The Board of Directors of the Southern California Association of Foresters and Fire Wardens is committed to the preservation of the Association’s history. Following the publication of “The First Fifty Years,” authored by the late Richard G. Hannum, California Department of Forestry, the Association has strived to keep his work up to date and to include additional information.

Since the initial meeting of the Association in 1929, followed by the first conference in 1930, dedicated men and women of the fire fighting agencies of Southern California have supported the organization and have served as officers, directors and members. Through the past eighty-five years, the commitment has remained the same: to provide informative and educational programs at the annual conferences.

The “First Fifty Years” was printed in 1980 and I have had the pleasure of revising it in 1990, 2000, 2005, 2010, and now 2015. Maybe this will be the last time I work on the book, as someone else eventually will take over and continue to record our history. However, I have enjoyed working on this publication for the last twenty-five years and I hope you enjoy the long and sometimes humorous history of the Association and the photographs we have included in this edition of our history book.

Paul H. Rippens – Life Member & Past President Los Angeles County Fire Department – retired