Kaufman County CERT, Inc.

While visiting California over Spring Break, Chief Hodgdon got to visit a unique museum in Los Angeles. This museum contains a vast amount of fire fighting equipment ranging from 1853 to 2000's. This museum was started in the 1970's and organized as a museum in the 80's.

One of the star attractions for the museum and probably it's most famous is a 1972 one-ton Dodge Pickup, called Squad 51. To anyone that grew-up watching television in the late 60's and early 70's, is sure to remember a TV show that brought the newly developed world of Paramedics (EMT's) into our homes and helped set the standards that many EMS systems used to get started. If you can't remember the name, it was Emergency!. The museum aquired the original vehicle in 1998 and restored it to better than new condition, for the amount of $30,000, being raised mainly through membership dues to the museum. Squad 51 is considered the star attraction in the museum's large collection of fire vehicles.

Chief Hodgdon and kids with Squad 51

"Having grown-up watching Emergency! I always wanted to do something that was in the rescue/EMS service and now I am", Chief Hodgdon said when visiting the museum, he also stated "I recommend that anyone visiting California, be sure to contact the museum and go for a visit."

Currently, the museum is house in a warehouse while they raise funds to get a true museum type location. Here they keep the vehicles and rebuilding them as they are able to. If you would like, you can become a sponsoring member of the museum, by visiting the County of Los Angeles ire Museum Association, which is a yearly donation of $12 (subject to change).

More photos to be added to either this page or another page that will be linked to from here.

Hodgdon Kids In Front Of Another Vintage Truck.

If you have every thought about being a fire fighter and who hasn't, this is one place that will make you feel like a kid again and maybe think about being a fire fighter. Chief Hodgdon stated this his children found the museum amazing and wished their grand-father, Rick Channell, a volunteer fire fighter in Texas could have been with them.

Kaufman County CERT and it's project 51:

Kaufman County CERT and Kaufman County ARES have some projects that they are working on, that involved building up 1 vehicle for each group to be used to help promote their operations and the activites of similar groups across the nation, it's called Project CERT and Project ARES. Kaufman County CERT has decided to add a second vehicle project to it's Project CERT. While we are still looking for the vehicles to be used in the other projects (if you have one you wish to donate, click here ), we will also be looking for a 1972 1-ton truck that we will be turning into our own squad 51, expect that ours will be white in color, contain modern day lights, expect maybe the lightbar itself and be used for CERT purposes. Be sure to check out our Project CERT page for more information.

Images on this page are the copyrighted property of Chris Hodgdon, unless otherwise stated.