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even when they are approved, there is a six-month probation period
of active firefighting to be sure the new recruit fits with the firefighting
team. The vetting is so involved, in Moser’s 22 years, he has only seen
one probationary volunteer removed from the fire dept team. When he
completed his testing years ago, it wasn’t available in Yankton and he
had to go out of town to be certified. That’s all in-house now.
“There is a vetting process before all the training starts and I have
been involved in the interview process,” Moser said. “You can get
a pretty good idea about a person as you interview them either by
answers or nuances about the way they act. We are very careful about
adding new volunteers.”
Moser never did find a favorite truck in the fire department’s fleet,
but he admitted he likes to drive the rescue truck to accidents. That
being said, he typically doesn’t drive a truck to a fire because he is in
the back packing up. Some firemen do become specialized in one
truck or another as one of the department’s rules is if a fireman drives
a truck, he has to operate a truck. So, he has to operate the pumper and
know everything about that truck if he drives it. Most firemen come to
the job and grab on to what interests them the most.
When new tactics become approved or new equipment needed,
the city does an excellent job of finding the funding Moser said. The
equipment is always top notch and when new is needed, the volunteers
have access to it. Each fireman has two sets of bunker gear to wear at
fires and many keep one set in their vehicle, which makes it possible
for them to respond directly to the fire instead of heading to the
station.
One item Moser remembers from earlier years of firefighting
were day boots. These rubber boots came up to middle thigh and
their heavy jackets came down and covered the top of these boots.
At one time, the boots, jackets and helmets were carried on the truck
and firemen could travel directly to the fire and gear up there. These
eventually gave way to full-fledge bunker gear. No gear is carried on
the truck anymore, so firefighters have to either answer a call at a
station to gear up or keep a set with them.
In his early years, Moser wanted to be gearing up with air packs and
ready to ride the truck in minutes. As a captain, he takes on a different
role.
“I am more involved with accountability at a fire ground,” Moser
said. “I keep track of the firefighters going in and out of the fire,
checking air packs, watching for exposures, where the fires are taking
off.”
Moser describes the system to keep track of the firefighters at a
scene of a fire. They are all equipped with tags on their helmets and he
makes sure he has the tags for every fireman going in, so they know
how many firemen are in and then again when they come out.
“On occasion I do still get involved in a fire depending on how
many firemen show up at a scene,” Moser said. “But I have always been
a die-hard air pack guy and I always wanted to be in the fire and that
has always been my role through my career.”
Moser has found wearing the pack is getting more challenging over
the years and the younger guys need to be involved more so it is easier
to stay in his role as captain, managing the fire from the outside.
Over the years Moser has collected several memorable fire incidents
and he believes every fireman has incidents they will never forget.
Besides fire calls, the volunteer firemen also answer calls for accidents
in the county to complete extractions. Some of these calls are very
emotional and there’s always a handful of incidents which will never be
forgotten. Counseling and debriefing are always available after fire calls
and especially if there is a death at the scene.
18vHISVOICEvSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018
Accident calls are more frequently heard over the firemen’s pagers
and smart phones today. Even the calls for grass fires have been
more seldom this year. Moser said the firemen are trained in patient
packaging, assist with loading in an ambulance and even set up a
landing zone for the helicopter in some cases. The firemen also do
traffic control around the scene.
“We do what we can,” Moser said.
Although over the years, the department has had hazmat training
thanks to volunteer firemen who worked at some of the manufacturing
plants in Yankton, a bigger concern now are the meth labs and some
of the drugs available for illegal use. A fire in a situation with those
chemicals can cause firemen to go down after just a whiff of what is
cooking in the high heat.
“The unknowns we encounter make it more dangerous all the time,”
Moser said.
Reviewing the volunteer roster, Moser said they just added the
largest group of recruits this year who are fully-certified volunteers but
acknowledging the average age of the volunteers in the Yankton group
is quite high. There are a few firemen who have 30 years of service
under their belt and they may be seeing more turnover.
“As we grow and our responsibilities change, we become parents,
so does our view of the fire department,” Moser said. “I think about
retirement now more than I ever did before and I can see the change
happen in myself and others.”
Moser’s family is quite supportive of his passion for firefighting. His
wife Stephanie is part of a very active Auxiliary, who sponsor many
family-oriented activities for firemen families and provide sandwiches
and support when a fire is raging. His two children, Quentin and
Payton, grew up with the firemen philosophy, knowing when the fire
dept. calls, dad drops everything and goes. Due to his children’s active
schedule, he sometimes misses calls on his smart phone.
“I do hope I have instilled a call to service in my children,” Moser
said.
The department has jumped into the 21st Century by providing an
application on smart phones for those who have one which will notify
the volunteers of a fire or a call. A fireman can respond he is coming
or not, where he is going – the fire station or fire scene and bring up
a map for directions. His movement is also tracked through the GPS
on the phone and the new large screen fire board on the stations’ wall
will list those who responded so it can be checked before the fire trucks
leave. Moser thinks this is a great addition to the fire department’s box
of firefighting tools.
If a fire call is rural, all firefighters have to go to a station as the first
need is to get all the trucks to the scene. Moser added the volunteers
better be quick because the trucks are leaving. When he is at work,
fellow firefighters in his office can have half the truck loaded, waiting
for a guy just a block away, ready to go in 45 seconds. Ideally there
should be three guys in the back of a fire engine packing up, one driver
and one operating the radio and sirens.
All the firemen carry a pager even if they have a smart phone.
Moser said it’s part of his apparel even when he goes out of town.
“Most of the time I forget I even have it on,” Moser said.
Sometimes when Moser is out of town and his phone app alerts him to
a call, his first reaction is regret he’s missing the fire because he always
wants to be there to help.
“There’s a lot of experience and knowledge in our department and I
trust every man in the department,” Moser said. “You have to be able
to depend and trust the guy next to you fighting the fire. All of our
firefighters are pretty dedicated to the training and realize it’s best for
the safety of all.”
Dedication pays off as well. n