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In 1999, Captain Rod Olney and the crew of
fire station 184 discovered Pumper ‘E’ behind an industrial building
in Pomona, California. It has since been donated to the museum association.
Its wheels have been refinished and new tires installed. Complete restoration is planned as funds become available. (Photo courtesy of Straight Streams Magazine)
Pumper ‘E’ is a 1926 White with
a 400-gallon tank. It is shown here in a 1930s demonstration of its firefighting ability. This
and the other White pumpers ended their service as reserve units in 1948. (L.A. County Forestry Dept. photo)
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The County of Los Angeles Fire Department
is the product of many organizational mergers. One of the
earliest merged the County Forestry Department with the Consolidated
Fire Protection District. The Forestry Department’s apparatus
included several 400-gallon tankers that were equipped with
portable pumps. These rigs were lettered “A” through
“R” rather than numbered, and they were painted
green. (Pumper “G,” a 1932 Moreland, is fully restored
and on display at the Hall of Flame Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.
Also, it is featured on the cover of David Boucher’s
book, “Devil Wind Fire Wagons.”)
In one of the more recent mergers, the
City of Pomona turned its fire department over to the County.
In 1999, the crew of fire station 184 (in Pomona) was conducting
fire prevention inspections and discovered Pumper “E”
(a 1926 White) behind an industrial building. It was in terrible
condition. The owner did not know it was a fire engine; he
thought it had been a gasoline tanker. He was so pleased that
Pumper “E” had been found by her original owners
he donated her to the museum. Once she has been restored (about
three years and $30,000 later), a plaque will be mounted on
the rig to commemorate the donor’s recently deceased
son.
A photo of Pumper “E” in action
can be found at page 5 of “Devil Wind Fire Wagons.”
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