All in a day’s work: Firefighters balance checklists and tedium with adversity and peril

An inside look at a day in the life of two Windsor
firefighters
by Nathan Wright, Staff Writer
Every morning at 8 a.m., two men begin a 24-hour journey at the
Windsor Fire Department.
This journey is like most people’s nine-to-five work day. Each
man shows up to work, looks over his tasks for the day, and gets
started. They take breaks for meals, gossip with coworkers, and
wonder how they could have spent their entire paycheck already.
Of course, most people’s work day isn’t constantly interrupted
by alarms that incite a mad scramble for a truck that leads to a
mad dash across town.
On the morning of Friday, September 5, WFPD Engineer Chad Costa
shows up to work and readies himself for his daily duties. “In the
morning, my first priority is to make sure all of my equipment is
ready to go,” he says. Engineers at the fire department drive the
fire trucks, and are responsible to make sure the vehicles are in
prime working condition.
As Costa digs in and begins working through his checklist, which
normally lasts 90 minutes, a loud alarm sounds. Costa and Fire
Captain Dean Crothers jump into engine 7280 and rush toward Rincon
Valley. It isn’t in their district, but all local fire districts
routinely ask for aid from their neighbors when necessary.
The firefighters reach Highway 101 before being called off.
Rincon Valley has the situation under control.
Costa and Crothers return to the station. “We’re already
behind,” jokes Crothers as the two firefighters recall what they
had been doing and get back to work.
Costa returns to his trucks, checking the engine, the pumps, and
the gear stored in the dozens of shelves and compartments. “It’s
not that often that something goes wrong,” he said. “You usually
catch it before anything goes wrong. That’s why we check them every
day.”
Costa is one of three engineers who work for the Windsor Fire
Department. The three engineers, like the three fire captains who
make up the three teams who watch over the district, work unique
schedules. According to Costa, he works four 24- hour shifts,
staggered on an every-other-day basis. For example, last week he
worked 24-hour shifts on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
After the four day shift, he has four days off before his next
cycle of shifts. After that second cycle, he takes six days off. On
average, a firefighter works 11 24-hour days a month, which totals
264 hours. A normal 40 hour a week job comes out to 160 hours a
month.
“Yeah, but you spend lots of that time sleeping,” said Crothers,
imitating the response that many people give him when he explains
his hours. Both Costa and Crothers reported less, and sometimes far
less, than eight hours of sleep each night.
The night before, Costa was volunteering for another district
when a truck rushed through a stop sign and struck a car with a
family of five inside. A little girl died shortly after, and her
brother was airlifted to Oakland in critical condition. These
incidents make for some long nights for firefighters.
“I ended up not going to sleep until three in the morning,” said
Costa, who said he was really worked up after the accident. Costa
was due at work by 8 a.m. the next morning, and got less than four
hours of sleep before beginning a 24 hour shift.
To make up for lost sleep, Costa said that firefighters often
use large portions on their days off to get some sleep. “You waste
a lot of your days off sleeping,” he said.
As the day progresses, the team of Costa and Crothers are kept
busy with cleaning and maintenance. The department doesn’t use
janitors, and the firefighters keep both of the district’s fire
stations clean.
“There’s always stuff to do,” said Costa. “It’s never ending.”
According to Costa, the firefighters often stay up until 11 p.m. to
1 a.m. working on projects, then turn in for what they hope is a
decent night’s sleep. Any calls – which happen often – disrupt that
sleep, throwing off any chance of a normal routine.
Because of budget constraints, the district only staffs one
engine company at a time. This team must go to every call. If two
calls come in at once, the second call must wait for the outside
assistance from neighboring districts or for the Windsor engine
company to finish with the first call.
The district is currently asking the community to pass a parcel
tax that would allow it to increase to two engine companies. The
second company would staff a new fire station to be built across
from Windsor High School.
As Costa’s day continues, he works on projects, does cleaning
around the station, and tries to fit in some training. As calls
come in, he drops everything and rushes out. When the day finally
comes to its conclusion, he’s ready for sleep.
“By the fourth day,” he says, “You’re exhausted.”
Windsor voters have received ballots in the mail for the WFPD
parcel tax election. Completed ballots are due at the Sonoma County
Registrar of Voters office not later than 8 p.m., September 16. To
make sure ballots are received in time, it is now recommended that
voters hand deliver their ballots to the registrar’s office at 435
Fiscal Drive, Santa Rosa.