Collection of 1970s Photographs of the Los Angeles Fire Department, Including Early EMS
- Forty-nine photographs measuring 8 x 10 inches with some larger, most with photographers’ stamps verso. Most seem to have been
- Los Angeles, California: LAFD, LA Herald Examiner, and LA Times, 1970
Los Angeles, California: LAFD, LA Herald Examiner, and LA Times, 1970. Forty-nine photographs measuring 8 x 10 inches with some larger, most with photographers’ stamps verso. Most seem to have been previously affixed to a surface and torn off; some tears and residue intersect with subject. Some with water damage. Overall good plus.. A collection of forty-nine photographs of the Los Angeles Fire Department, likely from the 1970s. The photographs were taken by Joe Ortiz, the first Mexican American with an English-language radio talk show; R.L. Oliver, known for his photographs of the Watts Riots; and Ken Papaleo, who would win Pulitzers for his coverage of the Columbine shooting and the 2003 Colorado wildfires.
The photographs are action shots, showing fires and car wreck scenes. Many of the fire shots were taken from afar, though in some the photographer was positioned quite near the firefighters. For instance, several shots show a group of at least four firefighters with a dalmation hosing the exterior of a low industrial building. Though some shots mainly show the fire, in others the firefighting apparatus is visible, helping to date and locate the shots. In one, a Crown firecoach is parked at the bottom of an embankment while firefighters spray down a residential building standing at the top; according to the LA County Fire Museum, the Crown apparatus began to be phased out of the arsenal in 1977 in favor of designs with enclosed cabs. In another, engines 4 and 11 are parked outside of a smoking apartment building, locating the photograph in the downtown LA area.
The car wreck shots are generally taken from much closer to the scene, with graphic depictions of the wreckage and victims. The sole color shot in the collection shows EMTs and firefighters converging on a white car with its hood destroyed; the driver has been placed in a neck brace. In another wreck shot, a man lays on the ground behind his motorcycle as EMTs arrive with an extraction board and gurney. EMS is a surprisingly new innovation, dating only to the 1960s and 1970s; LA’s first paramedic services were created in 1969 with cardiologist Walter S. Graf’s pilot “mobile critical care unit” program.[1] In fact, a new law, the Wedworth-Townsend Paramedic Act, had to be enacted to allow medical care at the scene and in transit, as doing so was legally fraught. The Los Angeles area—though the county, not the city—was at the forefront of the development and popularization of paramedic services, including via the TV series Emergency!, which depicted the work of paramedics with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.[2]
Of interest to historians of firefighting and emergency response, especially the development of emergency medical services.
[1] “Doctor who helped launch modern paramedic system dies at 98,” CBS News, October 30, 2015.
[2] Paul Bergman, “EMERGENCY!: Send a TV Show to Rescue Paramedic Services!”, University of Baltimore Law Review, 36, no. 3 (Spring 2007): 347–369.
The photographs are action shots, showing fires and car wreck scenes. Many of the fire shots were taken from afar, though in some the photographer was positioned quite near the firefighters. For instance, several shots show a group of at least four firefighters with a dalmation hosing the exterior of a low industrial building. Though some shots mainly show the fire, in others the firefighting apparatus is visible, helping to date and locate the shots. In one, a Crown firecoach is parked at the bottom of an embankment while firefighters spray down a residential building standing at the top; according to the LA County Fire Museum, the Crown apparatus began to be phased out of the arsenal in 1977 in favor of designs with enclosed cabs. In another, engines 4 and 11 are parked outside of a smoking apartment building, locating the photograph in the downtown LA area.
The car wreck shots are generally taken from much closer to the scene, with graphic depictions of the wreckage and victims. The sole color shot in the collection shows EMTs and firefighters converging on a white car with its hood destroyed; the driver has been placed in a neck brace. In another wreck shot, a man lays on the ground behind his motorcycle as EMTs arrive with an extraction board and gurney. EMS is a surprisingly new innovation, dating only to the 1960s and 1970s; LA’s first paramedic services were created in 1969 with cardiologist Walter S. Graf’s pilot “mobile critical care unit” program.[1] In fact, a new law, the Wedworth-Townsend Paramedic Act, had to be enacted to allow medical care at the scene and in transit, as doing so was legally fraught. The Los Angeles area—though the county, not the city—was at the forefront of the development and popularization of paramedic services, including via the TV series Emergency!, which depicted the work of paramedics with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.[2]
Of interest to historians of firefighting and emergency response, especially the development of emergency medical services.
[1] “Doctor who helped launch modern paramedic system dies at 98,” CBS News, October 30, 2015.
[2] Paul Bergman, “EMERGENCY!: Send a TV Show to Rescue Paramedic Services!”, University of Baltimore Law Review, 36, no. 3 (Spring 2007): 347–369.