Brea Fire Department

The Brea Fire Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for Brea, California. The current Chief is Al Nero who joined the Brea Fire Department in 1999 after spending 24 years with the City of Oakland, California.

History

When the city of Brea was incorporated in 1917, the Brea Fire Services Department was founded. The fire station was co-located in City Hall with the Brea Police Department and the city's administrative staff. Until the 1930s, it was an all volunteer department.

The first fire truck was a 1923 Seagrave truck nicknamed "Old Susie", purchased for $16,000.

The first major incident for the department occurred in 1926 when lightning struck the Union Oil fields, starting an oil fire that burned for a week sending flaming oil flowing downhill into the nearby city of Fullerton.

In 1938, A.G. Ellis was promoted to Fire Chief. He was instrumental in modernizing the department. During his time as Chief, the number of paid personnel in the department was increased to 18. He also built a two-way radio that was installed in the Seagrave engine allowing the firefighters to communicate with a dispatcher while they were in the field. Two more pumpers were purchased and plans were begun to build a separate fire station.

In 1965, Station 1 was built and all Fire Department offices were moved...
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