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30-Year Snapshot: Fire & Rescue
This year, Murrieta Fire & Rescue (MFR) celebrates 74 years of service to the community, which puts MFR nearly in midlife when the City of Murrieta was incorporated in 1991.
The department originally started in 1947 as the Murrieta Volunteer Fire Department after the home of Max and Mattie Thompson burned to the ground. The department was eventually staffed with its first career firefighters in 1987, while volunteers continued to help where needed.
By 1993, the Murrieta Fire Protection District became a subsidiary of the City as it was then known. The department was forced to close Station 3, laying off 14 firefighters and two support staff, due to the recession. That same year, negotiations between the fire administration and the labor union allowed Station 3 to reopen, operating all rigs with only two-person crews.
The economy eventually rebounded enough by 2000 to restore staffing to three-person crews at all three stations. Station 4 was opened in 2005, using a temporary structure to house the crew, and in 2008 it was replaced with a permanent structure. The temporary facility, a manufactured home, was then used to create Station 5, where it still stands today.
In 2017, the department officially changed its name to Murrieta Fire & Rescue, and the following year was awarded accreditation status by the Center for Public Safety Excellence. This was several years in the making and a major milestone for the department. At the time, MFR was only one of 17 departments in the entire state of California to receive this respected status and the first in Riverside County.
Today, Murrieta Fire & Rescue is led by Fire Chief David Lantzer. The department has five stations staffed by 18 firefighters every day (increasing to 20 per day in June) supported by 11 staff members in fire administration. Day-to-day operations are managed by a deputy chief and three battalion chiefs (one on each of the three shifts). Community Risk Reduction, formerly Fire Prevention, has five staff members when the division is fully staffed.
Slideshows
MFR in Action
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2005 Madison Villas Apartment Fire
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2005 MFD Madison Villas Fire
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2005 New Recruits
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2006 Temp Station 4 2006
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2007 New Hires
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2008 New Admin Addition
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2008 Washington Fire
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2012 BBQ Serving Line-McAllister, Abeles, Vert
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2012 TemeculaLightParade
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2012 Temprano Fire
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2014 St. Baldricks Foundation MFD-Chris Brann
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2015 Brush 5 at The Rough Fire
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2015 Hale, Ferguson, Roach Presentation of Fill the Boot
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2015 Ladder Truck in Front of City Hall
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2020 Water Geyser
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Ladder Truck Fights Fire
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Moore, Bright. Monroy, Schmader, Thomas
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Swift Article
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1987 Grain Elevator Rescue
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1988 Department Mascot-Miss Chief
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1989 Aerial of Station 1 Being Built
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1989 Fire Department Article
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1989 MFPD News Article
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1990 Department Photo
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1990 Station 1 Apparatus
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1991 Station 1-Timecapsule Location
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1992 Aerial -Admin-Public Works Next Door
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1996 BBQ Aerial
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1997 BBQ (2)
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1997 BBQ
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2005 Birthday Bash Hose Down
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2005 Dave Perez Instructing the Explorers
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1989 Chief Curran and Mischief
In Memory
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2008 Flag Hanging at Moore Memorial
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2008 Procession Begins-Moore Memorial
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Captain Matt Moore
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Fire Chief Philip Armentrout
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Firefighter Paramedic Dean Hale