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Category: Front Page News Front Page News
Published: 19 April 2018 19 April 2018

Photos by Mary Alice Murphy

At the Pinos Altos Volunteer Fire Department  open house at the Cottage San Station on Saturday, April 14, 2018, Lt. Ed Downard of the station showed off bunker gear that would be worn for structure fires. "We're trained for structure fires and wildfires. This gear is too heavy for wildfires." He quickly shed it.

He said when new volunteers join, they take the basic wildfire course. "All courses for firefighters are also available for volunteer firefighters. They include WUI (wildland-urban interface), helicopter, intermediate wildfire. We take the same ones as the Forest Service. It just costs time."

Downard said about 85 percent of the VFD calls are medical. "We have three EMTs, six first responders and one paramedic."

He demonstrated the use of a fire extinguisher. To the kids who were watching, he said: "Your job is to get out of the house. For the one using the extinguisher, It's PASS—pull (the pin), aim, squeeze and sweep."