Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Coalinga, CA

Coalinga is a city in the Pleasant Valley of western Fresno County, on the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley about 52 miles southwest of Fresno, at an elevation of about 673 feet.

Coalinga began as the Southern Pacific Railroad's 'Coaling Station A,' established in 1888 to supply coal to steam locomotives, and its name is a blend of 'Coaling' and Station 'A.'

The community had been occupied since about 1887 because of coal mining and the railroad, and in 1891 the Southern Pacific bought 160 acres of the M.L. Curtis homestead to lay out the present townsite.

Coalinga was incorporated in 1906, and by 1910 it had become the third largest shipping point for the railroad in California, with nearly all of its tonnage tied to oil production.

In September 1909 the Silver Tip well blew in as the greatest gusher known in California at that time, and by April 1910 the Coalinga oil field was reported to be the largest in California.

The Coalinga Oil Field is still worked today by Chevron and Aera Energy, and the city's main industries are agriculture, oil, education and corrections.

Coalinga honors R.C. Baker, founder of Baker Oil Tools — his original buildings are now the R.C. Baker Memorial Museum.

On May 2, 1983, a powerful earthquake leveled a significant portion of Coalinga's business district.

Pleasant Valley State Prison opened just outside Coalinga in November 1994, and Coalinga College, the local community college, traces its founding to 1932.

Coalinga State Hospital opened on September 5, 2005, as California's first new state hospital in more than 50 years, a roughly 1,500-bed facility built next to the prison.