Old Station 8
A photo of Old Station 8 taken in 2000
Phoenix Fire Department Fire Station 8 was constructed in 1942 and originally opened on July 1, 1942 at 541 West Encanto Boulevard, located on the Southeast corner of 7th Avenue and Encanto. At the time, this station was considered to be on the outskirts of Phoenix, as Thomas Road was the northern boundary.
Staffing Engine 8 that A Shift was Captain Dawson, Driver Gardner and Hoseman Ross. Each shift entered all of its daily activity in their logbook.
“Old Station 8” as it is known today, was built with the idea that the station would blend into the surrounding neighborhood. The property was donated with that stipulation in mind. With a red tile roof and stucco walls, Assistant Chief Hoot Gibson recalls, “If it wasn’t for the big flagpole out front, no one would have known it was a fire station.” The station is a cottage looking house, with green floors and old wooden lockers.
Old Station 8 measures 2,600 square feet, and cost $10,284 to build. The station still has many of its original attributes, including the tile roof, front door, windows and medicine cabinets. The green and red concrete floors are original as well.
Old Station 8 operating in this location until 1976 when it was retired. Old Station 8 sat empty until 1979 when the department safety offices were relocated there. It was about the same time that Station 4 was being relocated to its current home on the corner of 3rd Avenue and McDowell. The crews of Station 4 had grown to love their number 4, yet when the sign announcing the construction of the station was erected, the sign declared that the station was constructed with citizens tax monies, the scheduled completion date, and that the station was to be called Station 8. According to sources, “every time the crews of Station 4 drove by the construction site of their new home, they grimaced.” “That big OCHO just grated at the souls of the Station 4 personnel.” Reports say that in the still of one night, the sign experienced a metamorphosis. It appears that someone blatantly taken white paint and crossed out the number 8. “ With equally broad strokes, the number 4 was splashed on the sign. Nobody in Administration knew anything of it, and the people at Station 4 just shrugged their shoulders.”
“After the Station was completed, a man came out with big brass letters to attach over the bay doors. He had everything up with only the brass 8 in his hand when he stopped and scratched his head in bewilderment. He was reading the sign out front, which declared in plain paint that this was Station 4. He left in a state of confusion. The brass 8 left with him.”
“ The crews moved in. For a week, the station remained numberless. And then the man returned one day and put up a brass 4. The firefighters grinned and sighed in satisfaction. Nobody else understood, but they knew what it was “four.”
Old Station 8 continued to serve as either office or storage space until 2002 when Fire Fighter Ron Burris, the departments Retiree Services director began his mission to refurbish the old station as a meeting place or museum. After many months of hard work and research, the station has been restored to its original 1942 state including many original pieces such as a 1940’s era stove and refrigerator.
Old Station 8 is open Monday through Friday from 8am to 4pm for tours and visitors to stop by and remember the past history that began on that corner over 60 years ago.
For more information, please contact Don Mills, the Department Historian at (602) 534-2040 or by email at don.f.mills@phoenix.gov
Many thanks to Don for the information and research he provided to complete this story.
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