Fire Services in Emeryville
I had the unique opportunity to participate in a training exercise at the Emeryville Fire Department a few weeks ago. With my children watching, I put on the full fire fighting gear (boots, turn outs, fire hood, helmet, air tank and gloves) and entered a trailer set up for practice fire fighting, with members of Emeryville’s fire fighters there to help me. The heat was intense, the hose was heavy, the dummy I tried to rescue was heavier, the fires were hard to put out, and the noise was extreme. With my own breathing, it was hard to hear the instructions my buddy was shouting to me, and boy did I want to hear what he was telling me!
Afterwards, shaking from the physical challenge and adrenalin, I thanked the crew for allowing me to experience just a bit of what they do. I know that having well trained men and women, strong and with strategic know-how, is the most important thing we can provide to our residents, workers, shoppers and all the folks who drive through town on I-80.
Emeryville is taking an opportunity to look at how we provide our Fire Services, whether there are ways to improve our services and reduce the cost of our services. With improvements in mind, the city council created a Fire Services Task Force, a group of city council members, union representatives, staff and residents to work with a consultant to examine our Fire Services. We are still looking for at least 2 residents to help with this important task. Please contact Karen Hemphill, City Clerk, if you are willing and able to serve your community in this way. She can be reached at city_clerk@ci.emeryville.ca.us or by phone at (510) 450-7800.
My thanks to Chief Johnston, Steve, Heather, Kyle, Jason and all the other folks who helped me to understand just a little bit about their jobs. And thanks for making me feel like I did my best. They even took pictures of me to memorialize the event!
