Engine 51 | Engine 7 History

As I was perusing Facebook recently, a conversation popped up about Engine 51 and it’s time in Yosemite.  There was a lot of information about it, and most of it correct.  There were a couple folks who were quite stubborn in their erred information.  Several subject matter experts through in good information.  This was my response.  

A little Engine 7/Engine 51 action while in Yosemite.  The Engine stayed very busy.  Toned out at the same time as NPS Fire, the Engine responded to an average of 120 calls for service each year.  

The most frequent calls were landing zone (LZ) coverage and “burnt toast” calls (more later).  

In the summer months, E-7 often responded to the Ahwahnee Meadow (and occasionally El Cap Meadow) for the park assigned NPS Helicopter 551, or CHP 40 out of Fresno, for back country or technical rescues and medicals.  Those calls often involved a second ship coming into the park, a medical helicopter, to transport those injured and other medical issues to a hospital in Modesto, Calif.  The E-7 crew has handled LZ coverage for as many as 7 helicopters at once on the ground.  LZ calls occasionally occurred multiple times a day.  Since E-7’s firefighters were long term full time employees in their own jobs, business interruptions were common.  Both the Curry Company and Delaware North understood and accepted it as a normal business practice—and in fact was a point of pride and success for the executive management teams.  

More often in the winter when windows and doors are closed up, and although the nickname itself was only accurate a small percentage of the time, the other prevalent response was nicknamed the “burnt toast call.”   The company employed some awesome chefs.  Yet in housing buildings with shared kitchens, a small percentage of non-chef employees were not always as safety conscious in the dorms’ shared kitchens.  

In all seriousness, at all times of day, these calls got jumped on fast because of the huge potential of loss in residents lives and structures.  All firefighters lived in or adjacent to these residential areas, and when toned out to respond would pass by a location while running to the firehouse and could give an initial size up.  

The Engine responded to all the other types of calls too, traffic collisions, fire alarm activations, spills, and such with an average of at least one working structure fire a year.  Although some firefighters were EMTs, a pure medical call was not in its normal response protocols.  

Over its history, the crew had a proud tradition of consistently beating NPS Fire to calls, including one in a building that housed the NPS Fire Valley Engines.  It trained twice as much as NPS Fire, and since they were company employees, usually knew a structure’s layout and operations much better than a NPS Firefighter.   

Sadly, without the knowledge of both the concession and NPS Fire Chief’s, when Aramark took over the contract from Delaware North in 2016, Aramark leadership quietly cut a side deal with park management to pay NPS an annual amount to eliminate Engine 7.  In 2018, after 80 plus years of service to the community, Station 7 was silently decommissioned.  

David Stone

Chief of Security and Fire, Delaware North | Aramark

2000-2018

Yosemite Hospitality | Aramark Failures

When you (Aramark) eliminates an 80+ year old department as part of your “fixing” things in the park, what goes around comes around.   

Profit over safety was never our mantra.  

What was our mantra?

Safety, Security, Service.  In that order—for a reason.  

Our  Mission Statement was, 

We, as members of the Security and Fire Department of Delaware North Companies at Yosemite, are committed to providing a safe environment for the diverse Yosemite community and park visitors. 

Specifically, our duty is to provide an organized force of trained personnel to protect the community from unlawful acts, fire, and unsafe conditions. Without bias, we shall respond to acts and incidents, which disturb the peace, or place in jeopardy individuals, the environment, or property. 

We are committed to a community safety philosophy that is dependent upon partnerships with park visitors, residents, government agencies, employees, and park 

partners. We nurture public trust by holding ourselves to the highest standards of performance and ethics. This shall be accomplished, in the highest professional manner, by providing educational input to employees and visitors, impartially enforcing both the law and Company regulations, respecting the rights of individuals and the environment, while embracing superior customer service as our cornerstone.

You saved a million dollars a year eliminating us.  Maybe you still think it was worth it.

https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/yosemite-contractor-aramark-endangered-visitors-19449430.php

  

https://www.sfgate.com/yosemite/

Facebook memory from 2016 | TCI memories

This popped up today on my Facebook memories, from seven years ago today.  Even then it was a look back.  It refers to my time of working at TCI  (Telecommunications, Inc. of Los Angeles County) the City of Industry (15255 Salt Lake Avenue).  Traveling from Yosemite in September 25, 2016, I was back in the area to attend a security related meeting introducing industry vendors. 

Oddly, after Aramark laid me off in July 2018, I ended up there again on September 19, 2018 for a nearby job interview at Southern California Edison (which was a waste of time).  Then on October 6, 2020 and again on February 20, 2021, Knight brought me to the neighborhood.  

……………

Musing of a security dweeb.  

This area has history for me.  Just down the road, in Diamond Bar, during the early 1980s, my father created the first Cable TV franchise in unincorporated Los Angeles County. He tried to get me to be the GM.  I turned him down.  A year later, and with a better offer, I left the Sheriff's Office to work for my dad. I spent much of the following year in the area helping to build the DB cable system.  It was a challenge--and fun.  I loved the Cable TV biz.  Especially that era.  

To be frank, actually two Franks--some 15 years later, now 20 years ago (April 1, 1996 to be exact), thanks to my cousin Frank making some introductions after my father's passing, and Frank Maldonado, the GM of TCI of Los Angeles County at the time, I started my new professional path in corporate security working at this office as their first ever Security Manager.  Frank  M. thought a guy with both a strong cable and law enforcement background was what was needed.  If TCI doesn't sound familiar to you, that's a shame.  What a dynamic company it was!  Dreaming the future of media and its delivery, and then accomplishing it.  No one thought video could be delivered digitally, but TCI did.  

We hired a crew of Auditors and fumbled our way through building a loss prevention program from the ground up.  Thanks to a lot of people, including HR wizard and my sister-friend Nadean Dickey (who set a high bar for me to measure other HR managers and directors with integrity and insight), we must have done some good.  Two promotions and a move the the Bay Area resulted.  

I was able to work cases I never could have as a Deputy.  Countless theft of service and piracy cases resulting in millions of dollars in court ordered restitution (with an average 28% immediate pay rate), multimillions recovered in an internal theft case, installers and techs being shot at while on the poles while disconnecting people, fiber cuts, a joint investigation with the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation Unit that included at least on murder, one suicide, and six simultaneous search warrants being served in four different states, plus all the normal day-to-day "security" stuff like deploying camera and alarm systems to 50+ cable stores in three states.   And, getting to know awesome folks like Sean Duck.  

A "Dotcom Layoff" allowed me to land in Yosemite, where I thought it would be a fun job until a found a real job.  Yosemite sucked me in, like so many others.  I quickly learned to love Yosemite and it's people.  

As life does, it has brought me full circle back to this neighborhood for work.  A Yosemite patrol car parked where it all started, some 20 years ago.  And a fun few moments getting caught up with coworkers still here and getting a tour of the facility.  And, my dad's Diamond Bar system is now part of this one.  It might say Time Warner on the sign now and it was just purchased by Charter, but it's still TCI to me. 

No matter what happens in the near or far future, life has been friken grand!

………

September 19, 2018

October 6, 2020

(Rocking TCI decals on my truck.)

February 20, 2021

(Sadly, the front parking lot is now fenced.)