Children can now let their fire-fighting imaginations run free at San Ramon’s Fire Truck Park, located at East Ranch Parkway and Arlington Way.

The first of six new parks being built in the Dougherty Valley area, Fire Truck Park officially opened yesterday morning to a 30 foot high ribbon cutting ceremony suspended by the extended ladders of two fire trucks. 400 to 500 people were expected to participate in the dedication ceremony in honor of the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District. Clowns, face-painting and other activities were available to the children, whom the 1.15-acre park was designed for.

Four other neighborhood parks — Arlington and Sherwood parks in the Windemere development, Creekside and Monarch parks in Gale Ranch – won’t officially open until September 22, but the fences surrounding them were removed this past Wednesday, making them available for public use.

San Ramon Sports Park, with the Tiffany Roberts Soccer Field, is the largest park out of all the six being built. Named after the San Ramon native who won a gold medal in the Atlanta Summer Olympics and played on the winning 1999 U.S. Women's World Cup team, it is located two blocks away from Fire Truck Park, also on East Ranch Parkway.

- Joseph Natividad

 (photographs by SRV Fire Captain Doug Kunst)