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Budgeting to meet the needs of the community.
“The biggest challenge we face in the Central Valley is our budget. It’s a constant struggle to maintain the resources we need to serve our community.
“One step we’re taking to address this is fire regionalization. Two other agencies are now contracting with the Modesto Fire Department for fire services, so we’ll realize some savings and see some revenue from that.”
Recruiting is not a problem here.
“We do well with recruitment. Interest in the fire service is strong in California. We provide potential firefighters many educational opportunities, and the job itself has a lot of natural publicity that comes with it.
“Modesto also offers an explorer program for students ages 16-20 that’s affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, and several of our employees have graduated from that program.”
It’s all about the moments.
“There’s no one rewarding moment in my career. For me, it’s all about the opportunities when you get to see that your actions affected someone’s life in a positive way. As the chief, I am honored to engage with the public and support our firefighters and the difference they make.”
The fire service is in my blood.
“I’m a fourth-generation firefighter. My great grandfather was a firefighter in Oregon, my grandfather served in Monterey, Calif., and my dad served in Sacramento. And, my son is now in the fire science program Sierra College.”
We hope the community recognizes the toll the job takes on us.
“This is a very demanding job. One concern of ours is that the community doesn’t recognize the toll it takes on us — the toll it takes on our mental health … Suicides outpaced line-of-duty deaths in the fire service last year. We see horrific scenes, and when you’re talking about a 30-year career, it just keeps building up.
“We’re paying a lot of attention to the mental health of our department. To that end, we’ve added a behavioral health specialist to our staff and instituted a health and wellness program to ensure everyone gets the help they need, whether it’s with home or work.”
Cancer rates are much higher for the fire service.
“We also started a cancer reduction program. There are many dangers that are visible, but it’s the dangers we don’t see that are really affecting us. The chemicals associated with the fires we go to are really dangerous, even at a house fire.
“As a result, the cancer rates are much higher for the fire service. We’re taking steps to reduce exposure, including emergency decontamination, cleaning equipment and clothing in an extractor, showering immediately after a call, etc.”
Getting kids involved.
“We also started a hands-only CPR program in which we taught every middle school kid in the city how to recognize the need for and initiate CPR. We’re now going to the high schools also.”
-Chief Alan Ernst, Modesto Fire Department, California