It May Be The Toughest Duty In The Spokane Fire Department, But The Crew Of Station No. 3 Relishes The Action On… The Hot Seat

A woman leaves her sprinkler on at night, and the neighborhood firefighters respond.

A dog’s head is stuck in a dryer vent, and firefighters help out.

They answer calls for drunks who fall on the street, elderly residents who fall out of bed and kids suffering from an upset stomach.

Last week they responded to a raging apartment fire during which residents escaped out a second-story window.

Welcome to the fire station at 1713 W. Indiana, which handled more calls than any other fire station in the city of Spokane last year.

The station is home to just one unit, Engine 3, staffed by three firefighters who work 24-hour shifts. The 12 people who work in the station during a week logged 2,132 responses in its primary coverage area in 1995.

Though two downtown units went to almost as many calls citywide as the engine from West Indiana, no unit was even close in first responses, the real measure of intensity.

“For the most part, we’re out every night in the middle of the night,” said Engine 3 firefighter Todd Chism. “A lot of people don’t understand why you’d put in a letter to come to 3. They think you’re crazy.

“We’re kind of the black sheep of the fire department.”

Last week, the station had one of the only working fires in the city at 2619 W. Sharp. When firefighters from West Indiana arrived on the scene March 27, smoke was billowing from the roof, and tenants were jumping from a second-story window.

It was typical of the fires they see in the North Spokane neighborhood: an older home with multiple roofs and lots of attic space where a blaze can snake and linger.

“This is what we live for. This is our fun,” said Terry Smith, an Engine 3 driver. “We don’t like sitting on our hands. We like getting dirty.”

Not all their calls are life-threatening. The typical North Side firehouse handled less than three fires a month last year. Most of their time was devoted to medical emergencies.

Some of Engine 3’s calls in recent years include: A kid was stung by a bee at 2 a.m. and the family didn’t know what to do; an elderly woman left her sprinkler on and was afraid to go outside at night to turn it off; a little girl ate too much rhubarb and had a stomach ache.

Elderly people often fall out of bed and call firefighters instead of relatives. Police call firefighters to look at scrapes and bruises on crime suspects. Bartenders call for help handling drunk patrons.

Two years ago a girl got her foot stuck in a plastic doll house. Last fall a dog’s head was stuck in a dryer vent, and a kitten got caught in ductwork.

Firefighters helped them all.

“You can’t help but laugh,” said Doug Bacon, who has been assigned to Engine 3 for five years. “But when these people call us, they aren’t laughing.

“We’re the only city organization that will be at your house 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We’ll be at your house and we’ll be there fast. People know that.

“It may not be an emergency, but we’re going to help you.”

The type and frequency of calls handled by a fire station are defined by its neighborhood.

There are bars, restaurants, group homes, apartments and older single-family homes around the West Indiana fire station.

Its coverage area extends from Interstate 90 to Wellesley and the Spokane River to Division.

“People in this neighborhood, they want help, they call the Fire Department. People on the South Hill, they make an appointment to see the doctor,” said Fire Battalion Chief Steve Sabo.

The type of equipment used also defines the character of a fire station. Ladder companies, for instance, are designed to ventilate roofs and handle flames at higher elevations. Those units are more likely to answer calls all over the city.

Response time is driven by neighborhood character. Engine 3 is centered in a highly urbanized area with gridlike streets and a dense population.

It had one of the quickest response times last year.

Engine No. 17, at 5121 W. Lowell, was very much the opposite last year. It covers a sprawling geographic area that includes Indian Trail Road and Five Mile Prairie. Homes are spread out, and roads dead-end and weave through neighborhoods. Engine 17 responded to far fewer calls last year and took longer to get there.

“They have quite a drive to get to the population pockets,” said Fire Chief Bobby Williams. He also said a few calls on the far reaches of Five Mile Prairie can skew the average response time.

Williams said most firefighters are accommodated on requests for placement at stations.

Some prefer a more residential setting. Others want a station with more life-support calls or a larger station with a mix of units and firefighters.

Firefighters at Engine 3 say some people may be uncomfortable in a firehouse with just three people on duty. The largest station has 12 firefighters on each shift.

“You see a lot of differences in the type of calls. One area has a lot of heart attacks versus treating someone after an assault with a fight from alcohol,” said Chief Williams.

There’s no doubt that the firefighters on West Indiana prefer the fires.

First on the scene in last week’s blaze, Engine 3 firefighters Mike Rossi and Dale Michael raced inside the old apartment building before other units arrived. They opened up walls and pounded out ventilation holes inside the building.

Rossi, 27, has been with the department less than four years and now is permanently assigned to Engine 3. “As soon as I came on, I heard 3 was the hot spot,” he said. “Ever since I’ve been on the job, it’s been my goal to get stationed here.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo Graphic: How fast are they responding?