Edwards firemen stand the heat

  • Published
  • By Laura Mowry
  • Staff Writer
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  For a majority of Team Edwards, the sound of Retreat marks the end of the workday and the beginning of a night at home surrounded by friends and family. While so many begin their drive home, the Edwards firefighters stay behind to keep Edwards safe.

Working between 72 and 96 hours each week, the Edwards firemen work three to four days around the clock, responding to medical and fire emergencies.

"The schedule is a tough one," said Tom Woods, Assistant Fire Prevention chief. "It routinely requires our firefighters to be away from home and their families for an extended period of time. It can become very stressful."

The department maintains nearly 110 firefighters, with approximately half that number on-duty at any given time to provide round-the-clock emergency response capabilities for fire and medical incidents throughout the 308,000 acres of Edwards.

"We are an extremely versatile department," said Woods. "We have five stations and highly trained personnel capable of handling any number of situations that might come up."

The five stations, also known as divisions, are strategically located throughout Edwards, with locations at the Air Force Research Laboratory, North Base, South Base, Edwards flightline and in base housing.

Firemen at each of the five stations are presented with challenges unique to their location and must be properly trained to cycle through each station.

"When you think about the programs unique to Edwards, such as the Airborne Laser and ongoing activities up at AFRL, it becomes quite clear that our firefighters must have extensive knowledge of a multitude of emergency response practices," said the fire department's Assistant Chief of Training, Klaus Koepp.

According to Koepp, in order to maintain their high level of competency, the operational firemen train approximately 25 days per month. They must maintain certifications in eight functional areas and the ability to perform emergency egress procedures on every aircraft that passes through Edwards.

The functional areas of responsibility include everything from confined spaces and structures to aircraft and hazmat.

"In addition to the abundance of training, we average approximately 1,200 emergency response calls every year," said Koepp. "I'm not sure if people realize just how busy and dedicated our firemen are."

According to Woods, this versatility is what sets Air Force firemen and particularly those at Edwards apart from traditional roles and responsibilities.

"If you went to a fire station downtown you would find that people have specialties. They train and work only in a specialized area of responsibility, whereas our firefighters really can do it all," said Woods.

Although they are on-call around the clock, the traditional workday begins for on-duty firemen around 7 a.m. After breakfast, they have roll call at 8 a.m., followed by truck maintenance and morning details. Equipment and nearly 40 trucks must be looked over every day to ensure proper performance during an emergency response.

The remainder of the day is typically dedicated to training.

At 4:30 p.m. the workday winds down for Edwards firemen, however they must remain on standby in the event of an emergency.

"For most people at Edwards, Retreat marks the end of the workday and they get to go home. For our crew, although their workday is over, they must remain ready to respond to an incident at a moment's notice," said Koepp. "It can make for a very long work week."

Even during down time for the department, they must be ready to respond and leave the station in approximately 60 seconds.

The ability to help people in their time of need is what makes the personal sacrifice worthwhile to Ciji Brown, a fire inspector for the department.

"Before I crossed over from operations to fire prevention, I thoroughly enjoyed helping people when they need you most. It's extremely fulfilling," Brown said. "Yes it can be stressful, but just knowing how much you have helped and continue to help people makes it all worth it."

Brown works alongside fellow inspector Phillip Remely on base-wide fire prevention measures. Together, they are responsible for everything from fire extinguisher training to building inspections and even working with facility managers to resolve deficiencies.

"The sole purpose of our job is to ensure the overall safety for all Edwards personnel," Remely said. "We have excellent emergency response capabilities, but our goal is to avoid an incident in the first place by working with the community to implement a series of preventative measures."

The constant operational and preventative efforts put forth by the fire department continue to serve the Edwards community by mitigating risks and extending a helping hand to those in need.

"I am extremely proud of the people I work with day-in and day-out. There's a lot that is asked of them and they can certainly take the heat," said Woods. "I hope everyone knows we're here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We're are here to help and we want to help. Please don't be afraid to give us a call."

In the event of an emergency, the Edwards AFB Fire Department requests that you dial 911 and state that you are located at Edwards. Your call will be quickly rerouted to on-base emergency response communications.