Tierrasanta Local Heroes: Firehouse Station #39

Tierrasanta Local Heroes: Firehouse Station #39

In the town of Tierrasanta where Camp Elliot once stood, a very important staple of the community lies.

Fire Station #39. Opened in June 1976 after Tierrasanta was established as one of San Diego’s first planned communities (in the late 1960s to early 1970s). Station #39 is said to be one of the smallest Fire Stations in San Diego.

Fire Captain McLaughlin, husband and father of 2, calls the station “a home away from home”. It operates 24 hours, 7 days a week hence why they are also called “Fire Houses”. The crew holds many responsibilities in preparation to respond to any and all emergencies in the community. The Captain’s duties, oversees daily responsibilities, manage administrative tasks such as scheduling, keeping timecards, logging incoming and outgoing calls, and making sure every firefighter is up to date on their required training. Daily morning meetings overview recent past and present events making plans for the new day. Afterwards a daily run and physical training is essential.

Engineers drive the fire engine, check the fire engines daily making sure all mechanics are functioning properly at every given moment. During the day, firefighters handle day-to-day “house” chores cleaning the station including bathrooms, floors, kitchen, windows. Crew must be “response ready” at all times. Cooking is vital to the station’s success as you can imagine feeding a crew breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it may need to be done fast at times when emergency calls. “Got to learn how to cook pretty good”, said new to the team EMT Jesse Cordova, who admitted he knew “not much”. “You need to learn to make 3-5 meals within a small budget for lunch and dinner”, stated paramedic Richie Giesen, who joked that “you’ll get very honest feedback” about the quality of your meals so they better be edible. On a more serious note, Fire Captain McLaughlin stated the importance of “stop at any time because you could get a call at any time, and come back to a meal that isn’t totally ruined”, although he did acknowledge that it can happen at times.

Given its wonderful location directly next to Tierrasanta’s cherished Library, Fire Station #39 is a vital part of the Tierrasanta Community. “We’re the only station within close range of thousands of homes and businesses, so when anything happens in this area, we are the ones to respond fast”, Captain McLaughlin explains. McLaughlin pointed out that the next closest stations are near Montgomery Field and Snapdragon Stadium in Mission Valley, making it necessary for crews of other divisions to support Station #39 if ever the need arose.

As we know, Station #39 has had to deal with their fair share of significant fires, including wildfires, house fires and more. Cal Coast Credit Union was burned down last year, and more recently, Captain McLaughlin and his crew had to deal with a vehicle running into a home, as well as an accident on CA-52 on a windy night when significant winds blew fire towards Tierrasanta.

It’s not just putting out fires that makes Fire station #39 heroic. For example, complicated matters in an accident referenced above, the driver in the accident was also going through cardiac arrest at the time, requiring emergency medical assistance from the fire crew.

Fire station #39’s hard work and selfless acts for the community don’t go unnoticed. Far from it, Captain McLaughlin points out how many in the Tierrasanta Community show their deep appreciation of what they do and show it. McLaughlin describes the support the firefighters receive from the community as “almost unrivaled”. The support they receive is very wide-ranging, from gifts to an open invitation at community events.

McLaughlin and his crew elaborated on a local business owner who goes by “TK” having the station’s front yard “totally re-done”, raising “a bunch of money” for the station, and even getting them a new smoker! Glenn, employee at the local Smart and Final is another that shows loyal support. “Glenn goes out of his way to

know us. He and his wife bring us donuts on the 1st Sunday of every month!”, McLaughlin elaborates.

The Hall family from Boy Scouts of America have provided a Christmas Eve dinner for the station every year for the past 23 years, and one Thanksgiving added 22 pies, joking that they still might have some in the freezer.

The military is also extremely grateful for the firefighters’ service to the community. Driver and engineer Eli Majors, a self-described “army brat” from a military family himself, stated “The military is very supportive and very thankful for what we do. As an army brat myself, our crew is very sympathetic and understanding of what the kids of military families have to go through sometimes”. The crew was even gifted a challenge coin of Medal of Honor recipient Robert J. Modrezewski. “Not every day do you get to know a Medal of Honor recipient on a first-name basis. Pretty cool”, remarked Majors.

The presence of the crew is welcomed, and celebrated at various local events throughout the year. The crew noted that the Tierrasanta Town Council reserved spots for them at the eight nights during the summer where there were “Concerts at the Park” at the Community Center. Community support and love absolutely go

both ways. Recognizing the importance of staying engaged with the youth in the region, the crew offers school and group tours, which they explain can be scheduled either by invitation to the school (as well as groups such as local Boy and Girl Scout Troops). Neighborhood families also regularly bring their children and grandchildren for tours of the station.

The Department’s Cadet program offers local youth, beginning at age 18 (or 16 with parental approval) to 21, the opportunity to learn things such as how to put on & clean equipment, perform drills such as throwing ladders & tying ropes, and generally learning about the daily life of a firefighter and how things work at the station on a typical day. The crew cites the reasoning for this program as a way to get the youth involved, as youth can get their EMT in this process and it can provide a pathway to becoming a firefighter.

Providing crucial services with selfless dedication and genuine appreciation for the community has made the crew of Firehouse Station #39 a vital part of the Tierrasanta neighborhood. With mutual appreciation for each other, Firehouse Station #39 and the Tierrasanta community have benefited each other greatly from this long time friendship.

Firefighter Mason Hill, and Captain Will McLaughlin

By Bob Morey With Spliff the Elf

Stuffers and Safety Tips For The Holidays.

Santa Is Coming! Santa Is Coming! Stocking

Happy Holidays to all you big kids out there. I’m Spliff, Santa’s go-to elf (wink wink…you know what I mean). My friend Bob has graciously offered to help write this to ensure your Christmas goes as smoothly as planned. Now that we are into our Christmas season, I’m here to give you some ideas for stocking stuffers and some tips so little Johnny or Karen don’t get into something they shouldn’t.

Let’s start with your stockings. Usually, most folks hang their stockings across the mantle if they have a fireplace or are just strung along the wall. Now, if you’re considering giving or receiving any cannabis or CBD products, you’re going to want to hang those stockings a little higher up so the kiddies can’t reach them. This is also like a code to your friends in the know that those kinds of gifts are cool and appreciated. It’s like the code when you were in college when you hung a sock on the doorknob of your dorm room door to let your roommate know you had a ‘special’ guest over and needed a little privacy for a while.

Once Santa gets in your house, it’s pretty common for him to find a glass of milk and some munchies on a table near the tree. While Santa is always good for a glass of egg nog or milk, please…please hold off on the cookies and brownies – especially if you have hopped them up a little <wink>. Wrap those goodies up, put a bow on them (maybe a green one), and save them for your like-minded friends. Besides, Santa is sort of on a diet, and the reindeer will appreciate not having to pull around the extra weight. And don’t forget, little Johnny or Karen might sneak out to see if Santa has come yet, and we would hate for them to snag them, like they would mack on Santa’s snacks – right?

The same applies for leaving Santa a toke or two, while Santa really enjoys kicking back and getting mellow while watching the college bowl games and NFL playoffs after Christmas (His favorite is the Holiday Bowl; he believes it was created to honor him and the Christmas season). The real reason is Santa can’t spark up while flying in the sleigh, and besides, he needs to get all the presents out to the right homes before daybreak, and that would be super hard if he got high, and then we come back to the munchies y’all leave out. Oh…insider tip: vape pens are best when flying in an open sleigh.

In the past, some of you have left reindeer bags out for the guys pulling the sleigh (sort of like the doggie snacks some places have when you bring your poochies out – and – yes, Rudolph always seems to get the biggest bags). I get it. Some of you have fur babies, and you give them Scooby Snacks. Save the reindeer bag for your furry ones, and – here’s another tip: give the furriers a snack or two before everyone comes over so they can be a little chilled too, like while y’all are having a drink or two. Also, Rudolph and the team have a lot of flying to do, taking off and landing on slippery snow-covered roofs all night takes a lot of skill, and they need to stay sharp.

Last month, I was told y’all were given some holiday recipes which can be used again for Christmas. Just remember to take some care and tell your guests what they are eating so no one overdoes it. Faceplanting is never fun, and you don’t want to wake up to pictures on social media with a face that has been drawn all over it.

Now that we have covered some essential safety tips, you should have a good feel for all the do’s and don’ts (and remember, if it feels like a bad idea, it probably means it is – But – that doesn’t always mean it won’t be fun!). From all of us here at the North Pole and my friends at Local Umbrella Media – May You All Have A Very Merry Christmas - and Santa will see you soon.