Engineer – Fire Station 105A
Deceased:
12/18/2021
Appointed:
06/10/1961
Pensioned:
02/22/1993 – FS105A
Services:
PRIVATE
Donations:
IN LIEU OF FLOWERS, PLEASE SEND DONATIONS TO:
Widows, Orphans & Disabled Firefighter’s Fund
PO BOX 41903
Los Angeles, CA 90041
It was an honor to work with, and get to know Bruce on the A Platoon at Station 105.. His seemingly casual but always enlightening observations of life on- and off-the-job often brought a smile to my face hours after he uttered them, and I can think of no one who seemed a more natural fit for the open cab of a Hall-Scott powered Crown Firecoach. Thank you for your kindness and your service Bruce, please rest in peace.
Bruce, you were the mildest mannered member of the crew, but that didn’t mean you didn’t like to “stir” when the opportunity presented.
Perhaps one of my favorite all-time practical jokes involved you because it was just SO simple… and when we saw you in mid-prank… you had that “TELL-ALL SMIRK” (not one word needed to be uttered)… that gave the rest of us a belly laugh… and still makes me laugh some 40 years later!
Suffice it to say you became the crew’s “hero du-jour” when you DELIBERATELY took the “scenic” route to pick up “FRANK BURNS” (as his crew lovingly called him).
It seems “FRANK” inexplicably, found himself cold, and ALONE (with the help of a little “suggestion” from Brent Hall)… standing on a random street corner.
He looked very much like a big bumble bee in his BRAND NEW turnouts… fading into the night, as I watched Frank disappear in the rear view mirror….. plaintively calling REPEATEDLY for E105 to pick him up… not that I, or ANY of the crew ever heard him calling! You saw the opportunity, took the shot, and made the rest of us see you in a little different light.
You were a gentleman, a kind soul, with a good sense of humor… and you are (and will be) missed.
RIP Bruce
I met Bruce at F.S. 27 and had another opportunity to work with him in Battalion 17. He was the same person I first met years before: Kind, friendly and competent. Rest it Peace my friend.
I worked with Bruce first at FS 27-A in the early 70’s and then twice at FS 105-A in 1979 & again in 1987.. Bruce was always friendly and an Ace of an Engineer. Mind mannered and always treated well both as a fireman and then as his C-1 & C-2. Sorry to learn of his passing.
I enjoyed working with Bruce at 27’s for a while and then for 5 years at 105’s. He was a super Engineer and could be counted upon to do the right thing at incidents. He and I shared many hours of work under the rigs, where I used to accuse him of sleeping while preparing for inspection. God Bless you Bruce.
FS27A was my first house, and where I returned when off probation. Bruce and I were runners then. He invited me to run with him at his home around Malibu lake. He had planned to finish his career at 27’s until a management change arrived. That was when a chief could transfer a member to any place in the battalion. Bruce and I got to leave 27’s and go to FS52. I don’t think Bruce made it, going out to 105’s. Thank you, Bruce, for being a part of a good beginning in the LAFD for me. And along with Dave Bauers and don carter, getting me wet once a shift.