Rural fire stations can go weeks without a call
| Saturday, Aug 22 2009 12:00 PM
Last Updated Monday, Aug 24 2009 12:14 PM
KERN COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT
Busiest stations:
1. Station #41 Virginia Colony in East Bakersfield -- 2,983 calls
2. #64 Riverview in Oildale -- 2,886
3. #42 Niles in East Bakersfield-- 2,565
4. #65 Greenacres in Northwest Bakersfield
5. #63 Highland in Oildale-- 1,633
LEAST BUSY STATIONS:
1. Station #35 in Woody -- 26 calls
2. #62 Meadows Field near the Bakersfield Airport -- 47
3. #36 Glennville -- 59
4. #44 Fellows -- 72
5. #24 McKittrick -- 82
BAKERSFIELD FIRE DEPARTMENT
Busiest station:
Station #5, 106 East White Lane -- ~5,000 calls
Least busy station:
Station #10 at 12100 Alfred Harrell Highway -- ~1,000
Images
Casey Christie / The Californian A few vehicles pass by Kern County Fire Station #35 in Woody, northeast of Bakersfield.
Casey Christie / The Californian Kern County Fire Department engineer, Larry Shearer, gets ready for another day at station #35, in Woody, northeast of Bakersfield about 30 miles.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian Captain Quincy Sloan talks with his crew during a training session about fire scenarios Thursday afternoon at Bakersfield Fire Department's Station 5 which is located on East White Lane just east of Union. Station 5 the busiest station in the city.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian Firefighter Nate Hamonds and Captain Quincy Sloan make small talk with a few people as they inspect the fire safety condition of a local market on Cottonwood Dr. Thursday afternoon. Both men are part of the B shift crew at Bakersfield Fire Department's Station 5 which is located on East White Lane just east of Union. Station 5 the busiest station in the city.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian Nate Hamonds, left, and Captain Quincy Sloan, center, climb back into their fire engine Thursday afternoon after stopping to check on a abandoned building where they recently put out a fire. Both men are part of the B shift crew at Bakersfield Fire Department's Station 5 which is located on East White Lane just east of Union. Station 5 the busiest station in the city.
Television has taught us that firefighters are constantly on the move, always having a fire to fight.
Turns out that's not always the case.
In Kern County the difference in the number of calls received at city and rural stations is staggering.
For example, the county fire department's slowest fire station, located in Woody. only received 26 calls last year. That breaks down to an average of one call every two weeks.
The county's busiest station, Virginia Colony in East Bakersfield, had 2,983 calls, or an average of 57 calls each week.
But that barely compares with Bakersfield Fire Department's busiest station, at 106 East White Lane. That station received about 5,000 calls last year, according to city Batallion Chief Garth Milam.
That's about 14 calls every day.
Captains from across the county shared their experiences about working at either a slow or busy station.
A SLOWER PACE
Life moves a little slower in rural areas. That's why some people head there: to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
Consequentially, things move slower at the areas' fire stations as well.
It's quite a change of pace for Woody Capt. Kent Foster, who used to work at the busier Riverview station in Oildale. But it's a pace he prefers.
"If you're just getting into fire service, that's what you want to do, you want to go all the time," Foster said. "If you've done it all ... you want to slow down a bit."
Even though they don't get many calls, Foster insists that his crew manages to stay busy.
They spend a lot of time just driving around the area, familiarizing themselves with where water can be found and where there are strong chances of wildlife fires.
Woody's crew also spends a lot of time getting to know the community's residents. Foster said the firefighters know everyone by name, and the station has a map listing who lives where.
And just like at city stations, they spend a lot of time training in medical aid. The only difference, Foster said, is that they actually get to use their training in the field.
"In town, you may run 30 medical aid calls and never do CPR," Foster said. explaining that an ambulance would be on hand to assist. "But here, you may do CPR for an hour," while waiting for medical assistance.
The difference in call volume isn't only a matter of population, Foster said. City folk make more "frivolous" calls, as Foster described them. These are the calls that don't classify as an emergency, such as someone calling because they're locked out or have a headache.
In the rural, mountain areas where most of the slower stations are located, "Most of our calls are legitimate," Foster said. "They don't call unless they need you."
Bakersfield's slowest station, Station #10 at 12100 Alfred Harrell Highway, received about 1,000 calls last year, about 40 times more than Woody.
The daily routines between the stations are similar, filling the day with training and working out. Station #10 spends more time on water rescue training as it's located close to Hart Park, said Capt. Ron Darrow. They also get busier during the summer, when more people are at the park and nearby soccer fields.
But just filling the day with training doesn't make up for the thrilling activity that is found at busy stations.
"It's a little tough at times," Darrow said. "I really want the call volume, but it's not there."
GO GO GO
With more people comes more activity.
While firefighters at rural stations can go weeks without being sent on a call, city fire stations are sometimes called multiple times an hour. And some of the things they see during those calls would probably never been seen in a rural area.
For example, during one 24-hour-cycle, firefighters at city station #5 encountered a 40-year-old man beaten by his nephew, a three-year-old who choked to death and someone who was stabbed in the eye.
Such is day-to-day life at Bakersfield's busiest fire station, according to station #5 Capt. Quincy Sloan.
"As a captain, you see the response of your firefighters," he said. "You see it on their faces. It takes a toll.
"Most people don't understand. They say 'You guys have a lot of days off,' they make it seem appealing. But if they saw the things we see, their tune would change."
Sloan said from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., most of the time, his crew follows a regular routine, such as shuffling equipment, doing training, working out and taking a few calls in between. But things don't really start to pick up until after 5 p.m., when people are just getting home for the night.
Sloan added that he sees busier fire stations as involving more "social work" then a slower stations. He said his station often gets calls that should be directed elsewhere, such as helping someone through an anxiety attack, or someone who just needed help getting their door open.
But that's just how it goes at a busy station. And that suits some people.
At Kern County's Virginia Colony station, "things move right along and you stay busy," said Capt. Greg Black. "At slower stations, you have so much more time and the day seems to drag on."
