On the Fourth of July, hours before the first float rolled down Railroad Avenue, the San Geronimo Valley was awake and hungry. By 9 a.m., the line snaking through the Marin County Fire Department’s Woodacre campus was five firetrucks long. At the front, firefighters wielding spatulas flipped pancakes and scrambled eggs.
This breakfast is where the valley’s Independence Day celebration begins. It’s been happening since the ’80s, when then-Fire Chief Ken Massucco decided to reschedule…