By Brooke Bryant
Contra Costa Times
Copyright 2007 Contra Costa Newspapers
All Rights Reserved
CONTRA COSTA, Calif. — Three decades ago, Lamorinda residents in peril had to wait for an ambulance to make its way from Walnut Creek.
“We were so isolated, they were unable to make runs out here promptly,” said Gordon Nathan, president of the Rescue One Foundation, which raises money to support paramedic services in Moraga and Orinda. “Sometimes there would be delays of 45 minutes to an hour.”
Then there was a bicycling accident that severed an artery in a man’s leg. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was nearly dead.
“They were able to save his life, but he was in very bad shape,” said Linda Borelli, a founding member of Rescue One. “That’s what spurred the community on to at least provide an ambulance for our firefighters.”
The Rescue One Foundation is observing its 30th anniversary this year, and the Moraga-Orinda Fire District its 10th anniversary -- and officials plan to mark the occasion with a joint celebration on Wednesday.
After the bicycle accident, a Moraga service group went door-to-door, asking residents to donate $1 each, and raised enough money to buy a van to convert into an ambulance.
The Rescue One Foundation was formed with seed money from a $1,500 memorial contribution in 1977 from the wife of former Fire District Commissioner Ray Devin.
The group continues to raise money with donations from people grateful for the paramedic services, memorial contributions and other community gifts. They’ve contributed more than $277,000 worth of supplies and equipment for local paramedics, ranging from the latest defibrillators to practice mannequins.
“Actually, we’ve never really had to have a fundraiser because the citizens . . . have been so supportive of the foundation,” Borelli said.
The Moraga-Orinda Fire District was formed in 1997 when the two separate districts, which were originally tied to the Contra Costa fire district, merged and severed ties with the county.
The new fire district’s initial plans were to rebuild the firehouses, replace the older equipment, and put a paramedic “on every piece of equipment that rolled out of the fire house,” said fire district board director Pete Wilson.
“We did have a paramedic on every fire engine,” he said. “We were the first district in Contra Costa County to have that, and we’re very proud of that.”
The district has also formed a cutting-edge trench rescue team, as well as a swift water rescue team, prompted by the difficulties faced in a 2002 incident in which several boats capsized at the Briones Reservoir.
Currently, the district’s goals include increasing staffing at the Orinda station to allow for an ambulance with a dedicated staff, rebuilding the rest of the fire stations, switching from the troubled county pension plan to CalPERS and building a full training center in Moraga so it can stop sending its crews to Pleasant Hill for training.
Faced with the failure of two infrastructure bonds in the past year, the board will try to come up with a plan for increasing water pressure in Orinda’s pipes, many of which currently fall below firefighting standards.
“I don’t know how successful we’re going to be, because it’s really a question of money,” Wilson said.
The anniversary celebration for both the fire district and the Rescue One Foundation will be from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at 1280 Moraga Way, Moraga.
To donate, send a contribution to the Rescue One Foundation, 1280 Moraga Way, Moraga, CA 94556 or 33 Orinda Way, Orinda, CA 94563.