GREENFIELD — Greenfield Fire Department hosted a swearing-in ceremony for four new part-time firefighters during last week’s Greenfield City Council meeting.
Fire Chief Jim Langborg swore in Luis Navarro, Benjamin Rianda, Paul Salinas and Aaron Vasquez before the council on June 8.
The part-time firefighters will act similar to reserve officers, typically called in as a fourth member of incident response teams and have the same certifications as full-time firefighters.
Having a fourth member in fire response helps the department follow a standard of having two firefighters outside a building while two go inside. The alternative would be waiting for assistance from a neighboring agency.
“Especially when our next closest engine, which is Soledad, about 10 minutes away, timing is of the essence when there’s a fire,” said Captain Carlos Vega. “The quicker we can get in there to knock it down to control it, the better off we are.”
A fire can transform within 10 minutes and become something much more difficult to control, according to Vega.
Part-time firefighters have been a part of GFD’s firefighting response for decades, Vega explained, and many departments still have them as an extra person to call in when needed to staff a fire engine.
“For us, it’s making the most out of having less,” he said. “They get the experience of being a firefighter and we also get the advantage of an extra set of hands.”
The appeal for part-time firefighters is the training and experience, Vega said. Even if they aren’t eventually hired on as full-time employees with the city, the firefighters are set up for success when there are vacancies they can apply for with other agencies.
Vega said fire departments look for people with a good work ethic and who know the basics of emergency response.
“They’re going to have all that foundational experience,” he said.
The new firefighters have already completed introductory training over two weekends, going over such basic skills as equipping gear and using ladders. As they move onward, they have a one-year probation period, in which they will review their fire academy training and complete a firefighter task book.
The city’s newest staffers begin their service right as California heats up for summer and fire season begins.
Vega said residents should be mindful of their actions, as last week the department responded to a vegetation fire that was the result of a balloon hitting a wire and shooting sparks.
“Once it’s up in the air, you don’t have any control over it,” Vega said. “Mylar balloons are the worst for that.”
He also noted the risk of fireworks and recommended residents purchase safe and sane fireworks to use responsibly.
The four new firefighters bring the department’s total up to 12 part-timers, and Vega said GFD likes to have between 15 and 20 in total. Department leaders will conduct interviews in the coming weeks in their search for more candidates.
Meanwhile, the training of officers will continue in the city.
“We continue to strive for that training, especially all those live burns we did,” Vega said. “We continue to do training with other departments, so I think that’s getting the name out there; we’re proactive in training our personnel.”
