GS-7 John S. Martin
Fire Inspector
452 MSG/CEF
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
0600 Start up the truck, bob and weave through traffic from Rancho Cucamonga; destination March.
0645 Arrive for duty (on time hopefully); participate in Fire Prevention office staff meeting with assistant chief and other inspectors.
0730 Roll Call for departing and arriving shift personnel. Pass on all pertinent information.
0800 Issue Hot Works permit to contractor requesting permission to begin working on base. I hope he doesn’t set off the alarm accidentally… let me cross my fingers.
0900 Meet up with facility managers to conduct annual facility inspections. I have to ensure life/fire safety programs and tasks are being done properly. As part of my walk through, I hear some guy joking about hiding the gasoline and matches…everyone wants to be a comedian!
1030 Emergency response declared by dispatch! The alarm from one of our facilities has been tripped. I put on my gear, jump into the Captain’s seat and size up information given. Arrive on scene to find out previously mentioned contractor did, accidentally set off heat/smoke detector.
1130 Lunchtime! Forgot my lunch at home. Need to find out what the other guys brought and decide which one to mooch off.
1300 Work call. The afternoon begins with servicing a water hydrant to calculate pressure and capacity of unit. End up with only my pants and work boots wet; shirt stayed dry. That is a successful test.
1400 Instruct an initial Fire Extinguisher course for base personnel. I have 20 students scheduled, only three show up and they sit to the rear of the classroom.
1500 Time to work out. One of the perks with this job is the hour allotted for P.T. each day. I dress out, mix my sports drink, and turn on the Maury show while I lay down on one of our workout benches.
1615 Quitting time! Say goodnight to all my coworkers, jump into my truck for the journey back to Rancho Cucamonga.
1700 Arrive at the house (hopefully mine). Another day in the books. I can’t help but feel I have made a difference in someone’s life. Can’t wait for 0600 again tomorrow.
GS-7 John S. Martin
Fire Inspector
452 MSG/CEF
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
0600 Start up the truck, bob and weave through traffic from Rancho Cucamonga; destination March.
0645 Arrive for duty (on time hopefully); participate in Fire Prevention office staff meeting with assistant chief and other inspectors.
0730 Roll Call for departing and arriving shift personnel. Pass on all pertinent information.
0800 Issue Hot Works permit to contractor requesting permission to begin working on base. I hope he doesn’t set off the alarm accidentally… let me cross my fingers.
0900 Meet up with facility managers to conduct annual facility inspections. I have to ensure life/fire safety programs and tasks are being done properly. As part of my walk through, I hear some guy joking about hiding the gasoline and matches…everyone wants to be a comedian!
1030 Emergency response declared by dispatch! The alarm from one of our facilities has been tripped. I put on my gear, jump into the Captain’s seat and size up information given. Arrive on scene to find out previously mentioned contractor did, accidentally set off heat/smoke detector.
1130 Lunchtime! Forgot my lunch at home. Need to find out what the other guys brought and decide which one to mooch off.
1300 Work call. The afternoon begins with servicing a water hydrant to calculate pressure and capacity of unit. End up with only my pants and work boots wet; shirt stayed dry. That is a successful test.
1400 Instruct an initial Fire Extinguisher course for base personnel. I have 20 students scheduled, only three show up and they sit to the rear of the classroom.
1500 Time to work out. One of the perks with this job is the hour allotted for P.T. each day. I dress out, mix my sports drink, and turn on the Maury show while I lay down on one of our workout benches.
1615 Quitting time! Say goodnight to all my coworkers, jump into my truck for the journey back to Rancho Cucamonga.
1700 Arrive at the house (hopefully mine). Another day in the books. I can’t help but feel I have made a difference in someone’s life. Can’t wait for 0600 again tomorrow.