During the years of 1962 and 1963, several homes in the Comptche area burned to the ground.  With these tragic events in mind, in April of 1964, a group of Comptche citizens began to organize a fire department.

The first fire engine was a 1956 surplus tank truck, which we purchased in November of 1964 for one dollar from the State of California.  Our second engine was acquired in 1969.  These two engines, along with an old equipment truck, were  the fire fighting force for many years.

In 1972, Charlie Mantyla and his father, Matt, donated a parcel of property to the Comptche Volunteer Fire Department (CVFD).  With strong support from businesses and citizens, a new fire house was completed in 1996.  Finally, after 12 years of storing equipment in old hay barns, the community now had its own fire station.

In 1989 the Comptche Community Services District (CCSD) was formed.  This allowed us to receive tax revenues from the county general fund and to establish our local property tax benefit assessment.  The money we receive is a steady, but limited source of income, covering only the basic operating expenses of the department.  Additional fundraising efforts, such as our annual Father's Day Chicken Dinner and our Comptche cookbook sales, help us to buy much needed equipment and keep our volunteers up to date on the latest fire fighting techniques.

In June of 1995, we completed the new fire house addition.  We doubled the size of the fire engine bay, and added a training room.

Currently, our department has fifteen active members, five of whom are women.  Our meetings, every Tuesday night, offer trainings including structure and wildland fire fighting, medical, rescue, and fire engine operation.  Every firefighter averages over two hundred hours of training, maintenance and fundraising during each year.  Many members have received state certified Firefighter One, and Fire Officer credentials.  We respond to about thirty emergency calls per year, most of which are medically related.

In the early days of the department, the Comptche Fire "Ladies" Auxiliary helped out in fundraising projects and provided logistical support during an emergency.  Many of the auxiliary members were wives of firefighters.  The women trained along side the men with the fire equipment, and since many of the men on the department worked out of the area during the day, the women filled in when the department was short-handed.

Today the tradition continues.  The Comptche Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary (CVFDA) includes men and women of all ages.  These volunteers continue to help the many community members, past and present, who have contributed to the formation of the fire department, serving on the CVFD, the CCSD, and the CVFDA.

Thanks for visiting our web page.

Chief Larry Tunzi.