Wiley and published in 1927:
"La Vista Grande Hotel was destroyed on May 3, (1916) by a fire of unknown origin which started about midnight. Fire Chief George C. King was handicapped by having but seven hundred and fifty feet of fire hose and a six-year-old, out-of-date, decrepit truck, for fire fighting equipment. This condition brought an appeal from the chief setting forth the defenseless
condition of the department, and asking for more effective apparatus. The agitation started for a new fire truck by Chief King, which received influential support after the burning of the hotel, bore fruit in September, when the city trustees authorized the purchase of a three hundred and fifty-gallon capacity, six-cylinder Seagrave motor-pumping fire engine, combination hose, truck and chemical, at a cost of five thousand dollars. The purchase of this engine marked the beginning of a real fire department for the City of Monrovia , coming thirty years after the founding of the town."
