Marin County Fire Department

After living in the Pacific Northwest for a few years, you become accustomed to the rain and the occasional freak snowstorm.  So you could imagine how much of a shock it was to move to Northern California where during the summer it can get to 104 degrees and the surrounding grass is brown from a lack of water.

So you could imagine my lack of surprise when I looked out my kitchen window to see  a fire one evening. It was quite the site for the new comers to the area.  Luckily the fire was relatively small and the fire crews were very quickly on scene to douse the flames.  We did become a little worried when our complex started to get buzzed by the spotter planes and helicopters.

It is because of the professionalism of the Marin and Sonoma County Fire Departments that our house and the homes closer to the fire did not become a statistic lumped in with the fires further south.

Being that its the off season for wild fires, I was able to meet up with the Hicks Valley Station of the  Marin County Fire Department.  This lonely fire house is set in a valley what seems like in the middle of nowhere.  I pass the station every day on the way to and from work, thinking about the fire fighting gear I used while stationed onboard a cutter, I figured the station would make for some good photography.