Community Hospital. in the I.C.E.M.A. Region since its inception and 1134 of
those would remain active. During an interview with Ed
1975 Temby in 2010, it was his feeling that one of the greatest
The paramedic program began at Loma Linda accomplishments of his career was, “To bring the para-
University Medical Center in July of 1975. They trained medic program to the City of Colton”.
firefighters and ambulance personnel to become certi- 1977
fied Paramedics. Each county would operate their EMT/ Chief Ed Temby had also served the city as Their
Paramedic program under the guide lines of a sanctioned Assistant City Manager for 12 years. Ed was also in
medical authority. Initially there was an agreement be- charge of civil defence for the city.
tween four counties (San Bernardino, Riverside, Inyo and On July 16, 1977, Chief Temby retired from the
Mono Counties) to operate under one set of guide lines. Colton Fire Department and was asked to be Fire Science
This would be the Inland Counties Emergency Medi- Coordinator at San Bernardino Valley College due to his
cal Authority (I.C.E.M.A.). In 1989, Riverside County long term relationship with the college as chief. They
separated from the original four counties to form its own started the fire academy at San Bernardino Valley Col-
Riverside County Emergency Medical Agency. lege in 1977. The academy was held at Station 10 in San
Loma Linda University’s first paramedic pro- Bernardino and then it was moved in November 1982 to
gram was in July of 1975. Chief Temby would send Crafton Hills College where the regional fire training fa-
a total of 9 firemen to become medics. There would be cility was created. Chief Temby worked at Crafton Hills
a paramedic squad with 2 medics and one medic would College until his retirement from teaching in 1987. In
ride on the engine at station 2 as firefighter/paramedic. addition to working for Crafton Hills College, Ed Temby
worked for Sierra Consultants out of San Francisco, a fire
The First Paramedic class of July, 1975 protection engineering firm.
Bruce Hamp In August of 1977 Division Chief Alan Teague
Terry McNeill was appointed fire chief. Chief Teague’s prior position
Don Ewing was Division Chief in charge of Operations and was now
Second Paramedic Class, January, 1976 Colton’s 4th fulltime Chief.
Tom Hendrix 1980
Rick Turner In November of 1980 a major fire took place in
Ed Cortez the city of San Bernardino known as “Panorama”. It
Third Paramedic Class, July, 1976 consumed over 300+ structures and took 4 lives. This
Greg Turner destructive fire was driven hard and rapid due to the local
Dick Shipley Santa Ana winds. Chief Teague remembers being gone
Bob Mendez on vacation during that fire and placed Division
Chief Ron Gemmell in charge. 95