Department History

The Ophir Hill Fire Protection District formed as a Volunteer Fire Department in 1956. The name is derived from the original fire station location that was at the base of Ophir Hill in the Union Hill area. The Volunteer Fire Department became a Fire Protection District in 1963. The first fire engine the department put in service was a 1940 Dodge purchased for one dollar from the Empire Mine upon its closure in 1956. The district has transitioned over the years from an all-volunteer agency to a combination full time career and paid call agency.

Station 52- 12668 Colfax Highway, Cedar Ridge. The district has one station located in Cedar Ridge and covers 9 square miles in the Cedar Ridge, Union Hill and Rattlesnake Road areas.

Equipment: This station houses one Type 1 engine, one Type 3 engine, one Type 6 engine and one Cal OES water tender.  All apparatus is cross staffed. In addition, the district also owns one Type 2 engine that is currently shared with Peardale-Chicago Park Fire Protection District and housed at their station in Peardale.

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

Ophir Hill has one nonprofit organization called The Ophir Hill Firefighter's Association. They hold the Annual Crab Feed as their one major fundraiser.  Due to the covid pandemic and regulatory restraints on commercial crab fishing in California over the past two years, the event has been postponed. We hope to once again have the crab feed this upcoming January.