A new city dispatch center was dedicated Thursday as the “John W. Callahan Memorial Emergency Community Center” in honor of the San Luis Obispo fire chief who died Aug. 18.
A memorial service for Callahan is expected to draw a large crowd to the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly this morning.
Callahan, 61, spent the past five years as the chief of the San Luis Obispo Fire Department and 32 years with the Los Angeles Fire Department, where he worked his way up the organization, leaving as a deputy chief.
The San Luis Obispo City Council during a special meeting Thursday voted 4-0 to dedicate the dispatch center, which is next to Fire Station 1 at Broad and South streets. Councilman Allen Settle was absent.
The council also voted to declare today’s memorial services for Callahan a city event and cover the costs associated with having public safety staff at the service.
A trust fund has also been established for Callahan’s family. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in the name of “Callahan Family Trust Fund” at any Mission Community Bank branch.
City officials announced the dedication of the dispatch center during a candlelight vigil held Thursday night.
Starting this morning at 8, a procession of the hearse and two fire engines, one from San Luis Obispo and the other from the Los Angeles City Fire Department, will travel from Reis Family Mortuary to Grand Avenue.
There, the chief’s casket will be transferred to a horse-drawn 1906 Seagrave Chemical Wagon used by San Luis Obispo city firefighters in the early 1900s.
The procession will continue up Grand Avenue to the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly, where the memorial will be held from 10 a.m. to noon, followed by a reception at the Madonna Expo Center, from noon to 4 p.m., at 100 Madonna Road.
The service will be broadcast live on KSBY Channel 4 from 10 a.m. to noon.
The city’s share of the costs associated with the service is not yet known; City Manager Katie Lichtig estimated the hard costs associated with the use of the Performing Arts Center to be less than $5,000.
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
Be the first to know what's going on in San Luis Obispo County. Just tell us how you want to find out — we'll take care of the rest.
Sign up for breaking news alerts from SanLuisObispo.com and get the latest news sent to your cell phone via text message.
By signing up for alerts from this site, you are signing up for a program that may include up to 5 SMS text alert(s) per alert category per day. There is no service fee charged per month but your carrier's standard text messaging and other charges may apply. You may stop this subscription service at any time by sending the text message "STOP" to 72737. You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to use our alert services. If you are between 13 and 17 years old, you agree that you have received parental permission both to complete the registration process and to receive SMS content on your cell phone. For help, send the text message "HELP" to 72737. This service will work with ATT, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, Alltell, US Cellular, Cincinnati Bell, Boost, Virgin Mobile USA, Celluar South, Telos, Centennial, East Kentucky Network, Cellcom, Immix and Rural Celluar.
E-mail »
Twitter »
Facebook »
iTribune »
Subscribe »
RSS »
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.