Junior Firefighter Audrey

After watching "Elmo Visits the Firehouse" about 500 times, we decided to visit one ourselves. The trip started ingloriously by getting lost. Luckily I have a GPS (AKA my husband), who got us back on track. The firehouse looked deserted, and we were just about to leave, when the garage door opened, and a firetruck drove right up to us! The firefighter was very kind, and answered my myriad of questions. The following is a summary of an exclusive interview with Firefighter Damien by Cub Reporter Gathright

Me: What do you have to do to become a firefighter?

Damien: All firefighters start by getting their EMT training, which takes 3 months. Some get their EMT-P (paramedic) training, which takes a year. Then you go through a 3 month firefighter academy where you learn all about the equipment and skills you need for the job

Me: How many firefighters ride in a firetruck?

Damien: Four. The two guys in the front are the captain and driver. The two guys in back are firefighters. Firefighter is the first level. The next promotional level is "driver." That takes special training to learn to operate all the hoses and requires alot of math and physics to coordinate water pressure flow. The next level is "Captain." That takes a minimum of 8 years. The captain directs the rest of us, and will jump in and help if necessary. The highest level is "Fire Chief. " He drives in a different truck, that is equipped with a portable office, where he can look at maps, and coordinate the efforts of all of the firefighters in the area.

Me: How do you deal with the heat?

Damien: Part of our job is to monitor ourselves and the other firefighters,to make sure we don't get too exhausted or overheated. Fighting a fire takes as much energy as sprinting, because you're wearing heavy equipment and working hard. We all get to that point where our knees are about to buckle, but no one wants to be a wimp and quit. After the main fire is out, our captain will tell us to take off our suits and lay down on the grass for five minutes to cool off. Then, we go back to work doing clean up: inspecting the rest of the house to look for joists and beams that are still smoldering, often hidden in the walls and ceiling.

Me: What's your works schedule like?

Damien: We work four "go arounds" which are 24-hour shifts from 8:00am one day until 8:00am the next. We have 24 hours off in between each shift, and then we have four days in a row off. During our work day, when we're not out on a call, we shop for and cook our meals, clean and maintain our equipment, and exercise. After 5:00pm we can relax and hang out in between calls.

Me: Do you ever get to sleep through the night?

Damien: Maybe once a month. We usually get two calls a night. Alot of the emergency calls only take about 1/2 hour, but if it's an actual fire, we're up for 3 hours at a time and that's tiring.

Me: What did you do during the big fires last October?

Damien: The freeways were packed, so my captain told me to drive down the dirt-packed median to get to the firehouse. When I arrived, all the firetrucks were already gone, so they found us an old one to take up to Rancho Bernardo. We fought fires there for two straight days, sleeping in two hours shifts on the patio furniture in somebody's backyard. We put out fires on homes, and when if looked as if the home couldn't be saved, we'd move on to protect the neighboring homes. There was so much wind, that wood from the canyon would fly on to roofs a couple of miles away, but it would randomly burn houses, on a given street some of the houses would burn, and others would be fine.

I learned lots of other interesting firefighter trivia, but if you've made it through this much, you've probably already learned more than you ever wanted to know about firefighters.

Audrey was so shy, she'd hardly look at the firefighter, let alone talk to him. But the next day, she said, "That was so fun!! Can we visit the firehouse every Saturday?'