Fire Station’s Beloved Mascot Killed

Co-workers at the Los Angeles City Fire Department idolized him. Top brass curried his favor. Children loved him. For nine years, he was a familiar fixture atop the big red engines speeding off to fight fires in the San Fernando Valley.

But early Thursday the illustrious career of Sparky, a Dalmatian mascot at Fire Station 103 in Northridge, came to an end when he was killed by a hit-and-run driver. He was 10 years old.

Fire Capt. Ken Gustafson found the dog lying in a gutter on Lindley Avenue about a block from the station. He said Sparky had been playing with firefighters just minutes before his fatal accident.

“He was a dog that thought he was people,” Gustafson said. “What was surprising was the rapport he had with all the guys. He considered himself as belonging to everyone, which is unique with an animal.”

But Sparky’s memory will live at Station 103. KTLA, Channel 5, spurred by the sad tale of the dog’s demise, took up a collection and presented the fire station with a Dalmatian puppy from Sparky’s bloodline Thursday evening.

Gustafson said firefighters plan to name the new mascot Sparky Jr. in hopes that some of Sparky’s admirable traits may have rubbed off on his relative. “I think it made a downer of a day into an upper,” he said.

Fire officials recalled that Sparky was a “little ham.” Some years ago, he played a prominent role in Fire Department public safety commercials, which still air on television, officials said.

Sparky and the men of Fire Station 103 first set eyes on each other in 1976, when the dog’s former owner offered to donate the animal to the station because he was moving out of state. The firefighters took a vote and agreed to take on the recruit.

City fire officials believe that Sparky, whose formal name was Spartacus and whose bloodline was certified by the American Kennel Club, was the last remaining mascot in Los Angeles.

Years ago, when fire trucks were pulled by horses, dogs were enlisted to keep the horses company, fire officials said.

For years, black-and-white spotted Dalmatians have been associated with fire stations because the breed has poor hearing and is not affected by the high-pitched whine of fire engines, Vincent Marzo, a department spokesman said.

However, the English wolfhound breed was the dog of choice for firefighters at the turn of the century, Marzo said.

The tradition of having mascots has died out because city officials fear that dogs may bite people and prompt lawsuits, Marzo said.

‘Calming Effect’

Although the dogs no longer are needed to keep horses company, firefighters said they enjoy having a dog around for the same reason.

“He had a calming effect on the men,” firefighter Jim Simos said.

Firefighters said their mascot often beat them to the truck when an alarm sounded. Sparky would leap into the fire engine and settle down in his assigned spot on top of the hoses.

Sparky stayed in the truck, however, while his co-workers put out the fire. He declined night duty and refused to go out in the rain, firefighters said.

In his nine-year career, Sparky went with firefighters on thousands of calls, Marzo said.

“He probably created a few traffic hazards over the years,” Gustafson said. “People looked at him instead of where they were going.”