Ashland Fire & Rescue Hosts Open Fire Station – Ashland News

Bay gates are open to the public, community members meet staff, tour facilities and connect to local resources

By Cameron Aalto, Ashland.News

The public toured facilities, examined emergency vehicles, spoke with professionals and connected with local volunteer and learning opportunities during an open house hosted Friday afternoon by Ashland Fire & Rescue in Station No. 1, where Siskiyou Boulevard, Lithia Way and East Main Street meet.

Fire Chief Ralph Sartain says the open house was important because “we're the (public's) fire department here.” They need to know what we do, how we care for them, and what their tax money is used for. Sartain says there are “many ways” for community members to get more involved in the fire department, “anything they want to do to improve the community and learn more (and) prepare with the approaching fire season.

Community members were able to engage with firefighters and community resources to learn more about how to stay safe during the upcoming fire season, which officially began the next day, Saturday, June 1. Sartain said the event could help families “learn more about their escape routes, anything – they can clean up around their properties, get rid of weeds and any lighter fuel to protect their house, cleaning their gutters, everything we teach them to do.

Residents aren't the only ones preparing for the upcoming fire season. Sartain describes that the department is also preparing: “all of our guys are going through recertifications, we applied for a personnel grant and received it from the state of Oregon, (and on) our red flag days – our PDS (Particularly Hazardous Situations) – we will assign staff accordingly for any type of these weather events.

The fire station catered to the kids, sharing miniature versions of fire uniforms for the kids to wear, posing in front of and inside the fire truck for photo ops. Additionally, the department distributed leather heads and plastic stickers for junior firefighters.

One of the young visitors was Dominique Parker, who said her favorite part of the event was the fire truck: “it had cool stuff in it and it was really high.” She also enjoyed talking with the firefighters and said they taught her that the fire truck is used “to help someone when they're hurt or something.”

Firefighter Ty Haggard said the open house brought the public “to see what we do…we like to have the support of the community and part of that is explaining and sharing with them what we do and what we what we have and what all things are, and most importantly, connecting with the community.

Haggard said he met a child at the event who he had previously helped during a medical incident and was able to see that child now healthy. He describes the open day as an opportunity to see the public, “at an event designed for fun and not the worst day of someone's life (which) is great.”

He went on to say that the open house allowed the public to meet their first responders and build relationships with them: “If someone has an emergency, maybe we recognize them, maybe we Have met him before, maybe we are a familiar face. for them and it's even more comforting when we show up when they have some sort of emergency than if we just show up normally.

Because Ashland Fire & Rescue receives revenue from taxpayer dollars, Haggard said, “it belongs to the public.” Everything here is owned by the public, so it's important that we bring them to the station to see what we do, how we operate, the things we have, and explain and make connections.

Ashland.news intern Cameron Aalto is a senior at Southern Oregon University. Send him an email to [email protected].