Team Fairchild fights fires with Airway Heights Volunteer Fire Department

August 15, 1997
Originally published by Fairchild Connection (Fairchild AFB, WA)

The fire blazed out of control on the corner of Loffler and West 12th Street in Airway Heights. Searing flames had grown from a small brushfire into a block-long inferno. Where was the fire department when you needed them?

They were already there. Airway Heights' Volunteer Fire Department routinely trains at the wide open field and had the fire quelled--with a lot of hose work. The staff includes many active-duty military members. Most of the members from Fairchild are usually at the department to train every Wednesday.

"I've been doing this a long time. It's in the blood," said SrA. Dave Pelachik, information manager for the USAF Survival School here. It's all about fostering a good relationship between the base and the town."

Members of the department volunteer as firefighters, CPR instructors, and emergency medical technicians. According to Pelachik, 45 percent of the department of volunteers is staffed by active-duty base personnel.

Assistant Fire Chief Doug Bonstrom gave a class on arson prevention. Most arson incidents stem from fires started by burnt trash and cigarettes, he said. Bonstrom set fire to a bag of potato chips and gave pointers on arson detection as the contents burned.

"By looking at the oils and residue from the flames and analyzing it closely, we can determine what was burned, how long it took, and what was used to burn it with," Bonstrom said as the potato chips were transformed to barbecued ones.

What makes SSgt. Ted Pfaff so unusual is that he is not only an active duty member doing firefighter volunteer work, he is also a resident and lives at the station.

"I'm not just serving my country, I'm serving my community," Pfaff said. "That's what I want to do, to help people. I get a lot of support at work from my superiors." He has been volunteering for almost a year and had lived at the station for six months.

Pfaff, of the 92nd Supply Squadron, is also a certified EMT technician, having been qualified since April. "In addition to being active duty and being a firefighter, I want to improve the community in some way," he said.

"This gives us a chance to do something on the outside," said SrA. Chris Feldman of the Washington Air National Guard. "It's good for community service relations and also for our job ratings."

Reserve Specialist Thomas Wilson, an Army Ranger, had another reason to be on the department. "I've been to a lot of coutries, a lot of places. It's time for me to give back." Wilson has deployed to Haiti, Cuba, Somalia, Saudi and Bosnia.

The department does firefighting and protection, emergency medical services, and rescue missions. According to Pelachik, 80 percent of the calls are medical related. The crew provides basic life support for all of Airway Heights and are the first response team, Pelachik said.

"We do everything a regular fire department does. Most of us are EMTs and some of us are CPR instructors also," Pelachik said.

Bonstrom said that many people from the base ask for a chance to join, but must meet the 12 hours duty a week requirement and make training events. "People that are here don't just meet the minimum hours. They want to be here. Once they get here, they work on their skills, we get them familiar with the trucks and equipment, and they start going on calls."

Usually, the group concentrates on one area during training nights, but this time "was a hodgepodge," according to Bonstrom. The crew recieves lessons in arson detection, truck ladder drills, hose line training.

"We only have one truck committed to the training area on those nights, so when we get a call during that time, the others can take off," Bonstrom said.

Fire Chief Tony Combs has been with the department since 1980. He became chief in 1986. "I think military members have more experience because a lot of them in our section did firefighting before they joined," he said. The largest number from Fairchild are those from survival school, he added.

Combs credited Fairchild with giving good support and backing of the volunteer work the active duty members do at his station. "I'd have to say that Fairchild has been supportive of our people that are also tied (to the military) and in a lot of cases in the civilian world, the regular jobs don't do that," he said.