The History of The Hayfork Volunteer Fire Department

The Hayfork Volunteer Fire Department was formed in 1948 by a group of concerned citizens. Longtime residents Ray Jesse and Walter Glass, Dick Jesse, Lee Murdock and Jess Laffranchini were instrumental in the creation of the department. A newcomer into town, Charles Wyckoff Sr. soon became involved, served in various functions including chief and was the longest serving fire chief.

The first engine was a 1928 Dodge Graham stored in a garage next to the Larry Glass residence. The first two personnel to arrive for a call had to pull start the engine.

Plans for a fire station were developed and the Laffranchini family donated a piece of land where the old station now sits on Highway 3 next to Wiley's Market. Using donated material and local labor the building begun. With the building being completed in 1951 the Hayfork Fire Protection District also received its charter from the California Secretary of State.

The original station stayed much the same until 1966 when the single story was added adjacent to the Hayfork Hotel. This addition housed Engine 18 a retired Cal OES engine purchasde by the district.

The original alarm system consisting of call boxes, clock and Gamewell board came from the city of Sacramento and was a familiar feature of town. For forty years everyday at 8 am, 12 noon and 5 pm the large and very loud air horn gave forth two blasts. The horn also activated upon a call box being pulled and on the last Tuesday of every month to call the volunteers to the regular meeting at 7:00 pm. We still meet today on the last Tuesday but have moved the time to 6:30.

In 2015, Hayfork Fire moved to their new home at 195 Hyampom Rd. in the Public Safety Facility building. We now house state of the art equipment including 2 Type 1 Engines and 2 water tenders. fire gear and tools and other equipment. And we can't forget the over 11,000 hours of training our volunteers have done since 1995 to the present.

TImes have changed but our mission to protect our community has stayed the same over all the years.