Behind the scenes of 20th CES (Part 1) - Fire department 'protects those who protect America'
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --
Editor's Note: This article is the first part of a six part series on the mission of the 20th Civil Engineer Squadron and the work the Airmen assign to the squadron do day-in and day-out to keep the base maintained and combat-ready. The squadron is composed of six different flights that have very different jobs. They are the operations, fire department, explosive ordnance disposal, engineering, and readiness and emergency management flights.
An excited puppy knocks over a candle and within minutes the living room is engulfed in flames. An old man collapses at the grocery store with chest pains. A driver accidently drifts into on-coming traffic when texting and crashes into another car.
When emergency situations occur, one unit always rides in to the rescue no matter the time, the day or location.
That unit is the fire department."Any time someone dials 911 and needs anything other than law enforcement we will respond," said Senior Airman Phillip Statzer, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter. "Anything that an ambulance might go to, we also go to. Any time there is an automatic fire alarm or a gas leak we will respond."
The fire department is one of the six flights that compose the 20th CES. Together the six flights complete the 20th CES's mission to keep the base operational and mission-ready. They complete that mission various ways like providing clean water, reliable power, and sound structures to work and live.
"The purpose of the CES is to build and sustain life on base," said Senior Airman Jeremy Brannock, 20th CES firefighter. "There are the heavy equipment operators, HVAC maintainers and us (firefighters) and although our jobs are completely different we all have the same basic goal which is to build and sustain life."
The fire department contributes to the 20th CES's mission by "protecting life, property and environment,' which is the flight's mission statement.
"We help Shaw by protecting the people, the assets and the aircraft that make the mission happen," Statzer said. "We protect those who protect America."
"Shaw can continue to run knowing that its buildings and its people are well taken care of," Brannock added.
The firefighters respond to three different types of calls to protect life, property and the environment: medical emergencies like chest pains, structural emergencies like house fires, and aircraft or vehicle crashes. They will respond even when an ambulances is called for medical emergencies.
"You don't know all the details until you get there, so you don't know if we are needed until then," Statzer said.
A person might call saying there is someone on the ground and they have shallow breathing and that could be all the information the firefighter has when they go out. However, when the firefighters arrive on scene they could discover that the person had been hit in a car accident, continued Statzer.
The fire department always has Airmen ready to respond to an emergency no matter what time it is. The Airmen are broken into two shifts, one works one-full day and the other shift work the next day so the Airmen work every other day. However, they work 24-hour shifts.
They start their shift at 7 a.m. and during the day they maintain the upkeep of the station, check and clean all the vehicles and perform physical training.
One of the reasons firefighters must perform regular physical training is because the suits they wear to protect themselves from burns, called structural gear, weigh about 50 pounds, said Brannock.
Also, every day the Airmen on shift spend three to four hours at the end of the duty day training, which has to be renewed on a monthly basis. In addition to having a classroom at the station, the fire department also has a training site where they practice combating fires and other similar skills.
At the training site, they have an old aircraft frame that is propane controlled so they can set the entire thing on fire to practice handling a fire on an aircraft. There is also a burn house which is a three-story mock house that allows the firefighters to practice combating a house fire, searching multiple levels, and pulling a hose through a building.
Along with the aircraft and burn house, there is a four story tower that allows the Airmen to practice high angle rescue and rappelling. In addition, there is a confined-space trainer with man-holes and tubes and they practice pulling people out of tight spaces. There are also old broken vehicles that are used to practice car accidents.
"For me, whenever a (emergency) call comes in, you don't really think or feel," Brannock said. "You just do. We train so much that when a call drops it all becomes second nature."
After 5 p.m., the Airmen on shift are off-duty but are still on-standby or on-alert. While on-standby, they cannot leave the fire station and cannot go home. The station has multiple bedrooms that hold two to three people each, a gym, a kitchen, a recreation room, a TV room and a patio with a grill.
The exception to the rule that they cannot leave the station while on-standby is when the whole crew takes the fire truck and goes to some place like the gym together so they can still respond immediately to an emergency. Other than that exception, the Airmen on shift stay at the fire station until 7 a.m. when their shift ends.
Despite having to be on-standby for 24-hours at a time, the firefighters love what they do.
"I love it," Statzer exclaimed. "It is incredible. I love the adrenaline of it. You can get woken up at 2 a.m., to go fight a fire or called out to do some technician rescue where you have to rappel off the side of a building. You could have to crawl into a tiny space and pull someone out. I love that you never know what is going to happen. It is a lot of fun. Where else do you get to drive fire trucks?"
Other firefighters also spoke highly of their duty.
"I love the fact that you get a second family when you are in a fire department," Brannock said. "Everyone has their disagreements but at the end of the day you know that you are with family during the calls and they have your back no matter what."
These Airmen love their jobs despite the long hours. They make these sacrifices so they can protect the base, its personnel and it facilities and can respond to any emergency at any location at any time, in a moment's notice.
"My favorite part (of my job) is helping people when they need it the most," Brannock said. "When they literally have nowhere else to turn, we give them hope."
An excited puppy knocks over a candle and within minutes the living room is engulfed in flames. An old man collapses at the grocery store with chest pains. A driver accidently drifts into on-coming traffic when texting and crashes into another car.
When emergency situations occur, one unit always rides in to the rescue no matter the time, the day or location.
That unit is the fire department."Any time someone dials 911 and needs anything other than law enforcement we will respond," said Senior Airman Phillip Statzer, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter. "Anything that an ambulance might go to, we also go to. Any time there is an automatic fire alarm or a gas leak we will respond."
The fire department is one of the six flights that compose the 20th CES. Together the six flights complete the 20th CES's mission to keep the base operational and mission-ready. They complete that mission various ways like providing clean water, reliable power, and sound structures to work and live.
"The purpose of the CES is to build and sustain life on base," said Senior Airman Jeremy Brannock, 20th CES firefighter. "There are the heavy equipment operators, HVAC maintainers and us (firefighters) and although our jobs are completely different we all have the same basic goal which is to build and sustain life."
The fire department contributes to the 20th CES's mission by "protecting life, property and environment,' which is the flight's mission statement.
"We help Shaw by protecting the people, the assets and the aircraft that make the mission happen," Statzer said. "We protect those who protect America."
"Shaw can continue to run knowing that its buildings and its people are well taken care of," Brannock added.
The firefighters respond to three different types of calls to protect life, property and the environment: medical emergencies like chest pains, structural emergencies like house fires, and aircraft or vehicle crashes. They will respond even when an ambulances is called for medical emergencies.
"You don't know all the details until you get there, so you don't know if we are needed until then," Statzer said.
A person might call saying there is someone on the ground and they have shallow breathing and that could be all the information the firefighter has when they go out. However, when the firefighters arrive on scene they could discover that the person had been hit in a car accident, continued Statzer.
The fire department always has Airmen ready to respond to an emergency no matter what time it is. The Airmen are broken into two shifts, one works one-full day and the other shift work the next day so the Airmen work every other day. However, they work 24-hour shifts.
They start their shift at 7 a.m. and during the day they maintain the upkeep of the station, check and clean all the vehicles and perform physical training.
One of the reasons firefighters must perform regular physical training is because the suits they wear to protect themselves from burns, called structural gear, weigh about 50 pounds, said Brannock.
Also, every day the Airmen on shift spend three to four hours at the end of the duty day training, which has to be renewed on a monthly basis. In addition to having a classroom at the station, the fire department also has a training site where they practice combating fires and other similar skills.
At the training site, they have an old aircraft frame that is propane controlled so they can set the entire thing on fire to practice handling a fire on an aircraft. There is also a burn house which is a three-story mock house that allows the firefighters to practice combating a house fire, searching multiple levels, and pulling a hose through a building.
Along with the aircraft and burn house, there is a four story tower that allows the Airmen to practice high angle rescue and rappelling. In addition, there is a confined-space trainer with man-holes and tubes and they practice pulling people out of tight spaces. There are also old broken vehicles that are used to practice car accidents.
"For me, whenever a (emergency) call comes in, you don't really think or feel," Brannock said. "You just do. We train so much that when a call drops it all becomes second nature."
After 5 p.m., the Airmen on shift are off-duty but are still on-standby or on-alert. While on-standby, they cannot leave the fire station and cannot go home. The station has multiple bedrooms that hold two to three people each, a gym, a kitchen, a recreation room, a TV room and a patio with a grill.
The exception to the rule that they cannot leave the station while on-standby is when the whole crew takes the fire truck and goes to some place like the gym together so they can still respond immediately to an emergency. Other than that exception, the Airmen on shift stay at the fire station until 7 a.m. when their shift ends.
Despite having to be on-standby for 24-hours at a time, the firefighters love what they do.
"I love it," Statzer exclaimed. "It is incredible. I love the adrenaline of it. You can get woken up at 2 a.m., to go fight a fire or called out to do some technician rescue where you have to rappel off the side of a building. You could have to crawl into a tiny space and pull someone out. I love that you never know what is going to happen. It is a lot of fun. Where else do you get to drive fire trucks?"
Other firefighters also spoke highly of their duty.
"I love the fact that you get a second family when you are in a fire department," Brannock said. "Everyone has their disagreements but at the end of the day you know that you are with family during the calls and they have your back no matter what."
These Airmen love their jobs despite the long hours. They make these sacrifices so they can protect the base, its personnel and it facilities and can respond to any emergency at any location at any time, in a moment's notice.
"My favorite part (of my job) is helping people when they need it the most," Brannock said. "When they literally have nowhere else to turn, we give them hope."
