The People and Events of the 1930's

Circa 1937

Raymond M. Halgren Appointed Fire Chief

The population of El Cajon, at the time Ray Halgren was appointed as Fire Chief, was just over one thousand. The city covered about 3 square miles and Chief Halgren remembers the city as "a friendly community where neighbor knew neighbor and the only thing in the air was the pungent fragrance of geraniums."

As the story goes, Chief Halgren accepted the top spot after a vote by the volunteer firemen. Seems there was another man who wanted the job, but none of the volunteers liked him. So, they turned to Halgren and voted him in.

In 1948, Halgren, then a salesman, took a drastic cut in pay to become the first paid fire chief of a two-man paid force.

Halgren's career as chief spanned 33 years. In that time, he was involved in the wider range of change, improvement and advancement, of the El Cajon Fire Department, than any other chief to come after him.

Halgren still lives in the area and his youngest son Bruce is a member of the La Mesa Fire Department.

January 1, 1938

Fire Station Leased from W.D. Hall Company

On January 1, 1938, the City of El Cajon entered into a lease agreement with the W.D. Hall Company for use of the old Kessler/Hall Lumber office to be used as the city's first fire station.

December 3, 1937

El Cajon Demands Local Ambulance

In 1937 the closest ambulance service available for El Cajon was responded from the City of San Diego. During this time, the directors of El Cajon Chamber of Commerce planned to take "serious action" to provide the city with better service.

A special committee was appointed to address the situation.

It is known that El Cajon had to wait until 1969 to place its first ambulance in service.