Why are county fire fighters, truck at Garces football game?
| Friday, Oct 22 2010 01:55 PM
Last Updated Friday, Oct 22 2010 01:55 PM
Q: At the Garces football game versus San Joaquin Memorial on Friday, I saw a county fire truck and three firemen. The truck was parked on the track and there was a very large flag hanging from the ladder and there appeared to be some kind of wire attached from the flag to the ground.
I would like to know the purpose of having the county fire truck at the game, who pays for the county fire truck and employees to be present at the game, and if there were a fire to break out, how long would it take for the truck to be operational?
I also saw the city of Bakersfield police car and Hall Ambulance, but I understand why the police and ambulance would be needed. I thought it was odd that there would be a county fire truck and a city police car. Who has jurisdiction, the county or the city?
-- Pauline Jenkins
A: Sean Collins, spokesman for the Kern County Fire Department, responded:
Whenever possible, the Kern County Fire Department tries to accommodate all requests for the display of a flag presentation. Most often this is accomplished with the use of an out-of-service piece of equipment staffed by volunteers.
Within the mission statement of the Kern County Fire Department, as well as saving life, public education has a high priority. Publicly attended events help to raise public safety awareness and using a fire department truck with the nation's flag helps to draw public attention.
On the day in question, a request was received to display our flag for a local Army Reserve Unit fundraiser to support troops stationed overseas. An on-duty crew was used at this event due to the nature of the request. The firefighters are available to respond to any emergency in the county and are able to do so very quickly. This event, although a county area, is initially covered by the Bakersfield Fire Department, but it was unable to assist with a flag presentation. Kern County Fire Department on this occasion was able to fulfill the community request.
