Stateline 1202 Master Script

BOOTH

AUGUSTUS CEASAR IS CREDITED WITH APPOINTING THE FIRST PROFESSIONAL FIRE WATCHMEN. BUT FOR MOST OF HUMAN HISTORY IT’S BEEN VOLUNTEERS WHO ACTUALLY DID THE WORK OF FIGHTING FIRES—OFTEN PEOPLE “VOLUNTEERED” BY LAW.  AMERICAN COLONISTS, FOR EXAMPLE, WERE REQUIRED TO HAVE BUCKETS ON HAND AND TURN OUT FOR FIRE ALARMS

THE EARLIEST PROFESSIONAL FIRE COMPANIES IN THE UNITED STATES OFTEN COMPETED WITH ONE ANOTHERTO BE FIRST ON THE SCENE OF A FIRE.  THEY WERE PAID NOT BY GOVERNMENTS, BUT BY INSURANCE COMPANIES FOR SAVING POLICYHOLDERS’ PROPERTY IDENTIFIED A FIRE INSURANCE MARK.

TERRITORIAL OKLAHOMA DIDN’T HAVE MUCH IN THE WAY OF FIRE PROTECTION.  FOUR YEARS AFTER THE RUN OF ’89, NORMAN PASSED AN ORDINANCE REQUIRING MERCHANTS HAVE A BARREL OF WATER AVAILABLE FOR FIREFIGHTING, AND OKLAHOMA CITY HAD A SMALL VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY WITH A HAND-DRAWN FIREWAGON.

A HUNDRED YEARS LATER MUCH HAS CHANGED IN THE METRO AREAS.  FULL-TIME FIREFIGHTERS—INCLUDING WOMEN—STAFF FIRE STATIONS 24 HOURS A DAY AND RESPOND WITH MODERN EQUIPMENT.

BUT ON THIS EDITION OF STATELINE WE LEARN, FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE STATE, IT IS STILL CITIZEN VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE THE FIRE PROTECTION SITUATION UNDER CONTROL.

TRT

Every year when the late summer comes the Oklahoma sun scorches the plains. Hot winds blow through the high grass, turning it to tinder waiting for a spark.

Inside the fire is a demon with an appetite for more. Only one thing stands in the way of destruction, a line of men and women, firefighters, and almost all work for free.

Steve George

10:49:44   S-101   C0003

A very large percentage of the land mass in Oklahoma and the communities in Oklahoma is protected by volunteer fire fighters, by far the majority.

Paddy Metcalf

11:18:19    S-101   C0005

You get to think there are not a lot of large cities that have paid fire department. There are some cities that have combination fire department, that means they are part paid and part volunteer, but probably 95% of the fire fighters in the state of Oklahoma are volunteers.

Jack Ellington

15:07:55    S-303    C0006

You know there are a lot of people who don't have a clue even in the State of Oklahoma as to what firefighters do. You know how much training we have to go through. What commitment that it is. Especially to be a volunteer fire fighter for free and most generally on your own time.

Steve George

10:36:23   S-101   C0003

There are some legal requirements, federally mandated legal requirements legislation that stipulates the minimal level of training they have to have.

Federal and state tax dollars pay to train volunteers in every community. As long as they are a firefighter they will be training, taking classes on everything from how to use the breathing apparatus to what to do in a terrorist situation.

Steve George

10:37:26   S-101   C0003

The flammable liquids and gas side is a very high priority issue here in Oklahoma because no community is without those hazards. And we see a lot of production hazards associated with oil and gas production, so all the communities in Oklahoma have to be prepared to respond to those kinds of incidents.

Paddy Metcalf

11:10:05     S-101   C0005

The training can be from 4 hours long training to weeks depending on what the classes are that they take.

Instructors will travel to fire houses from Miami to Grandfield, Boise City to Idabel, or volunteers can go to one of 18 training centers like this one in Choctaw.

Brian Arnold

17:39:21    S-302   C0047

Guys glad to have you out here my name is Brian Arnold. I am a Major with the Oklahoma City Fire Dept. I am one of the Assistant coordinators out here at EOC-TECH.

Brian Arnold

17:39:29    S-302   C0047

Today we are going to be working on a little bit of live fire training. A couple of different evolutions that we are going to be doing today. One is we are going to be doing a search and rescue with a simulated victim. We will be using a 165 lb. mannequin. That we will have placed inside the building for you guys to go in and actually do a search. And then do a recovery of the victim.

Brian Arnold

17:40:23    S-302   C0047

Alright guys let's take a walk over here and we will head for the fire building.

Brian Arnold

17:40:41    S-302   C0047

Slide on in! Come on in you guys watch the door it is going to close.

Brian Arnold

17:40:54    S-302   C0047

What we are burning today is a class A material. We will be burning hay pallets and a little bit of excelsior which is a spun birch we will go ahead and GEN temperatures up in here like it would be in a normal structure fire.

Sean House

16:46:48   S-403    C0001

Having that live fire puts it into reality, especially for the new guys that have never gone into a room that's on fire or a building that's on fire.

Jack Ellington

15:02:59    S-303    C0006

When you go into a house fire. First place you are going to go in on your hands and knees. You are not going to stand up and walk in there because of the super heated gas and smoke. It is that level or lower in the house already. When you walk in it is pitch black.

Jack Ellington

15:03:28    S-303    C0006

So basically you are doing everything by feel, of course then when you get to the fire obviously you are going to be able to see the flames like that and be able to attack the flames.

Jack Ellington

15:03:28    S-303    C0006

And you are crawling on your hands and knees, with your fire hose in one hand your tool in the other like an axe for instance.

Sean House

16:48:05   S-403    C0001

The first thing that we have to find out when we arrive on scene is 'is there anyone in that structure. And hopefully there's someone there, the homeowners or a neighbor outside that can tell us 'yes they're home' or 'no, there's no one inside. Unfortunately, if there is someone inside, our top priority is to go in and get them out as quickly as possibly.

Jack Ellington

15:04:13    S-303    C0006

You take a hold of the axe by the head, you are sweeping out away from your body trying to find the person that you are looking for, but keeping in mind that you are never letting go of your hose line because your hose line is your life line. If you lose that and become disoriented you are in trouble.

Sean House

16:50:03   S-403    C0001

Whenever we were standing at the door ready to go in, my whole thought process was 'we got a room on fire and there's someone in there' knowing, in the back of my mind, that it's a dummy. But you know, the whole time my whole mind set is there is someone in there that needs to be rescued.

Paddy Metcalf

11:34:28    S-101   C0006

There is just so many things out there that you can get in trouble as a fire fighter. Just so much can happen to you.

Jack Ellington

15:08:28    S-303    C0006

You have to have this training in order to do your job correctly. But do your job safely. Because our motto is everybody goes home at the end of their shift, or at the end of a call.

Fortunately, everyone is going home tonight. But not before picking up.

Tim Spratt

19:06:52    S-302    C0091

It is only fun for ten minutes then we are clean up crew the rest of the time.

Jack Ellington

19:11:16    S-302     C0094

This is the fun part this is where all the work starts. Busting everything down and getting it back in service.

People who volunteer to fight fire may look the same as everyone else, but inside they are a special breed.

Steve George 

10:50:16   S-101   C0003

What you tend to see if someone is a volunteer they are a very dedicated person, a very loyal person. Someone that is willing to give to their community. Give to the others around them.

Paddy Metcalf 

11:36:36    S-101   C0006

They are kind of an adrenaline junky also. Because it is very, it is a dangerous job, but it is kind of that scary to the point that it is kind of fun also.

Steve George

10:51:11   S-101   C0003

It may be one of the community attorneys or a doctor that during the day has his own business but when the alarm goes off he jumps and runs and grabs his protective clothing and to the red truck and goes to what ever the call is.

Sean House

16:46:04   S-403    C0001

Anytime you're in trouble, and you call, you're expecting someone to show up and I think that's why we do it, we just want to help the community out and make sure everyone is taken care of.

Tim Spratt is the Fire Chief for the community of Bridge Creek. 

Tim Spratt

19:26:08    S-302    C0101

I have a really young crew. I am a 25 year old fire chief we have a lot of guys with less than 15 years of time in the fire dept. That is a tough one to combat. We combat that with training. We take what little life experience we have got and we mix it with training.

Jack Ellington

14:50:21    S-303    C0006

At Bridge Creek when we interview a new candidate, of course we give them a run down of everything that they can expect. What’s going to be required of them. And you always get them that are gung ho like “Oh yeah I can do this no problem,” but we will generally know within 3 or 4 months whether we have some serious calls. Whether this business is going to be for them or not.

Sean House

16:45:52   S-403    C0001

We trust each other, we have to, especially going into a burning building.

Jack  

14:50:21    S-303    C0006

Some people just can't do it. They are not cut out for it, and some people can.

Tim Spratt

19:26:28    S-302    C0101

We are a very aggressive fire dept. A very gung ho group of guys. I have a very talented group that spends a lot of time training. Spend a lot of time on scene. We run a lot of calls for a department our size. So our guys get a lot of hands on experience, really quick.

Sean House

17:02:11   S-403    C0001

Right now our calls per day usually average more than one a day. Now we may go two or three days without a call. We may do two days where we run six or seven calls back to back to back.

Capitan Jack Ellington has volunteered with the Bridge Creek fire department for seven years, for him public service is a way of life.

Ginger Ellington

17:38:13    S-303    C0053

He had been a police officer for thirteen years. He had been with the ambulance service gosh probably 18 or 19 years. And then he decided to go with the fire department.

Richard Robinson

14:29:50   S-302   C0002

Jack is pretty community oriented; we have been working with him since this service started. Back in '85 or '86. When he was on the police department he worked for us part time as a volunteer to drive the truck run calls.

Ginger Ellington

17:38:55    S-303    C0053

He is the type of guy when you see somebody broke down on the side of the road he is the one that is going to stop. Even though I am going don't do that you don't know what kind of people they are. He is going to be there. He is always going to help someone.

Jack Ellington

14:53:26    S-303    C0006

I have always been a people person. My dad used to say, boy the way you like to talk you are either going to be a lawyer or a politician. But I like helping people.

Jack Ellington

14:53:26    S-303    C0006

I get asked by some people “How can you stand to work in the same town that you live in?”

Jack Ellington

14:53:54    S-303    C0006

Well face it I am not there to see people on their best day. They have a crisis going on. And If I walk in that house and they see a familiar face that they know on a first name basis, they have seen me around town that their anxiety level is going to immediately drop.

Behind every volunteer is an understanding wife. Ginger Ellington has been married to Jack for 30 years.

Ginger Ellington

17:47:31    S-303    C0054

I think I have an advantage over most women when their husbands become firefighters because I had already been through the law enforcement side and the EMS side, which schedules are a lot alike.

Jack Ellington 

15:12:36    S-303    C0006

Some people may have spouse trouble from being gone from home so long. We leave at the most in opportune times. You know in the middle of one of your kid’s birthday parties. The tones go off you have got to go.

Ginger Ellington 

17:39:29    S-303    C0053

You can't plan anything. You don't plan dinners. You just go on without him. And if the tones go off he is gone. And the family just goes on with out him. You can try to plan Thanksgiving, Christmas and all that kind of stuff. You do that with the idea knowing that dada may not be there ...and that's O-K.

Ginger Ellington

17:39:52    S-303    C0053

The kids are great with it. They understand. But we just. It is a day to day thing. I mean middle of the night. During the day. If he wants the tones to go off all he needs to do is sit down for dinner and it is going to go. So he is used to cold dinners. (Laughs)

Jack Ellington

15:15:20    S-303    C0006

My wife is probably not any different than any of the other one's. She gets a little aggravated from time to time. “Man do you really have to go on that?” “Yeah you know I do,” and sometimes it is kind of funny it is in reverse. Oh man that is just a sick call I don't want to go, she says, "Now Jack you know what you got on this fire department for said get your butt up and go." So I get up and go. But yeah she is real supportive and I think that is a luxury that a lot of guys in this business don't have.

That support comes with a lot of long nights worrying when and if Jack will come home.

Ginger Ellington

17:41:02    S-303    C0053

I worry with a smile though, because I don't want him to know. Sometimes I leave the radio on when he's gone. I just have to remember to turn it off when he's coming back.

Jack Ellington

15:13:07    S-303    C0006

My new guys what I tell them is get your spouse involved get them on the auxiliary. So that way they have a working knowledge of what you do and what is required of you.

Ginger Ellington

17:41:29    S-303    C0053

I'm the President right now of the auxiliary this year.

Ginger Ellington

17:42:55    S-303    C0053

We get three or four people and we go with ice chests and water and Gatoraide and sandwiches sometimes. Just to keep them going. Take wet towels and run around the scene, try to keep them cool.

Jack Ellington

15:16:13    S-303    C0006

As a matter of fact my son my daughter, my daughter in law. All of them come out on the auxiliary when we call them out.

The Ellingtons have made incredible sacrifices to their community, their energy, expertise and time. But their greatest sacrifice came the night their son Jackie was killed while on duty.

Jack Ellington

14:35:25    S-303    C0004  

He had about 27 days of finishing up his rookie year. He was a volunteer at Newcastle as was myself and my oldest brother Jerry. / Great big red headed kid, six foot two 230 lbs. The chest on him was that cotton picking thick, he was a big kid.

Jack Ellington

14:36:39    S-303    C0004

Well it wasn't even Jackie's shift. The chief called and said “I am short handed on Volunteers tonight can you come in and cover?” Jackie is like “O-K no Problem.” And on the way to the station about three quarters of a mile from highway 9 there on 62 and a young lady coming south bound was attempting to give her baby a bottle in the back seat of her car and come across the centerline and hit him head on and killed both of them.

Jack Ellington 

14:34:04    S-303    C0004

You know not only losing a fire fighter but losing a son that is a fire fighter. You know that is just one of my worst nightmares. It happened you know but, people say how do you handle that? Well number one it is an inherent risk in this business. It’s like I told you last night we can walk out that front door at any time and we may not ever walk back in.

Jack Ellington

14:52:52    S-303    C0006

There is a lot of guys after something like that they left this business. But I can't do that. This is just where my heart is and it is probably die doing one of these days.

Ginger Ellington 

17:50:53    S-303    C0054

Jacky did what he enjoyed, and was doing what he enjoyed with the fire dept. and I wouldn't take that away from him. Nor Would I take it away from Jack. It doesn’t' mean I am not scared when he is out doing it. When he is on the way to a call or on the way home or at one. But I wouldn't take that from him.

Jack Ellington

14:37:57    S-303    C0004

I know he is in heaven. I know he is safe I don't have to worry about him. And I know I will see him again one of these days.

Now the Ellingtons’ youngest son Jessie is thinking about joining the fire department.

Ginger

17:55:08    S-303    C0055

I think I have done almost everything I can to talk him out of it.

Ginger Ellington

17:55:48    S-303    C0055

I want him to do it for him. I want it to be his decision and what he wants to do with his life. I don't want him to do it because he thinks that's what Mom & Dad want him to do, or Dad would be proud of him. I want him to do it because it’s really what he wants to do.

Bridge Creek has seen its own tragedy. On May 3^rd, 1999 Jack & Ginger Ellington watched from behind the Blanchard EMS building as a tornado tore through Grady County.

Jack

16:18:10    S-303    C0043

Bridge Creek is six and a half miles that way.

Jack Ellington

16:18:58    S-303    C0043

So we walked out here to this patio, and I'm standing here watching this thing as it's going through Bridge Creek. I can actually see the funnel as it’s on the ground. And the in flow from that tornado is so strong that it's pulling me forward like this, it's hard to stand straight up as that tornado was going through Bridge Creek.

Jack Ellington

16:23:27    S-303    C0044

They know for a fact that the winds were in excess of 400 miles per hour when it went through Bridge Creek. Fastest wind ever recorded on the face of the earth.

Jack Ellington

16:17:07    S-303    C0042

The whole from central part of Bridge Creek to southeast of Bridge Creek was gone, there was nothing left. Missed the school by only about by like 50 or 70 yards, it didn't miss it by much.

Ginger Ellington

17:56:32    S-303    C0055

You could just see everything that was going on and he just said "We got to go."

Jack Ellington

16:15:53    S-303    C0042

My wife and I, she's an emergency medical responder also, we went to Bridge Creek high school is where they had the triage center set up. And the first thing I noticed when I pulled up out front, there's 15 ambulances backed up to the sidewalk, walk in the gym where they had triage set up and it looked like a MASH hospital.

Ginger Ellington

17:56:29    S-303    C0055

They were separating people here, here. When you walked in the door the injuries, O-K you go here and that is the way they were taking them out in ambulances depending on how badly they were hurt.

Ginger Ellington

17:57:02    S-303    C0055

And the community had a long time to recover from that. They had homes, lives; families were just destroyed in more ways than one.

Ginger Ellington

17:58:02    S-303    C0055

Each family has had their own road depending on what devastation they suffered. But as a community and a whole they all came together and if someone needed something they were there for them.

Ginger Ellington

17:58:31    S-303    C0055

I saw Bridge Creek come back together very quickly, actually a lot quicker than I expected.

Being a volunteer also requires an understanding boss. Jack’s paying job is as a paramedic for the Blanchard EMS where John Robinson is the Director.

Richard Robinson

14:33:22   S-302   C0002

I was a volunteer firemen myself once, and I have always been pretty community oriented myself.

Richard Robinson

14:32:52   S-302   C0002

I don't know if I am more understanding or not. I may be to a point because I am willing to stay here sometimes and let them go. I know some of the other ambulance services I have worked for wouldn't even consider it.

Sean House

16:59:52   S-403    C0001

There are some employers they really don't like if you go up to them and say hey we have got something big going on I need to leave. They may be like “Hey, you are here, we are paying you to be here, we are not paying you to go do that.

Jack Ellington

14:45:28 S-303    C0004

In particular in 2005 we a bad wild fire season that year and Governor Henry made a statewide call out and he come down here and he said do you need to go and I said well this is my first priority boss this is what I do. He says if you need to go I will cover you, go.

Richard Robinson 

14:30:47   S-302   C0002

Actually we have quite a few firemen that work here mostly part time. And it is really a big advantage because they have a lot of training that we don't have in this type of business.

Richard Robinson

14:30:47   S-302   C0002

They also have more training in vehicle extrication, hazmat, things like that. That we don't deal with on a regular basis. So some times it is nice to have a fireman in the truck with you to recognize some of the hazards. And they know what to do and can keep everybody a little safer and can get some things started.

Tribal fire departments also depend on volunteers and sometimes use traditional methods, like a controlled burn on a still day.

Rupert Nowlin

14:03:39   S-108    C0021

In the old days they would pick rivers, creeks, canyons and stuff like that to set their fires off of and be safe on the other side. Here we're doing the same thing but we're using an artificial, we're using a county road, but we're also using a North Canadian River which is just on the other side of these sand dunes.

Josh Williams

14:46:46    S-108    C0012

Total, both sides of the river is right at 300 acres. We're probably just going to be doing this side of the river. We may do a little prep work on the other side of the river; it just depends on how everybody's holding up and how it goes over here.

Volunteers see little professional difference between themselves and paid firefighters.

Tim Spratt

19:28:45    S-302    C0101

We take all the same classes. My guys take all the same classes that the paid guys do. My guys do the same job the paid firemen do. They do not receive a check for it. There is no less chance that my guys are going to be injured or killed. Or that we are not going to save a life any different than paid firemen on every call every day.

Sean House

16:58:35   S-403    C0001

You know for the paid guy that is his day to day job. You know you get up in the morning you know where you are going to work. You know what you are doing that do and you do your shift and you come home and you have your days off.

Ginger Ellington

17:49:58    S-303    C0054

We all consider each other family it is an extended family through out the state. It doesn't matter if you are paid or if you are a volunteer. It is a big family.

And just like many Oklahoma families their budget is tight.

Steve George

10:48:16   S-101   C0003  

The current situation with training dollars and with supporting volunteer fire fighters is in most places we are just meeting a minimum level of need.

Jack Ellington

15:02:15    S-303    C0006

There are a lot of fire departments in the state of Oklahoma right now that still don't have enough bunker gear for all their members.

Jack Ellington

15:02:44    S-303    C0006

When they get two guys to go in a house to fight some fire they come back out and take their gear off and someone ain't got it give it to them and let them go in.

Sean House

16:55:32   S-403    C0001

We need volunteers. It is just like a business or just an every day business. You have got people who retire; you have got people that move.

Tim Spratt

19:24:39    S-302    C0101

It is a very serious problem in this state. State wide I talk to chiefs all over the state. Recruitment and retention of volunteers in a recession is really tough. Guys are using their spare time to work other jobs or spend time with their family because they are working other jobs. So it is really hard to recruit and retain fire fighters volunteer firefighters. We have lost several really good firemen due to money issues having to get second jobs to support their families.

Jack Ellington

15:12:36    S-303    C0044

It is not hard to recruit guys. It is hard to keep them once they find out what is going to be required of them and the amount of time you are going to have to spend to full fill those requirements.

Sean House

16:56:14   S-403    C0001  

It is a trained guy going out the door with experience and time and now you are going to have a new guy coming in hopefully have a new guy come in and you start the process over again.

It is a job of great sacrifice, commitment, danger and of great rewards, not in tangible assets but in the satisfaction of knowing that volunteer firefighters are making a difference every day in their community.

Paddy Metcalf

11:36:36    S-101   C0006

It is an adrenaline rush sometimes. It really is. Is it hard work? Sometimes that adrenaline helps you get through the hard work that you have to do.

Ginger Ellington

17:51:16    S-303    C0054

You know not everyone is lucky enough to do the job that they enjoy, and he is lucky enough to do that. He likes to do it. He enjoys it and so how can you call that a job?

Jack Ellington

14:47:07    S-303    C0006

A good bunch of guys to work with though I trust them with my life, with out a doubt.

TRT

BOOTH

THERE ARE OVER 300 FIRE DEPARTMENTS IN OKLAHOMA STAFFED IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY VOLUNTEERS—MORE THAN 15 THOUSAND OF THEM.  MOST OF THOSE DEPARTMENTS ARE LOOKING FOR HELP.

ACCORDING TO THE OKLAHOMA STATE FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION, VOLUNTEERS MUST BE BETWEEN 18 AND 45, WITH A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA OR EQUIVALENT, IN GOOD HEALTH, WITH A GOOD DRIVING RECORD.

MOST VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR INCOME TAX CREDITS AND LIFE INSURANCE.  SOME ARE ELIGIBLE FOR PENSION BENEFITS.

TRAINING IS PROVIDING FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN HELPING KEEP OKLAHOMA’S FIRES UNDER CONTROL.