| Services: What We Do (When We Aren't Eating or Watching TV) |
We've all heard the volunteer firefighter stigma that is passed around in some small
towns... "All they do is sit around, eat, and watch tv." Well, in reality, it may surprise you
to find out just how much we actually do. If you look below, you'll see a list of some of the
services we offer, but keep in mind that we live in a pretty hectic world these days and
that at any given time we may be called out to deal with any number of complex
situations.
Structural Firefighting- (Hopefully) This one's a given. It's where we, the fire service,
started. However, structural firefighting has become much more than your standard put
water on a burning house event. With new building technology coupled with the
chemicals, etc. that we keep in our homes now compared to 30 years ago, have made
structural firefighting a whole new monster. And always remember...before we can put
water on that burning building, we have to go in and make sure everyone's out...
Rescue- This one's tricky... Are we rescuing that cat out of a tree or are we rescuing a
40-year old woman from raging waters in a storm? Rescue has become very central to
firefighting now-a-days. Rescue can be anything from automobile extrication to trying to
figure out how to save the railroad worker who's fallen between to rail cars (which we just
had to do not long ago for the record).
Household Medicals- These make up for more than 60% of fire calls in the country. In
some places (including Pearlington) ambulance service is not always just around the
corner. In those times, it is up to us to provide life saving support whether it be a
newborn baby or a 90-year old woman.
Disaster Response- Sadly, we are all too familiar with this one. During Hurricane Katrina,
not only did we have to provide protection to survivors but we also had to take on the
tasks of providing food, water, and shelter to them as well.
Hazardous Materials Incidents- Good ol' haz-mats... These can be the most dangerous
at times. Could be a truck load of sugar (not a pleasant experience)....could be a truck
load of dynamite... For the record...did you know that it can take almost an entire 24
hours non-stop to clean up spilled concentrated orange juice from the highway? Neither
did we...until we had to do it!
Vehicular Firefighting- Could be a car... could be boat... could be an airplane!
Wildland Firefighting- Odd as it may seem, these can be the most expensive of fires. We
have several paper companies that farm in our area. One fire can lead to millions of
dollars in lost profits for them!
towns... "All they do is sit around, eat, and watch tv." Well, in reality, it may surprise you
to find out just how much we actually do. If you look below, you'll see a list of some of the
services we offer, but keep in mind that we live in a pretty hectic world these days and
that at any given time we may be called out to deal with any number of complex
situations.
Structural Firefighting- (Hopefully) This one's a given. It's where we, the fire service,
started. However, structural firefighting has become much more than your standard put
water on a burning house event. With new building technology coupled with the
chemicals, etc. that we keep in our homes now compared to 30 years ago, have made
structural firefighting a whole new monster. And always remember...before we can put
water on that burning building, we have to go in and make sure everyone's out...
Rescue- This one's tricky... Are we rescuing that cat out of a tree or are we rescuing a
40-year old woman from raging waters in a storm? Rescue has become very central to
firefighting now-a-days. Rescue can be anything from automobile extrication to trying to
figure out how to save the railroad worker who's fallen between to rail cars (which we just
had to do not long ago for the record).
Household Medicals- These make up for more than 60% of fire calls in the country. In
some places (including Pearlington) ambulance service is not always just around the
corner. In those times, it is up to us to provide life saving support whether it be a
newborn baby or a 90-year old woman.
Disaster Response- Sadly, we are all too familiar with this one. During Hurricane Katrina,
not only did we have to provide protection to survivors but we also had to take on the
tasks of providing food, water, and shelter to them as well.
Hazardous Materials Incidents- Good ol' haz-mats... These can be the most dangerous
at times. Could be a truck load of sugar (not a pleasant experience)....could be a truck
load of dynamite... For the record...did you know that it can take almost an entire 24
hours non-stop to clean up spilled concentrated orange juice from the highway? Neither
did we...until we had to do it!
Vehicular Firefighting- Could be a car... could be boat... could be an airplane!
Wildland Firefighting- Odd as it may seem, these can be the most expensive of fires. We
have several paper companies that farm in our area. One fire can lead to millions of
dollars in lost profits for them!
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