Firefighters: more than fighting blazes

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Brian Stives
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho (AFPN) --  While many children may have dreamed about being firefighters when they grew up, only a small handful of people actually chased down those dreams.

For the more than 80 people with the 366th Civil Engineer Squadron’s fire protection flight here, being the ones who rush into a burning building is more than just a job, it is a life they have dreamed about.

“I have been in fire protection for 35 years,” said Fire Chief Cliff Lewis. “We are more than just about fighting fires; our job on an Air Force base requires us to be responsible for structures on the base and the aircraft on the flightline.

“Because of that, we have to know about munitions, chemicals, hazardous material associated with the aircraft,” he said. “We are also one of the first responders to alarms, so we need to know about medical procedures, maintenance responses, chemicals and pesticides, safety inspections.”

They are also the sole emergency response organization within 50 miles.

“We help out the local communities when we can,” Chief Lewis said. “We are the only paid fire department between Twin Falls and Boise. We help out with highway responses to car crashes and situations of that nature. We have mutual aid agreements with four off base agencies and (are) working on another.”

“We usually participate in exercises with these organizations every other year,” said Master Sgt. Michael Pratt, the deputy fire chief who has been in the fire protection service for more than 26 years.

Although the flight is authorized 81 firefighters, its ranks have been reduced to about 65 because of deployments.

While at home station, a firefighter works about 144 hours every two weeks, Chief Lewis said. Their shifts are 24 hours on, 24 hours off every other day, with three days off in a row every two weeks.

And they are always open for business.

“The fire station is open 24 hours a day, including weekends and holidays,” Sergeant Pratt said. “We don’t close down for training days or for family days. We are here to protect the base and personnel here at all times.”

The hours can be long and the job sometimes grueling, but firefighters said the thing that keeps them going is the feeling they get from a job well done -- in their case, saving lives.

“You can’t believe the satisfaction the job gives a person,” Chief Lewis said. “Who in their right mind would be running into a situation where everyone else is running away? But the job satisfaction is one of the finest in the world.”

“It kind of gets in your blood,” Sergeant Pratt said. “You have to be a little on the crazy side to run in while others are running away.”

Even if they have not been in the career field for more than 25 years, the younger firefighters already have that adrenaline flowing through their veins.

“My dad’s best friend was a fireman,” said Airman 1st Class John Rinesmith, who has been a fireman for two years. “He would come home with stories all the time, and I wanted to be able to come home with stories of my own someday. That is why I wanted to do this.”

“I’ve just wanted to be a firefighter since I was little,” said Airman Mitch Angelone, who has been out of technical school for one month. Airman Angelone has not responded to his first fire call yet, but when the time comes, he said it will be something he will never forget.

“I remember my first fire call,” Airman Rinesmith said. “It was a kitchen fire and when we pulled up to the house, I was ready to go. I jumped out of the truck and grabbed the biggest hose I could get a hold of and ran inside the house. When I got to the kitchen, the lead firefighter told me to grab the fire extinguisher (because) it wasn’t that big of a fire. He said my eyes were huge, and from that moment on, he could tell I was ready to go.”