The Ripon Consolidated Fire District has been around for well over 100 years.

To mark the occasion, fire Chief Dennis Bitters tasked local historian John Mangelos to put together a Centennial book.

He was thrilled with the results.

“It turned out exactly as I hoped,” said Bitters, who is celebrating his 40th year with the department.

The centennial anniversary book is 128 pages of information, photos, and archival research. “It’s also a history of Ripon,” said Bitters on Friday.

The local fire department was first form of government in Ripon – the founding fathers were Al Nourse, George Keeler Bainbridge and Sidney Reynolds in 1921.

“When the department was started, it was a very small district that covered the business area of what would eventually become the City of Ripon,” Bitters said in the book.

He noted that Ripon was the second fire district to be formed in San Joaquin County – later, another district was formed to provide rural fire protection and both eventually merged to become the Ripon Consolidated Fire Protection District, a jurisdiction encompassing 56 square miles.

A transport ambulance service was started in 1973, making Ripon the first and long running Advance Life Support provider in the county.

Mangelos, as part of his research, was unable to find a photographs of Bainbridge in the Ripon Fire Archive or the local museum for the book. He was trace Bainbridge, a former resident of New York City, to his days as an avid fencer during the 1920s, uncovering a 1908 photo of Bainbridge fencing for the New York Athletic Club.

“This is just one example of the lengths to which John was willing to go to ensure the story was complete,” according to the book’s acknowledgments page.

The fire department also thanked the Diamond Pet Food Company for generously stepping up to providing 100 percent of the funding necessary for the publication of the Centennial Anniversary book available at Ripon Fire Station No. 1 at 142 S. Stockton Ave.

Also available at the fire station is the Ripon Fire Centennial Cookbook, spearheaded by administrator Brenda Lange.

Included are pages of recipes consisting soups & salads, vegetables & side dishes, main dishes breads & rolls, desserts, and cookies & candy, to name a few.

This compilation of recipes came about from years of potluck foods from over the years, said Bitters, whose favorites are that of his wife’s contributions in the cook book.

Back to the book, “Ripon Consolidated Fire District: 100 years of Protecting what’s Important…” Bitters found it fascinating to discover the various news outlets that covered the numerous fires that occurred in Ripon during those early days.

Many of those articles are shared in the book.

Along with Mangelos, Bitters credited Connie Jorgenson, director and head docent at Clarence Smit Museum, for her contributions.

During last year’s Almond Blossom Festival, the Ripon Consolidated Fire District was honored as the grand marshal in celebration of its centennial. Ironically, the annual parade for the event was a no-go due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were too busy back then,” Bitters said.

However, he and his wife represented the fire district at this year’s Almond Blossom Festival parade, sharing the spotlight with this year’s grad marshal, the Ripon Garden Club, while riding in one of the department’s antique vehicles.

Call Ripon Fire Station No. 1 at 209.955.4209 for more Information in obtaining the Centennial book and / or cook book.