Copyright 2006 Cheyenne Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
By MICHELLE DYNES
Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne)
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Even in the desert, a fire is still a fire.
Six firefighters from Laramie County Fire District 1 answered the call to fight fires in Iraq in the last year. Serving as contract firefighters for security company Wackenhut Fire and Emergency Services, these volunteers got a chance to fight fires professionally, said district fire chief Dennis West.
“Basic firefighting is the same anywhere,” he said. “If a building is on fire, you attack it whether it’s here in Cheyenne or it’s in Baghdad.”
He added that the contract was for a year-long tour, but the firefighters can sign on for more.
Don Titzler was the first to go overseas. A month later, Brad West, Mike Baragar, Mark Rudkin and Justin Dykes applied. They were shortly followed by Mike Brinkman.
“They want to do it full-time, and there aren’t many job openings,” West said.
He added that if he were younger, he’d probably join too. Instead he encouraged his 27-year-old son, Brad, to take the plunge.
“I told him, ‘Take it as a life experience,’” West said. “‘Normally you never would have been able to do it.’ That’s the way I looked at my military career when I was overseas.”
While some of the firefighters went as a group, they were separated for work. West said Brad West and Mike Brinkman were assigned to Abu Ghraib prison.
Their job duties were similar to a career fire department such as Cheyenne Fire and Rescue, he said. They inspected buildings, checking on things like sprinkler systems. They also fought blazes both big and small.
At Abu Ghraib, there were two major fires.
A combination of candles and an electrical malfunction destroyed a section of living quarters. Another fire broke out in the prisoners’ kitchen. A diesel tank leaked into a burner where bread was being made.
West said the returning members of his department will be able to pass on their Iraq training. The certification they earned in a year would normally take two to three years for a volunteer firefighter. They also got Department of Defense training and certification.
But it wasn’t easy losing experienced firefighters, even if it was only for a year. Members of the departing group each had an average of three to four years of experience with the Cheyenne-area fire district.
“When you lose trained firefighters, you have to train new ones,” he said.
The loss didn’t affect service. The department answered 924 calls last year, an average of 75 to 90 calls each month.
Assistant fire chief Travis Kechter said he appreciated the remaining volunteers stepping it up to make up for the gap.
Lt. Aaron Fowler said he was just fine with staying behind.
“I think it takes a lot of guts,” he said.
West said six volunteers are going through training now. But his missing department members will return just in time.
The district is in the process of constructing a station in the Winchester Hills area. And with two stations, the extra experience and help will come in handy, he said.
Local firefighters, Brad West, left, Mark Rudkin and Mike Baragar, were among six who agreed to work as contract firefighters in Iraq for a year.