Long before the popular TV show "Emergency" was on the air (1972-1979), there was a show called "Rescue 8" (1958-1960), also about the Los Angeles County Fire Dept. rescue squads. "Rescue 8" was on TV long before fire departments trained some fire fighters to become paramedics. To my knowledge, the real Rescue 8 van (in the photo) was the first rescue vehicle assigned to either the Los Angeles County or the City of Los Angeles Fire Departments. Fire station #8 (above) was two blocks from my parents house, and I spent a lot of time as a kid hanging out at that station, located in the Hollywood area. I even watched them shoot several episodes of the TV show at fire station #8. Fire Station #8, probably one of the few fire stations left in Los Angeles that is still in it's original building (I think it was built around 1948). Because of the SoCal Earthquake Codes that came about over the years since the 1950's, most fire stations have been either brought up to the new standards, or just rebuilt from the ground up. They still have only two apparatus bays, but they are pretty deep. The original equipment for Station 8 was what's shown in the early photo above, Engine 8, Ladder Truck 8, and Rescue 8. Today, the station houses Engine 8, Engine 208, Ladder Truck 8, and Rescue Squad 8 (almost identical to the design of Rescue Squad 51, from the "Emergency" TV show)...
Man, it FEELS this cold in my house this morning - dang dog opened the door to the garage and it musta' been WIDE OPEN for hours...Brrrrr!!!!
The Jalopy Journal
