Short Visit to Station 3 - OCFD

I dropped in on Station 3 with the Ogden City Fire Department this afternoon. The Captain was on duty, and I met two other station members as well. I took a tour of the building. I had a nice visit.

The building: just inside the front Bay door sits the engine, which is a loaner because their regular one is out for some undisclosed reason. It leaks water - drip, drip, drip, drip - onto the floor of the bay. It was said they need to fill it twice per day every day to make sure it is full of water for a call. The passenger seat is coming apart at the seams, and is like sitting on a wooden park bench. When strapped in with the seat belt, I was forced to sit at a 90 degree angle, with a bulge in my back - some piece of crucial equipment behind the seat.

Just at the back of the Bay is the exercise quarter - includes two elliptical-type machines, which are not adequate for keeping in top physical condition for when they have to pass their rigorous physical testing each year.

They have a nice TV on the wall in the Living Room, with comfy chairs all around. However, I was cautioned to sit down carefully, as the one I was about to sit in has a habit of tipping over backward if you lean back too much. The swamp cooler was working this day.

The Kitchen has cabinets that look like they belong in some old German Army barracks from WWII - they have no dishwasher - no AUTOMATIC dishwasher, that is. It seems that is a big concern because they are in contact with many sick people when carrying out the duties of their daily jobs.

They have female quarters, which includes separate sleeping quarters and showers - I understand it took a long time to acquire these separate quarters for the women at the station. They also have the men's quarters, with bigger sleeping quarters, and older showers. The showers and locker room areas have a distinct odor of mold and mildew - there is actually mildew visible in the corners of the tile showers. They can only afford Comet to clean with - no CLR or mold/mildew removers in the budget.

The basement - kind of scary: dark stairways, crumbling walls and definitely a musty smell. This area is used mostly for storage.

The building is of an age that when it was built, lath and plaster was the current method of forming walls - this plaster and the covering is coming off in many places that are visible, and crumbling at the base of the walls.

Interesting that they have to tolerate these working / living conditions; I say living conditions because each member of the station works a 24 hour shift - so it can be considered a second home every other day.

Also interesting is the fact that NEW firefighters who join the department receive the same pay as those who have been there a while - in other words the firefighters are not getting raises. As a consequence, the newly trained and highly desireable firefighters don't stay with the department -- they move on to departments in other cities with better benefits. Said benefits anywhere else would also include a local newspaper -- because in Ogden, they don't get the paper anymore.

Nice things were said about the current city council. Stories were told about engines breaking down on the way to or on location of a structure fire. It happens more than people realize - and the station members are of the opinion that our administration doesn't really care about any or all of these issues.

I tell you as a citizen -- after my visit to the station and hearing what they had to say, I am worried -- it is a scary situation and I just hope no big catastrophe happens downtown, because they are just flat underequipped and underfunded to handle it.

I tell you as a candidate -- I am worried, and I hope that the bond between the council and the Fire Department will continue to grow. I hope somehow we can re-prioritize things a little bit to make sure the citizens of Ogden are safe and that they feel safe.

Jennifer Neil