The original Ripon Fire District was created in 1921, before the City of Ripon incorporated, and consisted of one square mile. The intersection of Main Street and Stockton Avenue was the center of the District. A chemical tank mounted on wheels and hand-drawn to fires was donated to the new Fire District and became the District's first piece of emergency fire apparatus. This original equipment is still on display at Station One in Ripon.

 

Over the years, the District grew in both population and area. A Ripon Rural Fire Protection District was formed in 1940 providing emergency services to the rural area. The volunteer fire personnel built Ripon Fire Station Two in 1950 with donated material from Franzia Winery. In 1963 the two separate Fire Districts, which had been sharing equipment and personnel, consolidated to form the Ripon Consolidated Fire Protection District.

 

The District added an Emergency Ambulance Service in 1974 and became the first ambulance service or fire department in San Joaquin County to provide Advanced Life Support (paramedics) to our citizens.

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Full-Time, Part-Time Volunteer, and Reserve personnel staff our apparatus. Our personnel is trained to handle hazardous material spills and emergencies, water rescue, and technical search and rescue, as needed. The station features a fully-equipped classroom complete with all audiovisual needs for class sizes of nearly 50 participants.

 

The Ripon Fire District dedicated its new 4-story fire training tower in Ripon, CA, on Saturday, January 21st, 2006, in the memory of longtime Ripon residents, Howard and Mary Eichoff. The tower is the centerpiece of the Eichoff Memorial Training Center and was constructed by WRG Fire Training Systems, at a cost of approximately $450,000.00. The structure has 2 lined burn rooms: one with propane-fueled props and a second story attic designed for normal combustible materials. Chief Dennis Bitters states that "the facility is unique in that it was completely funded through a donation to the Ripon Volunteer Firemen's Association."

 

This challenge will be met by continuing to utilize our resources as efficiently and effectively as possible as we provide the level of service our citizens want and deserve.

Our Mission Statement is to "protect all the citizens within the Fire District from injury and loss due to natural and man-made disasters." This will be accomplished by providing highly-trained and adequately-equipped emergency personnel to respond to incidents of fire, medical, and other emergencies."