By Ruth Heide
Courtesy of Valley Courier
January 5, 2004
ALAMOSA, CO — Whether responding to a house fire in the middle of the night, or a historical structure on Main Street, firefighters never quit.
“Our guys keep stepping up and stepping up,” said Alamosa Fire Chief Don Clayton after his department tackled its third structure fire in three days. The department responded to a house fire followed shortly after by a garage fire Sunday night and into the early morning hours on Monday. On Tuesday, they faced the Rialto Theater fire in downtown Alamosa.
“Always ready” “Our department wouldn’t be anything without the dedication of the firefighters” Clayton said. “That’s where all the credit’s got to go. They are an excellent group. We’ve got one of the best groups of guys I have worked with in the fire department on our department right now. They are awesome.”
Assistant Fire Chief Don Chapman added, “We’ve got an excellent crew right now and very dedicated people on the department. It showed this week.”
Being a firefighter, especially on a volunteer force, requires commitment and sacrifice, fire officers said. Firefighters not only spend hours at fire scenes, but they also spend hours cleaning up after fires, filling out paperwork, educating school children and training in a variety of procedures from vehicle extrication to hazardous materials handling.
Many firefighters acquire advanced medical training such as Emergency Medical Technician. Often they will spend their vacations at training sessions.
“It’s very time consuming,” Chapman said. “It tests the sense of humor once in awhile.”
Chapman said the structure fires Sunday night and into Monday morning were particularly frustrating because as hard as the firefighters worked, they could not save the buildings. “You feel so helpless.” Clayton said some of the stress was making sure the firefighters were safe, his first priority. “I have had the philosophy I would rather burn down half of this town than lose a firefighter.”
After all they have done this week already, firefighters will spend their Saturday at the fire station washing down the trucks so they will be in top shape to fight the next fire. “We are ready,” said Fire Captain Ron Atencio. “We will always be ready. You will never hear the fire department say we are not ready. We are always ready.”
“Total family commitment” Atencio said “People don’t realize the sacrifice. It does take a lot to be on the fire department. Volunteering you have to make a full sacrifice, and so does your family, the wife, your kids, everything … A lot of firemen would not be able to do it without the spouse, the family support. It takes a strong foundation like that to keep the guys going.”
One time, for example, Atencio was at the scene of a fire for two days and had forgotten to take some medication. His son brought it to him.
Alamosa Fire Captain Tony Bobicki said his wife Debbie was up trying to find coffee for the firefighters about 3 a.m. Monday, when the firefighters got their second fire call of the night. “Family is definitely involved, no matter what you do. My wife is the number one person in my life, that’s for sure.” Chapman said “It definitely adds some stress to the family side of things, because they feel like they have been cheated out of some time.”
“It does take its toll on families,” Clayton said. “The wives and families are as much a part of the fire department as the guys themselves. It’s kind of a total family commitment in some cases.”
Clayton added, “Employers who let their guys be gone to fight fires have made a commitment to the community too.” As a business owner, he knows the stress he puts on his business when he is gone, and he thanked employers for “basically providing a community service also.”
Chapman, who estimated he had spent more than 40 hours this week alone on fires, said “You try to squeeze some work in between times. Of course you are not fully rested so that has an effect on your work.”
Atencio added, “If it wasn’t for the employers, the wives and the families, there would be no volunteer fire departments.”
Atencio said one fireman’s employer did not let him off work to go fight the Rialto Theater fire. “It was actually against the law to stop him from going to a fire,” Atencio said.
“Tremendous outpouring” “We appreciate the community outreach, concern,” Bobicki said. “We didn’t ask. Everything was there … Red Cross, McDonalds … It’s a community, and we have got to stay strong together.”
Clayton said downtown businesses were supportive, from St. Ives which provided condiments for the firefighters’ sandwiches to Wall, Smith & Bateman which offered its bathrooms for the firefighters.
“There were even people downtown bringing Tums and Rolaids for the firefighters,” he said. “It was a tremendous outpouring of community support. We had pretty much everything we needed. Anything anybody asked for, somebody found a way to get it. “
Firefighters from other departments also supported the Alamosa firefighters this week. Without hesitation, firefighters poured in from the Monte Vista, Mosca-Hooper and La Jara departments. Bobicki said “They just asked what they needed to do, and we told them, and away they went and did their part.”
Even retired firefighters like former Chief Jack Johnson and Mike Rogers came out to give the firefighters assistance this week. “Once a fireman, always a fireman,” Atencio said.
“All in a day’s work” Although firefighters enjoy an adrenaline rush when putting down a blaze, almost invariably when asked why they stay with it, they will answer it’s because they want to help their communities.
“The community needs the help,” said John Staggs who has been fighting fires in Alamosa for more than eight years and remained at the Rialto Theater fire until 2:30 a.m. Wednesday. “It’s all in a day’s work. That’s what I am here for, to give back to the community.”
“I guess firefighters are a different breed, like a lot of other public servants,” said Clayton who has 23 years on the force. “It’s part a genuine concern for the community and community service. Firefighters really care about people and care about doing a good job and a very professional job.” The second part of it, he said, is the “adrenaline rush. There’s a certain amount of excitement involved in fighting a fire like that.”
Bobicki, who was among the firefighters who was at the Rialto fire for 15 hours straight, said “It’s something that gets into your blood.” He added, “When I started it was an honor to be on the department. It still is today.”
Chapman, who has served more than 20 years on the department, said there’s some truth to the saying that firefighters are “all a bunch of adrenaline junkies,” but it’s more than that. “It’s the dedication and the commitment you make to the department and the community and residents around here.”
“You have to make a commitment,” Atencio concluded. “I think all of us want to make a difference. That’s all it is … The ones that are on right now I guess it’s in their heart basically and it doesn't matter when the pager goes off, you can count on those people to be there.”
