The first engine
1958 Mack B85 Sedan Pumper.
Purchased from a volunteer fire department outside of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
The first water tender
This is the department’s first water tender, which used to haul water and wastewater at a mine. It was almost eaten up by corrosion from the mine’s caustic wastewater. The department has come a long way, hasn’t it?
Our first fire station was a wooden shed
The Houston Mesa Fire District was formed in 1977, as the Mesa del Caballo Fire District, and started providing services as the Mesa del Caballo Fire Department shortly thereafter. The district and department operated under the Mesa del Caballo name (pronounced MAY suh del cuh BUY oh, meaning “plateau of the horse,” in Spanish) for many years. The department’s initial service area was the small residential community of Mesa del Caballo, which is an “island” of private lands surrounded by US Forest Service land, part of the Tonto National Forest.
When the department formed there were only three fire stations in the entire area. Now there are more than a dozen (At one time there were fifteen!).
In 1994, the district expanded to include another such island of private lands three miles to the north, which included the communities of Wonder Valley and Freedom Acres. The main road that serves these areas is called Houston Mesa Road, and most of the district sits atop Houston Mesa, a prominent plateau located just northeast of the town of Payson, Arizona.
The District Board voted to change the name to “Houston Mesa Fire District” in 2003, to accurately describe the district’s service area.
The original fire station was an old, wooden shed, that was barely large enough to hold the department’s first truck, a 1958 B-85 Mack 750 GPM fire engine. The old Mack was purchased from the Highland Firefighters’ Association of McCandless Township, a volunteer fire department in the Pittsburg, Pennsylvania area. The department’s first Chief, Frank Elms, flew back to look at the truck, made arrangements to purchase it, and drove it all the way back to Arizona.
In 1980, the current fire station building was constructed, Most of the work was done by community volunteers. The 30′ X 50′ two-bay slump block structure has undergone a number of interior remodels over the years, but it is a solid old building and basically looks the same as it did when it was new.
In accordance with the area-wide mutual aid numbering system in place at the time, the station was known as Fire Station 7, and the old Mack ran as Engine 7.
With no water system or hydrants, a tanker was needed, and with the two-bay building there was room to house it. The first tanker the department purchased was an old International truck with a 4,000 gallon tank that had been operated at a mine. It had been used to haul some type of corrosive liquids, and the truck was pretty rough and beat up. The tank frequently would develop leaks and require welding. Members joked about the “leak-of-the-week,” but fire calls didn’t happen very often, and the truck was capable of moving water from A to B and served the department for a number of years as Tanker 7.
The district continued to upgrade equipment, storage, and personnel training. By the summer of 2017, most of the firefighters were still volunteers, but were much better equipped, trained, and more experienced than they used to be.
In June of that year, Houston Mesa Fire District contracted for services with the Town of Payson Fire Department.
Tanker 7 / Water Tender 311
This 1978 Freightliner with a 3,500 gallon tank was placed in service as Tanker 7 in 1993. It was renamed Water Tender 311 when the area numbering system was changed in 1998. It was taken out of emergency service in 2003 and was sold to a local construction company. Like many old trucks of its type, this rig had a nine-speed stick shift with no power steering, making it difficult to drive for volunteer firefighters who don’t drive vehicles like this every day.
Ford/S & S
This 1978 Ford/S & S 3,000 gallon tanker was purchased from another fire department and ran as Water Tender 311 for several years. But when the diesel engine went bad in mid-2008, it was determined that the truck was not worth the cost of repairing it, so it was taken to an equipment auction in Phoenix and sold. The truck doesn’t look too bad in this photo, but it was old enough and had enough things wrong with it that it was no longer fit for emergency service.
Brush 311
This 1986 Chevrolet ex-US Forest Service ICS Type 6 engine was provided to the HMFD on a “permanent loan” by the Arizona State Land Department. It ran as Brush 311 until it was replaced with a newer vehicle in 2004. The truck was given back to State Land, and it was reassigned to another local fire department, where it is still in service.
Chief’s vehicle
This 1999 Ford Explorer was purchased, used, and faithfully served as the Chief’s vehicle from 2001 until mid-2008. With well over 100,000 miles on the odometer and needing major repairs, the vehicle was taken out of service and was sold and an equipment auction in Phoenix.
Magnetic Fire Danger signs are put on fire trucks and other government vehicles throughout the region during the critical wildfire danger period, usually May and June.
Runaround
This 1989 Dodge Caravan minivan was originally a State of Arizona vehicle, and was purchased from State Surplus by another local fire department. The HMFD bought it from them, and it served the department for many years, first as the Chief’s vehicle, then later as the station “run around” car. It was used, misused, and abused until it literally started falling apart, but it never failed to start and run, and it always got better than 25 MPG. It was sold in 2004.
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