page_title: Riverside Fire Department
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Riverside Fire Department / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Postcard of the Riverside, California Fire Department, circa 1910, at the corner of Eighth (now University) and Lime Streets. Fire Station #1 is on the right, and the Arlington Hotel is on the left.
context_page_description: The Riverside Fire Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Riverside, California. As of 2015 the department is responsible for servicing a population of 314,034 in an area of 81.51 square miles.
context_section_description: The City of Riverside Fire Department can trace its origin back to 1875 from a newspaper article referencing the response of a hose cart to a fire in the township of Riverside.  An unorganized group of volunteers existed in the Riverside township from December 1871 to April 1882. In April 1882, Frank Miller, the owner of the Mission Inn, convinced local businessmen to contribute towards a wagon and fire buckets, costing $500. Subsequently, William Hayt, a businessman and owner of several stage lines, began a drive to establish a complete fire department. Hayt got the city's Board of Trustees agreement to establish the Riverside Fire Department, but only after Hayt offered to raise half the money from local businessmen, and to put up the other half of the funds himself, to be reimbursed later.  Hayt was able to raise $527, he loaned the city an additional $516, and the Riverside Fire Department was officially established on October 7, 1887.
  The first major fire to confront the new fire department was on April 21, 1888, when the Pavilion, a large wood-frame structure used for many social occasions such as theaters, dances, and general meeting space, burned to the ground. Nearly two decades later, in February 1906, the first station was built for the Riverside Fire Department at the corner of 8th and Lime Streets.
  The department received its first motorized unit in September 1909, with the $4,750 purchase of a Seagrave, hose wagon and chemical engine. Following another major fire in 1924 at the Motor Transit building, the number of fire hydrants in the city was doubled. By 1938, the department had grown to 33 firefighters and five engine companies spread out across four stations. Starting in 1998, the department transitioned to the Advanced Life Support (ALS) level of support.
caption: Fire Station #1, circa 1910, at the corner of 8th and Lime Streets (8th Street is now University Avenue)
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