|
|
|
Anderson will be Remembered for Putting Quincy’s Fire Services on the State and National Radar
by Mike Taborski
Publisher, Plumas News
[email protected]
reprinted with permission
By any measure, with the passing of Richard G. “Andy” Anderson, Plumas County lost one of its great leaders, but the legacy he leaves behind in fire services and in the community will never be forgotten. Anderson died Monday evening, Aug. 1 at Renown Medical Center in Reno after a brief illness. He was 90.
The son of a coal miner, he was born on Nov. 30, 1925, in Illinois and spent his youth going to school and working the family farm. Unquestionably, he will be remembered for his career in the fire fighting trade but that wasn’t his career path in those early days, far from it. After an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy, he attended mortician school in San Francisco then did his training at a mortuary in Red Bluff. He eventually moved to Plumas County after buying the mortuary in Portola in 1954. It was there he got his first taste of fire services having become involved with the town’s fire department.
In 1956 he relocated to Quincy after buying the funeral home there; now he was running both. That same year, he joined the Quincy Volunteer Fire Department. Clearly, he had no idea of the legacy that would result when, five months after joining the firefighting ranks, he was elected their volunteer fire chief (to be able to raise a family and pay their bills, he continued to own and operate the funeral home in Quincy until selling it to the current owners in 1991).
He often said he wasn’t looking to be the fire chief, he just wanted to help the department. And for the next 50 years he did just that. Right up to his retirement from the department in 2007, Chief Anderson had taken a small rural fire department and turned it into a role model for all of the volunteer departments not just in Plumas County, but also throughout the state and country. He was the department’s sixth chief in its first 128 years.
Chief Anderson’s devotion to his department, the firefighters, his community and emergency services, was evident in nearly everything he did in his illustrious career over the next half century. Most notable might be the development and construction of the emergency services training facility at Fire Station 1 on Lawrence Street in Quincy. He and his wife Gayle — whom he married in 1964 — also donated the land behind the station for this training complex on Andy’s Way, the side street appropriately named in his honor in 2006.
His impressive resume also includes merging the Plumas County Fire Chiefs’ Association and the county’s Fire and Emergency Association into one group, which he chaired for 25 years. He established the county’s first Disaster Council and chaired the county’s Multi-Agency Coordination Team and was on the organizing committee to form the Plumas Fire Safe Council. Chief Anderson was also the director of the Office of Emergency Services for more then 30 years. In 1983, the board of supervisors appointed him the County Fire Warden. At the state level, Chief Anderson was appointed to the Senate Select Committee on Volunteerism in Fire Service and was a charter member and past president of the California Rural Firefighters Association.
Alongside his life’s devotion to fire service, his other passions included county fairs, railroading, radio broadcasting and flying his own airplane. For 35 years, he volunteered for various jobs at the fairgrounds including serving as the master of ceremonies at various grandstand events. He stepped in as fair manager for four years, from 1987 to 1991. Because of his fascination for trains, large and small, he was also a member of the board of directors for the Portola Railroad Museum and volunteered his time showing visitors how to actually operate its powerful steam engine on a special short run track. As an accomplished pilot, he sponsored several Mountain Flying Safety seminars at Gansner Airport for area pilots.
Many will also remember him during his airtime as a popular early morning disc jockey on the local radio station. Fire Chief Robbie Cassou first met Anderson 36 years ago. He said besides having a wealth of knowledge about fire services and an icon in fire circles throughout the state, Anderson was genuinely just a great guy and family man. “He had a huge impact on my life as my mentor and my friend. He’s opened a lot of doors for me as he has for some many other people.”
Longtime resident, EMT and paramedic Steve Tolen first met Anderson in 1965 when he came to town as a camp counselor. “I wanted to be a funeral director since I was in the 4th grade,” said Tolen. “So besides getting a chance to learn that trade from a master, he also introduced me to fire and emergency services. Andy raised me like a son. He was a caring and giving man and will certainly be missed both here and throughout the state.” A memorial service was held at the Plumas Sierra County Fairgrounds on Sunday, August 21st.
by Mike Taborski
Publisher, Plumas News
[email protected]
reprinted with permission
By any measure, with the passing of Richard G. “Andy” Anderson, Plumas County lost one of its great leaders, but the legacy he leaves behind in fire services and in the community will never be forgotten. Anderson died Monday evening, Aug. 1 at Renown Medical Center in Reno after a brief illness. He was 90.
The son of a coal miner, he was born on Nov. 30, 1925, in Illinois and spent his youth going to school and working the family farm. Unquestionably, he will be remembered for his career in the fire fighting trade but that wasn’t his career path in those early days, far from it. After an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy, he attended mortician school in San Francisco then did his training at a mortuary in Red Bluff. He eventually moved to Plumas County after buying the mortuary in Portola in 1954. It was there he got his first taste of fire services having become involved with the town’s fire department.
In 1956 he relocated to Quincy after buying the funeral home there; now he was running both. That same year, he joined the Quincy Volunteer Fire Department. Clearly, he had no idea of the legacy that would result when, five months after joining the firefighting ranks, he was elected their volunteer fire chief (to be able to raise a family and pay their bills, he continued to own and operate the funeral home in Quincy until selling it to the current owners in 1991).
He often said he wasn’t looking to be the fire chief, he just wanted to help the department. And for the next 50 years he did just that. Right up to his retirement from the department in 2007, Chief Anderson had taken a small rural fire department and turned it into a role model for all of the volunteer departments not just in Plumas County, but also throughout the state and country. He was the department’s sixth chief in its first 128 years.
Chief Anderson’s devotion to his department, the firefighters, his community and emergency services, was evident in nearly everything he did in his illustrious career over the next half century. Most notable might be the development and construction of the emergency services training facility at Fire Station 1 on Lawrence Street in Quincy. He and his wife Gayle — whom he married in 1964 — also donated the land behind the station for this training complex on Andy’s Way, the side street appropriately named in his honor in 2006.
His impressive resume also includes merging the Plumas County Fire Chiefs’ Association and the county’s Fire and Emergency Association into one group, which he chaired for 25 years. He established the county’s first Disaster Council and chaired the county’s Multi-Agency Coordination Team and was on the organizing committee to form the Plumas Fire Safe Council. Chief Anderson was also the director of the Office of Emergency Services for more then 30 years. In 1983, the board of supervisors appointed him the County Fire Warden. At the state level, Chief Anderson was appointed to the Senate Select Committee on Volunteerism in Fire Service and was a charter member and past president of the California Rural Firefighters Association.
Alongside his life’s devotion to fire service, his other passions included county fairs, railroading, radio broadcasting and flying his own airplane. For 35 years, he volunteered for various jobs at the fairgrounds including serving as the master of ceremonies at various grandstand events. He stepped in as fair manager for four years, from 1987 to 1991. Because of his fascination for trains, large and small, he was also a member of the board of directors for the Portola Railroad Museum and volunteered his time showing visitors how to actually operate its powerful steam engine on a special short run track. As an accomplished pilot, he sponsored several Mountain Flying Safety seminars at Gansner Airport for area pilots.
Many will also remember him during his airtime as a popular early morning disc jockey on the local radio station. Fire Chief Robbie Cassou first met Anderson 36 years ago. He said besides having a wealth of knowledge about fire services and an icon in fire circles throughout the state, Anderson was genuinely just a great guy and family man. “He had a huge impact on my life as my mentor and my friend. He’s opened a lot of doors for me as he has for some many other people.”
Longtime resident, EMT and paramedic Steve Tolen first met Anderson in 1965 when he came to town as a camp counselor. “I wanted to be a funeral director since I was in the 4th grade,” said Tolen. “So besides getting a chance to learn that trade from a master, he also introduced me to fire and emergency services. Andy raised me like a son. He was a caring and giving man and will certainly be missed both here and throughout the state.” A memorial service was held at the Plumas Sierra County Fairgrounds on Sunday, August 21st.