On Friday ImbodenLive was allowed to observe a shift at the Walnut Ridge Fire Department. The reason for this visit was an effort to collect photos of the department during the course of a normal business day for the website www.walnutridgefd.com .
The day started nice and early, a 7 a.m. shift change at the Main station. The firemen from the previous shift were going home and the current shift was coming on duty. WRFD works 24 hour shifts with the firemen staying overnight at the station which is equipt with living quarters and a full kitchen.
I was informed that each weekday has an assigned task such as cleaning the living quarters on a certain day, cleaning the bays on another day, washing the trucks on a certain day and Friday was the day that all equiptment is started, ran and checked to make sure it is in running order. So just after the shift started the emergency back up generator was started and all trucks were taken out, driven and all equiptment on board was started and checked. This included the ladder truck that is named Tower One. This truck has a 100 foot tall platform that is extended and checked to be in proper working order.
Once completed Captain Chris Jones began his project of leveling the rear parking lot which was draining water into the rear bay of the building. With the help of Penn Farms of Portia and one big John Deere tractor they removed over a foot of chat in some areas and placed it in lower areas, making the parking lot drain properly. Captain Jones stated that the firemen are constantly making improvements on the very large building and property. During the day we visited the other two stations and the Air Museum at the airport which houses one of Walnut Ridges Old Firetrucks on display.
During our visit which lasted 24 hours we asked thousands of questions and took tons of pictures. It was a pretty calm day and night for the WRFD with the department making only one offical call at 4 a.m. in the morning. There was another call early that morning when Firefighter Zac Smith rescued a cat from a tree, I was told this is his second cat rescue.
Our shift ended at 7 a.m. Saturday. We would like to thank Chief Alan Haskins, Captain Chris Jones, Fireman Quentin Cato, Fireman Ryan Jones, Code Enforcement Officer/Fireman Robert Rice and a special Thank You for Fireman Zac Smith, cat lovers everywhere have you in their hearts. Thanks to all at the WRFD for taking such good care of us and we invite you to visit www.WalnutRidgeFD.com .
