Gilbert Fire celebrates 100 years as a department, prepares for future

By Tom Blodgett
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Twitter: @sp_blodgett

Rob Duggan admits there is something he misses now that he is the Gilbert Fire and Rescue Department’s chief: riding on a fire truck. 

“I miss being on a firetruck every day,” he said Saturday in the HD South courtyard, where a few of the department’s vehicles were on display. “It's fun life on a firetruck. It’s a lot of fun. You see a lot of tough stuff. You do a lot of hard things. But to be able to ride on that …” 

Saturday’s event was to mark the start of a yearlong celebration of Gilbert Fire and Rescue’s 100th anniversary. Duggan and some of the department’s firefighters showed off the vehicles, chatted with people about their jobs and let kids hop aboard to see what it’s like. 

HD South, which houses the Gilbert Historical Museum, helped the department figure out that it was organized in July 1923. That was three years after the town was incorporated and done on a $250 budget with café owner Lester “Mickey” Johnson as the first chief. It was an all-volunteer department then and for most of its existence. 

The volunteer department’s first fire truck, a 1934 REO Speedwagon, is on permanent display at HD South, and the second truck also was brought over for Saturday’s event. HD South also has several other displays related to the department inside the museum. 

In 1982, Rural Metro started managing the town’s fire reserves and contracted in 1985 to provide its fire services, but the town organized its own department in 1993. 

“That was a tough decision made by (Gilbert Town) Council to go from Rural Metro to run our own fire department,” Duggan said. “That was much like when we did (ambulance) transportation (in 2021), very similar sort of thing where we're taking over from a private and there's lots of opinions about the right and wrong way to do that. I can't imagine a city this size had that council not made that decision.” 

Gilbert Fire Chief Rob Duggan has been part of the department for 24 years.

Gilbert paramedic Jeff Cuomo talks about his job with a family at the Gilbert Fire & Rescue 100th anniversary celebration.

A child tries out what it would be like to ride on a stretcher in a Gilbert ambulance.

A 1934 REO Speedwagon was in service as Gilbert's primary fire engine until 1967.

Gilbert's second fire truck also was on display at the anniversary event.

A display case at HD South shows some of the first coats worn by Gilbert firefighters and brass nozzles used on fire hoses from the department's REO Speedwagon.

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Duggan also can testify to the department’s growth in the past quarter-century, a time when Gilbert’s population exploded from 117,000 in the 2000 Census to more than 275,000 today. The work has become more complex with electronics and the addition of the ambulance service. 

He said he is preparing for more change in the future, including from an impending wave of retirements. 

“We're right now just on the leading edge of more tremendous turnover, and that's part of my legacy is I've got to get the next generation ready,” he said. “All these young firefighters you see, somewhere out there are the next captains, the next engineers, the next paramedic, and the next fire chief.” 

The department is also preparing for a larger town with more density, including some higher buildings. 

“We are adapting to that future,” he said. “Our engines are getting a little bit smaller, which will make us a little more nimble. So we’re getting ready for those changes. Tempe has already gone through this. A lot of cities, this is the progression. So we're leaning on our partners to talk about what changes operationally we can make in training to get ready for that.” 

In the coming months, the department also will add its first electric vehicle. Between the nod to its roots on the anniversary — the department has put logo stickers on its vehicles noting the 100th year — and upcoming growth, it is an exciting time for the department.  

“I get to represent the best brand in the country, which is a firetruck with that fire department brand,” Duggan said, nodding to the logo sticker. “There is no better brand.” 

Tom Blodgett
Senior News Editor | Gilbert
@sp_blodgett

tblodgett@iniusa.org

Meet Tom
Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.

Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.

Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism. 

Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.  

Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).