The first Mechanical Shop was at 4921
Whittier Blvd. in a building owned by the Belvedere Gardens
District, which also housed Engine Company No. 3.
Stanley W. Dobson was appointed Master
Mechanic on November 24, 1924, with Carl L. Hawthorne joining
up as a mechanic on December 29, 1926. The shop staff was
augmented July 1, 1927, with the appointment of Samuel D.
Hogan as a mechanic, and on September 1, 1927, J. G. (Doc)
Stark replaced Hawthorne. During the latter month I was detailed
to reorganize the shop setup as conditions were deplorable,
with inventories incomplete and procedure bordering on the
irregular. Through the efficient services of District Contract
Clerk Alfred Parks, inventories were corrected and purchasing
practices charted. During this period I ordered the first
triple jacket bypasses, and very proudly, in person, delivered
the first ones received to Engines 7 and 8. A body was designed,
constructed, and installed upon a Lincoln chassis which became
R-11, the first rescue company placed in service by the Department.
On January 31, 1928, Dobson resigned and was replaced the
next day by Master Mechanic W. E. Powelson.
My first instruction to the latter was
to look for a new shop location as near as possible to the
County Mechanical Shops. He found such a building located
at 1406 Mission Road, into which we moved April 1, 1928. A
construction Division crew installed a pit and other needed
facilities over that week-end. Jack Duffy was added to the
shop staff about this time. On October 31, 1928, S. D. Hogan
resigned as a mechanic upon receiving a Captain's appointment
in the Hollywood-Sherman District. In the fall of 1928 the
shop and all personnel were transferred to the jurisdiction
of the County Mechanical Department.
