Pleasant Hill Goshen Fire Department celebrates fire station move with final siren
The newly formed Pleasant Hill Goshen Rural Fire Protection District is temporarily closing its fire station in Pleasant Hill on Highway 58 as it prepares to demolish the building and replace it with a new one.
Groundbreaking for construction on the site is scheduled for September. To honor the legacy and future of the former station, district leaders plan to sound the historic siren one last time at 1 p.m. on Friday.
In November 2023, voters approved the dissolution of the existing Pleasant Hill and Goshen fire districts and voted to form a new, single combined fire district. Upon its formation on December 5, 2023, fire district leaders set two goals: hiring three full-time firefighters and providing funding to replace the station.
“With the community approving these requests, we are now finally at the point where we are ready to officially close the Pleasant Hill Fire Station and begin the process of demolition and replacement construction,” the fire district said in a press release.
Friday’s celebration marks the end of an era for the residents of Pleasant Hill.
The large motor-driven siren is a piece of history in the community and is located atop the station’s hose tower, according to the fire district. It makes a sound similar to an “air raid siren” and was used to alert the community and volunteers to an emergency that required fire department response.
The siren was activated by a manual push button or a signal from a pick, and often ran for several cycles during each emergency. It has now been almost two decades since the siren was used regularly.
The fire district said that advances in technology have made the siren obsolete as a primary means of alerting firefighters. Today, most of the station’s volunteers are notified of emergencies via pagers and cell phones.
After Friday’s demonstration at Pleasant Hill Station, the siren will be removed for restoration for the future fire station project.
“The closure of the fire station is an incredible step forward for the fire district and the community as we slowly move toward a future new facility that will serve all of our residents,” the fire district said. “We want to make the community aware that the siren is sounding and that there is no emergency to be concerned about.”
The Pleasant Hill siren lasts less than a minute and can be heard throughout the community.
Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. Reach her at [email protected].
