Bolstered Volunteer Firefighters to Serve Up Pancakes

The took shape 120 years ago, when town trustees passed an ordinance making it an official organization and directed the Tamalpais Land and Water Company to provide adequate water supplies for fire protection.

The department was an all-volunteer organization back then, beating out some fires with wet potato sacks and renting space to store its gear. To see the Mill Valley Fire’s recent proactive and pre-emptive efforts to fight a major wildfire before it starts – from and to a – it’s clear the department has come a long way since then.

But if you ask its leadership, Mill Valley Fire’s history of an all-volunteer firefighting force shouldn’t be a simple footnote in the history books. Instead, the department’s volunteer ranks should be a vital component, serving as a minor league of sorts for would-be professional firefighters.

“That’s one of the ways that you keep your organization thriving, by developing a strong volunteer base,” said Capt. Mike St. John. “The idea is that you hope to keep them in-house.”

While the Mill Valley Volunteer Firefighters Association has remained a strong and active organization for decades – putting on the ever-popular that takes place today outside City Hall – its active volunteer firefighting ranks have ebbed and flowed over the years.

When , who started his career as a volunteer in 1974, , one of his major directives was to bolster the volunteer ranks. That happened this month, as four volunteers - Steve DeSipio, James Ewing, Robert Rye and Drew Betzner – completed 60 hours of firefighter training under the leadership of firefighter Pat Costello.

With more financial pressures than ever, finding volunteers who can dedicate the time and be willing to grow within the organization can be tough, Costello said. He pointed to the continued volunteer success at the Kentfield Fire Department, which boasts a robust volunteer group that has served as a proving ground for firefighters who’ve ended up all over the Bay Area, including Mill Valley.

“They’ve done it right and they’re a model for how to make volunteers an integral part of the department,” he said.

Aspiring firefighters have a number of options to garner formal training. Many in the Bay Area go through the accredited Santa Rosa Junior College Fire Academy, whose graduates end up all over California.

But each municipality has its own specialties and local quirks, Costello said, and those can only be mastered by hands-on local training.

“We ended up with a good group, and they received training around events and circumstances you’re likely to find right here in Mill Valley,” Costello said.

That includes serving up pancakes once a year to raise money for the approximately $4,000 it costs for equipment for each new volunteer, St. John said.

So when you’re going back for that second and third serving of flap jacks today, know that your $7 admission fee ($5 for kids) is helping to both maintain Mill Valley’s historical ties to its volunteer firefighters and develop its own professional talent from within.

The 411: The annual Mill Valley Volunteer Firefighters Association’s Pancake Breakfast takes place from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on traffic-free Corte Madera Ave. in front of City Hall and outside the fire station with pancakes, eggs, juice and coffee. Fees are $7 for adults and $5 for kids with all proceeds to benefit the Mill Valley Volunteer Firefighters Association to equip a new batch of volunteer recruits.