Mt. Baldy Fire Department is in need of donations

The Mount Baldy Fire Department, run by volunteers, is in need of help. The firefighters say the station, half of which is a post office, is riddled with rats and has not been updated in 60 years.

Mt. Baldy Fire is the first line of defense in emergencies on the mountain like avalanches, injured hikers, fires and car and ski accidents. It often serves as the command post in major situations because the next closest fire stations are about 10 miles away.

“In most cases we can be on scene before LA County or San Bernardino County Fire Departments and respond up the mountain, 10 minutes beforehand,” said Mt. Baldy Fire Chief Graham Hendrickson. “Obviously in an emergency situation, whether it be fire or medical aide, those minutes really count.”

Volunteer firefighter Richard Wingate has given 32 years of his life serving the Mt. Baldy community and two million tourists who visit every year. “A lot of times we have to do some extraordinary measures to get to a call when we have 10,000 people show up on a Saturday or Sunday and somebody is injured,” said Wingate.

Now the volunteers need assistance. “Our equipment is literally bumper to bumper so if I have to get over to a bay, unless I’ve opened up the doors, I have to crawl across it to get to my equipment on the other side,” said Chief Hendrickson.

“It’s the same with this equipment here, all bumper to bumper. A lot of times, the firefighters have to pull their gear bags out and get dressed in the main area just because it’s really too tight to do anything in here,” he said, cramped between the bunker gear and fire truck. The garage is also part of the common area.

Mt. Baldy Fire says with no tax dollar money and some support from San Bernardino County Fire, it relies almost exclusively on private donations, most of which come from locals.

“They watch over all of us,” said Dan McDermott, who firefighters saved a couple months ago when he fell down the mountain and broke his leg. “These guys work their tails off.”

But the chief says two-thirds of their calls come from people who live down the mountain and visit to bike, hike or ski.

“Baldy Fire is the only thing we got up in Mt. Baldy to keep all the wheels turning so we’re keen to do everything we can to help out,” said Mt. Baldy Resort General Manager Robby Ellingson.

The resort is offering free ski lift tickets for the first 100 people who donate $100 or more to Mt. Baldy Fire and those who donate $500 or more will have a chance at a free season pass. You can send your donations to the firehouse or electronically to www.baldydonations.com. Donors, in turn, will be sent vouchers for lift tickets.

Mt. Baldy is hoping to expand its current fire station but says it needs about $50,000 a year for the next four years to do so.

“People don’t realize how many of these guys actually do it without a paycheck, sometimes coming out of their own pockets to pay for equipment or gas in the truck,” said Barry Gabster who is trying to help the fire station through the non-profit, Hands to Help You.

The firehouse extension would be a big garage that would serve as the bays for all six fire vehicles, freeing up space in the current structure and helping the volunteers respond to calls quickly, safely and effectively.