Rogers Ranch Fire Medical Fatality 1948

Samuel Mazza, chief of the Marin County Fire Department in California, passed away from a heart attack while managing suppression of a grass fire in the county on September 2, 1948. Mazza had responded along with five fire engines to a structure fire on the night of September 1. The house fire trapped a resident inside on the second floor and rescue proved impossible. Mazza worked the fire until early in the morning then returned home to sleep a few hours before returning to work to handle administrative work regarding the fatal house fire. It was during this time that a fire call came for a grass and brush fire on the Rogers Ranch in Nicasio. Fellow firefighters observed that Mazza was not feeling well, but nevertheless he worked at the command post of the wildland fire. While driving food up to the firefighters, Mazza suffered a heart attack. Efforts to resuscitate him failed, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 61. The fire went on to burn approximately 100 acres.