In 1868, Titusville welcomed the second of two identical fire department pumpers — the historic “Colonel Drake” steam pumper. The other was nicknamed "The City of Titusville."

The Col. Drake pumper was well documented for its response to the “great fire and flood” of 1892, and now sits on display at Drake Well Museum.

The duet of pumpers also helped usher in the city’s adoption of a professional, paid fire department. Previously, the city was protected by eight independent volunteer fire companies, and the tide turned toward a paid department following issues over which department would receive payment for extinguishing blazes becoming more and more problematic.

Prior to fire insurance coverage being commonplace, individual building owners were required to pay a fire department for extinguishing a fire.

The city, from 1860 until the early 1880s, was protected by the Courier Hose Co., Bloss Hose Co., Bates Hose Co., Drake Hose Co., Fertig Hose Co., Bosch Hose Co. No. 1, Bosch Hook and Ladder, and the Washington Hose Co. No. 1.

"Once we open up Fire Station 143, we'll have faster response times in to Hasley Canyon as well as the 5 freeway and Castaic," said Battalion 6 Fire Chief Chris Rash.

The 10,000 square foot building was originally planned to replace aging Fire Station 76 on Henry Mayo Drive, but those plans were scrapped in favor of staffing an additional station for the Castaic area.

The green and white structure located at 28580 Hasley Canyon Road will take some territory and daily calls for service from stations 76 and 149 while augmenting brush fire response for the entire Santa Clarita Valley.

A single-engine company will call the location home for the time being, Rash said. Officials weren't counting out a possible shift in Santa Clarita Valley resources to balance out any additional future

needs. Currently housed at Battalion 6 headquarters on Citrus Drive in Valencia, a reserve engine will be rebadged as Engine Company 143 and put into service.

That wasn’t always the case. Firefighters were once forced to use horse-drawn engines to transport water. Sometimes the firefighters had to pull the water tanks themselves

“I can assume it was very difficult,” Guyer said. “I couldn’t imagine what our volunteers did back in the day. It’s unfortunate we don’t have some of those people here to tell those stories.”

Milford purchased its first gasoline powered fire engine in 1916. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the truck.

Guyer, a volunteer since he was 14, is one of five firefighters in charge of making sure the century-old engine stays up to par.

He has been working on the engine for the past 12 years. The toughest part of maintenance is searching for parts. Buying parts, installing them and keeping it running can be a challenge, he said.

“You have to find someone who can either make the part or find someone who has that part,” he said. “It’s very expensive to replace something that is not manufactured on a daily basis.”