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Show 11 THE GREEN SHEET Thursday, Oct. 27, 1988 FEATURES Firefighting: More Than Big Red Trucks by Lorelei Chernyshov Green Sheet Staff Writer frustrations that develop and fester due to a firefighters WEST VALLEY. When you drive by a fire station and see a experiences. "Before it was a macho status," said Dumas. "If you couldnt truck glistening bright shiny-rein the sun, and an American flag waving in the breeze, you point out the impressive sight to your kids and inevitably one of your kids says he wants to be a fireman when he grows up so he can wear a uniform with a firemans hat and drive a big red truck. You wonder if those firemen inside the station also had dreamed of becoming firemen when they were kids and now living their dream are just sitting around waiting to slide down the pole when an emergency call is d received. "Some people think were sitting around playing checkers waiting for a call to come in," says West Valley Capt. Fred Dumas who has been fighting fires and educating the public on fire hazards for 11 years. A firemans day is busy managing response to emergency calls plus maintaining a routine schedule. Shift change is 7:30 a.m. where the firemen report to the next shift the happenings during the night. The trucks are checked every morning to make sure the pumps are working, masks are clean and the e equipment is in ready-to-us- condition. The hours add up inspecting commercial businesses for fire hazards, visiting schools, teaching children the danger of fire, station tours and conducting fire hydrants. The checking firemen are also responsible for doing daily assigned chores. restrooms and the Cleaning refrigerator and deciding who cooks the next meal are listed daily. "Some guys love to cook," said Dumas. "We get some of the best meals and some of the worst." Two meals are eaten at the station, but sometimes the firemen eat out if they are too busy between calls to prepare a meal. If they are not out on a call then they are back at the station by 5 p.m., when they begin to relax and watch some television and they may go to bed after 8 p.m. "Our busiest time is in the evening hours," said Fire Chief Gerald W. Maughan. The fire crews work on a 24 hours on and 24 hours off schedule with a four day break after five days. "They work 216 hours in a 28 day period. Most people handle the stress you werent tough enough." A physical fitness program with quarterly testing on running distances and various calisthenics plus a body fat calibration reduce stress and keep the firemen healthy. But the fire department needs more men. "We could use six or seven more men to make crews," said Maughan. West Valley City has three fire stations. Two are equipped with four men per shift and one with three. Four men are needed to adequately contain a structure .fire. Two are sent in on a line carrying the preconnecter hose charged with tank water and the third man carries the nozzle and the fourth man stays with the truck. If the fire is bigger, another fireman is needed at the hydrant. With only three men to carry out the duties the job is not efficiently performed. 'We have the same or less firefighters on duty when the population was 60,000 as we do now with a population of 97,000," said Dumas. Four fire trucks are utilized but three are old and usually one is being repaired, said Maughan. "We need a new fire truck every two years. Three are over eight years old now," said Maughan. 'We want to have anything we four-ma- n can get our hands on, but wo have to do with what weve got." However, people can prevent fires in their homes by educating their children in the careful use of fire. Most fires started in the children are home because playing with matches or lighters. The lighters are played with as toys and parents should not leave them around for children to pick up, according to Dumas. "Finding a child in a burning building is a firemans worst nightmare," said Dumas. A fire had started in a fourplex when a couple boys were playing with matches. Their little sister was scared and hid in the closet while the boys ran outside. The little girl didnt survive. "Every firefighter involved in that rescue had a daughter the same age," said Dumas. Maughan said he lost a nephew to a fire five years ago when he remained in the house rather than running outside for help. The smoke kills people most of the time, not the flames, explain firemen. "When you have a fire get out and call for help from the warned house," neighbors Maughan. The firemen are also EMT (emergency medical technicians) and they respond to all medical emergencies. The firemen and the police arrive at the scene first then the injured people are taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Maughan said 75 percent of the calls are medical emergencies and he is currently working on placing Ik a defibrillator machine at each fire station so they can hook up the machine to possible heart attack victims which will provide them with a computer readout of vital signs, then they will be able to give the patient a shock to stimulate the heart again. Now the patient must wait until reaching the hospital before receiving a shock and sometimes its too late, explains Maughan. He said the fire department is considering an ambulance service of its own rather than relying on the private services currently ' operating. Maughan feels the fire department could provide better service. "Im always looking for new and better ways to serve our public. The public can help itself by putting out cigarettes. People are still forgetting to put out their cigarettes, which begin to smolder and result in fire, said Maughan. More difficult to detect is fire started by arson. A financial background, insurance check and the cause of the fire are reviewed and then a charge is made and the case goes to trial. The firefighters role in the They community is only wash and wax their trucks when they can and waiting for fires is only a single duty required of the firemen. Low pay and a dangerous environment - is this enough to keep the firemen driving the big red trucks? "Were a different breed," said Dumas. "Something inside our head and our heart. I cant put my finger on it." multi-facete- d. STUDYING ... West Valley Firefighters learn the differences between various types of natural gas meters at a Mountain workshop. Keeping track of whatever information could help them fight fires is one of the things firemen do when they're not actually out on the front lines. Mm sM work 160 hours in a period." West Valley firemen havent received a raise in pay for three years and sometimes the long hours and at times the understaffed working conditions gnaw away at morale, said 28-da- y Dumas. "Youre here for 24 hours and your family is at home, said Dumas. "I have an infant son who turned blue and started choking, so my wife had to call the local fire department. I couldnt go home." Personal pride and dedication keeps the firemen working, said Dumas. The job is challenging and you can see your end results whether positive or not so positive. Dumas remembers one of his most harrowing experiences. He was crawling in a hot smokey duplex where the atmosphere could enable a fire to light up at an any moment. Supposedly also an elderly gentleman, invalid, was trapped inside. "You could feel the heat on your neck even though you were crawling around with your nose in the carpet," said Dumas. "We took the chance." "I couldnt see my hand in front of my face," he said. "I felt something soft. It turned out to be a dog. We got back out and allowed the heat to ventilate out." Besides the dangerous environment firemen must content with, they are frustrated with external forces when trying to reach the fire or a medical emergency. Traffic is a frustrator. "People are out in front of us in an intersection. Youve got a house fire where kids may be trapped and people see the smoke. The traffic is people going out to check out the smoke. "People need to yield to the right and stop," said Dumas. Drunk drivers cause accidents and frustrate firemen when they arrive at a car accident scene and see someone pinned down in one car and they walk over to the other car and smell alcohol on the driver. The injury or fatality could have been prevented if the drunk had not been driving. "Its hard to hold back emotions, said Dumas. 'We have to let it out at the station." Firemen here have an outlet to reduce stress through a program called critical incidence stress debriefing. They are encouragec to discuss their fears anc We admit, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings do a good job reading the news. But to convince us that theyre your best source for information theyd have to do some fast talking...real fast. In their 23 odd minutes on the air they deliver less than one-ha- lf page of the news youll find in this newspaper, if that much. In their nightly shows, theyd be hard pressed to cover all the events that make this newspaper so unique. Picture Dan pushed to the limit to broadcast wedding announcements, birth announcements, anniversaries and obituaries. Imagine Tom brought to his knees by the challenge of covering every kid who wins a contest. Or fancy Peter gasping over columns of box scores or struggling with letters DEPEND ON to the editor. US FOR YOUR And then there are LOCAL NEWS the classifieds. 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