By Ivy Secrest
Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A fire severely damaged Laramie County Fire Authority Station 74 on Saturday, destroying three wildland firefighting apparatus that were to be deployed to assist in fighting fires in California.
LCFA responded to a structure fire at the non-operational fire station, located in the 8800 block of Yellowstone Road, around 7:45 p.m. Saturday.
Built in 1974, the station houses the fire mechanic and wildland firefighting program, but does not participate in local response, meaning that the fire did not disrupt emergency responses in the area, according to an LCFA news release. Operations in that area are run out of Station 73 at 2856 Horse Creek Road, which opened in 2018.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office are actively investigating the cause of the fire.
No one was injured, since the building isn’t typically staffed, according to LCFA Chief Jason Caughey. The fire did, however, cause extensive damage and appeared to burn internally for a while before external signs triggered the initial 911 call.
Assisting Los Angeles
Three of the vehicles lost in the fire were scheduled to take a team of Wyoming firefighters to California, where they will join in efforts to combat the historic wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
“We have a team that consists of some full-time positions and seasonal positions, along with our volunteers that staff that program and deploy nationally,” Caughey said.
Despite their own losses this weekend, the team will be headed for California Tuesday morning without the additional vehicles.
The team will assist the California Fire Service, along with other Laramie County agencies and teams from Wyoming, including the Wyoming Air National Guard, which deployed three C-130s on Friday.
Costs
While the total amount of financial losses are unclear at this time, LCFA is working with its insurance companies and state and federal partners to assess costs and opportunities to recover, Caughey said. All of the vehicles lost in the fire were insured.
“The equipment that was lost predominantly was funded solely from the revenue generated from our wildland program and not our local taxpayer dollars,” Caughey said.
The wildland program generates about a third of LCFA’s budget through contracts with federal authorities to fight fires on federal lands or with state authorities in other states, according to Caughey. The program provides revenue that allows LCFA to improve local response to 911 calls by adding staffing and equipment.
For example, trucks going to California Tuesday will get paid per hour for the truck, and firefighters will receive an hourly wage. A truck on a contract fire earns roughly $1,500, a day and one truck deployed annually earns $225,000 to $350,000 a year.
That revenue goes back into assisting in funding local response by augmenting salaries for more firefighters and new equipment that could not be afforded through a limited local budget.
In addition to insurance options and funding from the wildland firefighter program, Caughey said there may be federal resources that are nearing end of life or out of service that could be used as a temporary fix to keep the wildland program deployed and generating revenue back into the system.
Personal loss
This fire was a unique experience for local firefighters, who had to maintain their composure and respond to one of their own stations.
“That station’s been a part of our community for 50-plus years,” Caughey said. “Over those 50 years, countless men and women have served their community out of that station, there’s a homey feel of that station in the community. So that’s tough for all of us.”
While this was an emotional fire for LCFA firefighters, Caughey noted that they had also learned an important lesson about empathy.
“Anytime you respond to your own fire station for an incident like that, it’s emotional because of the connection that our fires have to their own buildings,” Caughey said. “... Most of our firefighters, they’ve never had a fire on their own property before, and now they have. So understanding the emotions that go with an event like this is going to make our firefighters better when dealing with the citizens and their tragedies.”
The loss has not only shown firefighters how to better empathize with the community, but also shown how much the community supports firefighters, Caughey noted.
“The thoughts and prayers and comments have been just wonderful,” Caughey said.
LCFA is composed of 120 volunteers, along with 10 paid positions, so for those wanting to help further, Caughey encouraged volunteering. Even if you can’t volunteer as a firefighter, there are plenty of roles to assist local fire departments.
“We are heavily dependent on volunteers,” Caughey said. “They’re the backbone of all emergency response for fire in Laramie County.”
Remembering Chuck
The county’s fire community rallied to help LCFA in any way they could, Laramie County Fire District 1 Chief Darrick Mittlestadt told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle .
“It’s a pretty big hit for those guys,” Mittlestadt said. “We just want to say that we’re really sorry, it was just a crappy thing. To be there, to be able to support them (is) what we want to do, and what we’re continuing to do.”
While this isn’t the first fire he’s responded to at a fire station, Mittlestadt said that one of the tougher parts of this fire was the potential loss of deceased Assistant Chief Charles “Chuck” Scottini’s locker.
“(He was) one of those ‘true grit’ volunteers that came in and would work on things over the weekends and take care of the trucks, the station, projects, help with training and everything else,” Mittlestadt said.
Scottini passed away in April of 2021, and his locker was in Station 74. He had been a firefighter with Laramie County Fire District 2 since 1998.
Scottini contracted COVID-19 while on a wildland fire assignment in Colorado and was taken to the University of Utah hospital, where he stayed for six months before passing.
Scottini’s locker in Station 74 was saved, according to Caughey.
Safety reminder
This fire was a good reminder of fire safety practices, Caughey said. For example, items kept behind a closed door or in an isolated room were salvageable, only suffering smoke damage.
“This is a lesson that is important for our citizens, because when they have a fire in their house, anything that’s behind a closed door is going to be safer,” Caughey said. “So we advocate sleeping with your bedroom door closed, because if you have a fire in the kitchen, it’s going to give you time to get out of that bedroom, and it’s going to limit the growth of the fire.”
Mutual aid partners were essential in containing this fire, including Laramie County Fire District 1, Laramie County Fire District 6, Laramie County Fire Authority Battalion 78, the Wyoming Air Guard, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, dispatch, the sheriff’s office and American Medical Response.
Officials from Cheyenne Fire Rescue, which responds to fires within the city, posted their condolences on Facebook and reminded the community that LCFA serves the county. They also reiterated Caughey’s point that local emergency services were not impacted by the fire.
“Many of our members have had to respond to familiar addresses before, as well, and we know how hard that can be on the incident response,” Cheyenne firefighters posted Sunday following the incident. “The Cheyenne firefighters of Cheyenne Fire Rescue have LCFA and its members in our hearts as they recover from such devastation.”
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