The Orange County Register
ALISO VIEJO — Michael Peat gets around OK with his walker, but he almost flies when it’s time to hop down from the fire engine to shake Battalion Chief Roger James’ hand.
Peat, who has cerebral palsy, accomplished his goal of visiting every Orange County Fire Authority station Friday, completing what’s become a six-year journey for his family at Station 57 in Aliso Viejo. It all began when he saw a firefighter playing the bagpipes outside Station 17 near his home in Cerritos. Michael, 18, asked his father to stop to see more, and he became almost instantly fascinated by the gear and the job.
“Like any young man, all the big equipment was attractive to him,” his father, Jon, said. “Now he’s got the bug.”
Michael, along with his father and mother, Bonnie, began visiting fire stations every few weekends. At every station, Jon Peat said, the firefighters were inviting and excited to tell Michael about their work. Often they’d meet firefighters based at stations from other parts of the county.
“We started getting to be friends, and then they’d invite us,” Jon Peat said.
Now, 62 stations later, the family talks easily about fire equipment and sometimes listens to firefighters’ radio communications through a scanner. Michael rattles off the numbers and locations of Orange County fire stations and can name many of the firefighters whose photographs fill a scrapbook documenting his experience.
“They treat him as he’s one of the guys, which I think is probably what makes him feel most special,” Jon Peat said.
At Station 57, Michael tried his hand controlling the fire hose, petted a search-and-rescue dog and inspected the paramedic van.
“We’ve had a few opportunities to call the paramedics ourselves,” Jon Peat said. “Fortunately, that’s all behind us now.”
If he were a firefighter now, Michael said, he’d rather respond to medical emergencies than fight fires. During childhood, Michael had trouble with seizures and underwent numerous surgeries, including four on his brain.
“We’ve had our ups and downs,” Bonnie Peat said.
She points to a photo in the scrapbook of Michael in a wheelchair and hospital gown. While recovering from a surgery at CHOC, he spied firefighters during a walk outside. Of course, Michael had to say hello and take a photo with the firetruck.
“Engine, not a truck,” Michael corrects his mother.
Even on vacation, the family tries to visit fire stations, and now that they’ve completed this goal, they may go on to visit stations from the other fire departments in the county. For the firefighters, seeing someone so excited about their work makes the visits a pleasure, James said.
“I used to chase fire engines,” he said. “It kind of brings us back to why we got into fire service in the beginning.”
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