“In-service at Hammond.”
Radio transmission from the Captain of Engine 72 at 9:36 a.m. on August 21, 2006.
With those few simple words over the radio, the new Sequoia & Kings Canyon Fire Station at Hammond was open for business.
The station is the new home for two National Park Service fire crews – Engine 72, a 7-person engine crew, and Crew 91, a 14-person hand crew. Yet in reality, the facility is anything but new.
For approximately 70 years, the National Park Service (NPS) and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) have worked together on multi-jurisdictional fires in the community of Three Rivers. The NPS built the Hammond Fire Station in 1935 on state-owned land along Highway 198 (just two miles from the park entrance). The station provided fire protection for both the community of Three Rivers and the park headquarters. Almost immediately after construction, ownership was transferred to the state and CDF staffed Hammond until moving to a new station in 2003.
With plans to occupy Hammond, the NPS signed a 20-year lease with the state and spent $692,000 to rehabilitate the buildings, converting them into modern facilities while maintaining their historic character. While NPS crews still have fire responsibilities inside the parks, they will be able to respond to wildland fires in Three Rivers more quickly since they are now stationed in town.
“We’ve turned a circa-1930 adobe building into a modern fire station,” said David Allen, Sequoia District Fire Management Officer. “The Hammond Fire Station project is a win-win-win – it improves facilities for NPS crews, it restores an historic structure, and, most importantly, it enhances wildland fire protection and response in the gateway community of Three Rivers.”
Contact: Jody Lyle, Fire Communication & Education Specialist
Phone: (559) 565-3703 |
