Photos by Mary Alice Murphy
Pinos Altos VFD open house 041418
Pinos Altos VFD open house 041418
Chayla Jenkins and her crew, Lana, Clayton, Charlie and Phillip attend the open house
Pinos Altos VFD open house 041418
Tule Dahl-Bredine in her fire fighter hat
Pinos Altos VFD open house 041418
Lexa Jolie and PAVFD volunteer Karen Rothberg, who shows a fire-fighting jacket
Pinos Altos VFD open house 041418
Tule's little hands do test breathing compressions
Pinos Altos VFD open house 041418
Lt. Ed Downard puts on a jacket for a structure fire. "They're too heavy for woodland fires."
Pinos Altos VFD open house 041418
Buck Burns is a PAVFD volunteer
Pinos Altos VFD open house 041418
Downard demonstrates how to use a fire extinguisher
Pinos Altos VFD open house 041418
Downard helps Clayton Jenkins use the fire extinguisher.
Pinos Altos VFD open house 041418
Volunteers and visitors gather between the engines at the PAVFD Cottage San Station
Pinos Altos VFD open house 041418
PAVFD Battalion Chief Steve White holds his grandson, Graham White, 2.
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."