LAFD Chief Visits Station 69 Open House

By FRANCES SHARPE | Editor-in-Chief

Dozens of Palisadian families visited Station 69 on Saturday, May 9 for its annual open house as part of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Fire Service Day.

Visitors of all ages stopped by between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to tour the station, climb into the driver’s seat of the fire trucks and to see demonstrations.

Will Steinkamp, 8, who came with his dad Chris and little brother Nick, 5, said, “I want to see the jaws of life.”

Will got his wish as firefighters performed a “jaws of life” demonstration on an old car to show how they extricate people who are trapped in car accidents.

The family-friendly day also included a presentation of the title of 2015 Honorary Fire Chief to 14-year-old Sky Rosenzweig, who lives in nearby Brentwood.

Sky is the youngest LAFD Honorary Fire Chief to have been nominated for this esteemed title, LAFD Assistant Chief Patrick Butler told the Palisadian-Post.

Sky raised money through lemonade stands, selling used books and going door to door in his community in order to donate the first iPad to LAFD Station 19 in Brentwood in 2014.

During the presentation, Butler said, “Sky represents the core values of the Los Angeles Fire Department – service, professionalism, integrity, respect, innovation, and trust.”

LAFD Chief Ralph Terrazas was on hand to present Sky with the Honorary Fire Chief helmet and noted, “Fire Service Day is especially important to me. When I was a little younger than Sky, my dad brought me to the local fire station in Wilmington. It planted the seed that someday I wanted to be a firefighter and now I’m living the dream.”

Terrazas noted that the LAFD is looking to hire hundreds of firefighters and emphasized that the department is particularly seeking to hire female firefighters. The department has recently come under scrutiny for low percentages of women among its ranks.

Palisadian Lucia Ludovico stopped by to see if she could volunteer at the station.

“I would like to become more active in the community and wanted to find out about volunteering, but there aren’t many opportunities to do so,” Ludovico said.

Visitors at Station 69 were also treated to a helicopter fly-by as well as free hot dogs courtesy of Station 69 firefighter paramedic David Howard, who was manning the grill.

“This is my first time participating in Fire Service Day,” said Howard, adding, “this is a great day for the community.”

Several visitors took advantage of the opportunity to purchase LAFD t-shirts and sweatshirts, as well as other merchandise.

Fire Service Day has been an LAFD tradition since 1956. That’s when then LAFD Chief Engineer William Miller realized that most residents had never been inside a firehouse and decided to open up every station to the public.

It was such a success the LAFD has since designated the second Saturday of May each year as Fire Service Day. Next year, Fire Service Day will be on Saturday, May 14.