Friday, Jan. 02, 2009

New Year's is just another day for firefighters

While others were reaching for hangover remedies or getting situated on the couch for a day of college football bowl games Thursday, it was business as usual for some members of the Modesto Fire Department.

These firefighters spent their New Year's Day responding to medical calls, training for emergencies and running into burning buildings.

But they're not complaining. It's just part of the job, the firefighters said, and fires don't take a holiday.

"It's just another day for us," said Modesto Fire Capt. Mike Shockey. "It's our turn (to work on a holiday)."

Shockey, along with engineers James Woodmansee and Robyn Berwick, started their 24-hour shift at 7 a.m. at Fire Station 1 in downtown Modesto.

In between calls, the men were bundling high-rise hoses in a way that allows firefighters to carry them up a tall building more efficiently. The larger hoses have greater water capacity, Shockey said, so hauling them up a stairwell as quickly as possible is crucial.

He said all the firefighters in the department are required to spend about two hours of their down time on standardized training each day.

"It's the little things that are so important," Shockey said.

"Especially when you have people screaming and it's in the middle of the night."

Even when they respond to false alarm calls, firefighters take some time to familiarize themselves with the layout of the building or home. In their heads, the firefighters map out how they would attack a fire at the structure.

"It's part of our prefire planning," Shockey said. "What if we really had something here? What would we do?"

The department gets about 25,000 emergency calls each year, fire officials said. Even though the calls come steadily throughout the year, the types of calls change with the seasons.

Calls for grass or garland

In the summer, it's grass fires. In the winter, more fires are started by misused electrical appliances and holiday decorations, the firefighters said.

Some of the fire starters this winter included too many extension cords connected to each other and barbecue grills used indoors because it was too cold to cook outside.

Some fire hazards seen this year have the potential to become silent killers.

The firefighters said they've come across residents using gas-powered generators indoors to provide electricity to home appliances. The generators emit carbon monoxide, an odorless and poisonous gas, said Modesto Fire Battalion Chief Mark Johansen.

He said a firefighter had to drag out a woman who was rendered unconscious by the toxic fumes.

About 11 a.m., Johansen and several fire crews responded to a fire in a vacant house in the 200 block of Crater Avenue, just west of Crows Landing Road and north of West Hatch Road in south Modesto.

After the firefighters were sure nobody was inside the single-story house, they cut holes in the roof so the flames could escape and put out the blaze in about 10 minutes, Johansen said.

No injuries were reported.

Despite the morning's action, New Year's Day felt more like a Sunday for Johansen and the firefighters at Station 1. Most of the businesses in downtown Modesto were closed, and few cars were on the road.

New Year's Eve had passed without any significant emergencies for the department. A few fights broke out just after midnight at downtown bars, and there was a small fire at a home, but it didn't cause much damage, Johansen said.

Murphy's Law sets the pace for the Fire Department -- sometimes nothing major happens and other times the calls for help don't stop.

In his 20th year with the department, Johansen has grown accustomed to working on holidays.

"For me not having kids, it's a piece of cake," Johansen said. "For guys like Mike (Shockey) with kids, it can be hard. But it's OK. Instead of having Christmas on the 25th, you'll have it on the 24th."

Bee staff writer Rosalio Ahumada can be reached at rahumada@modbee.com or 578-2394.