Disasters and the California National Guard : Napa Forest Fires, 23 September-1 October 1913


Disasters and the California National Guard
Napa Forest Fires, 23 September-1 October 1913

In September, 1913, the Board of Supervisors of Napa County and the authorities of the City of Napa wired to the Governor Hiram Johnson asking for help and stating that a great forest fire was raging in the vicinity of the Napa State Hospital for the Insane and was threatening the state's buildings. They also informed the Govenernor that the local authorities ware unable to cope with the situation.

The Governor ordered the Adjutant General, Brigadier General Edwin A. Forbes, to take action and to render every assistance available. The recentrly formed Ambulance Company No.1, National Guard of California, located at Napa, promptly took the field and rendered excellent service. A volunteer corps was pressed into service and directed by the officers of the Ambulance Company. That, with the National Guard, was sufficient to overcome the fire, so that it could be handed by the civil authorities. Ambulance Company No. 1 served two days, September 23 and 24, 1913. The company was called out again to fight fire in the vicinity of Napa, and served September 30 and October 1, 1913.

This history was completed in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in conjunction with the California National Guard and the California State Library.



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