At Station No.. 3, They're Always Fired Up

The Middleburg firefighters: (left to right) Tech Jerry Dean, Captain Jeff Garner, Firefighter Greg Strickland, firefighter/paramedic Adam White, firefighter Sam Gomez, firefighter Jeff Staub.

By M.J. McAteer

At Middleburg Fire Station No. 3, every day is the same but different. Set-in-stone routine can, at any moment, be shattered by adrenalinespiking emergencies or by requests for more mundane assistance, such as getting the cliched cat out of a tree.

Since restructuring in 2015 to move away from volunteer staffing, six professional firefighters are always on duty to provide Middleburg and other parts of Western Loudoun with any and all requests for fire and rescue services.

Jeffrey Garner, who started out volunteering at a fire station at age 14 and now has 33 years of service, is the station captain, and he explained the usual routine at Station No. 3.

On arrival at 6 a.m. for a shift that lasts until 6 a.m. the next day, the first order of business is, without fail, sorting out equipment. Firefighters put their flameresistant pants, coats and helmets on the various “apparatus”--Middleburg has a fire engine, a brush truck, a tanker and an advanced-life support ambulance--the better to meet the mandate that they be able to clear the fire station within two minutes of a call.

Next, they inspect their various vehicles to ensure they are in perfect working order. Station No. 3 keeps its apparatus sparkling clean even though the back roads in its service area can be a muddy mess.

Once assured that all the equipment is ready to roll, like so many members of today’s working world, the fire crew members disperse to check emails before gathering for a communal breakfast.

Twenty-four hour shifts mean firefighters eat three meals while on duty, but the county doesn’t provide the food. Instead, crews generally chip into a kitty and stock up on supplies for a 90 days at a time.“We try to eat as healthy as we can,” Garner said.

The rest of the day is spent on training, mostly on-line, but one firefighter is constructing a maze on the station’s mezzanine. The crew will then turn out the lights and practice maneuvering in a dark and confined space that mimics conditions that might be encountered at a fire.

The firefighters share cooking and cleanup duties. Over dinner, they might critique their response to a recent call before watching a movie and heading to bed. Station No. 3 has six bunk rooms, so each firefighter has privacy. They work every fourth day, a total of seven or eight days a month.

Still at any time, a call can come in and explode this lulling routine.

“You don’t know if you’re going to run or if you’re going to run anything,” Garner said, though, on average, the station gets two or three requests for service a day, mostly EMS calls. The firefighters also frequently respond to car accidents and reports of gas leaks and hazardous materials, sometimes remaining in the field for many hours.

They go out on less dire calls, too—freeing kids stuck in playground equipment, cutting rings off swollen fingers (the station has a special tool for that), even rescuing ducklings from storm drains. Whatever the need, great or small, Systemwide Fire Chief Keith Johnson said, “Never hesitate to call.”

Both Johnson and Garner stress that firefighters will install smoke alarms in homes with parts and labor free for the asking. They consider smoke alarms lifeand-death equipment. “You can’t detect a fire when you’re sleeping,” Johnson said.

Being in a rural area, Station No. 3 has a special set of challenges. A lack of fire hydrants means that the firefighters have to bring water with them. Finding addresses also can be difficult.

With so many large properties in the area, fires also can go undetected until they are well advanced. Barn fires, often caused by alternative heat sources, such as heat lamps to keep the chickens warm, are common.

“Old barns take off very quickly, and typically there is not a lot that we can do,” Johnson said.

Being a firefighter is “kind of a calling,” Garner said. “You have to want to help people, and you have to understand the dangers.” One danger he avoids, however, is Station No. 3’s fireman’s pole. It takes training to use the pole without getting hurt.

“They look cool,” Garner said, “but I prefer the stairs.