Coming face to face with death – Mobile fire chief explains support system for firefighters
By Brendan Kirby
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MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — Tragedies like the fatal fire that claimed the lives of two young boys in Irvington Thursday night are not just horrific for the victims and their families; they also weigh on the firefighters who respond to them.
The men and women who fight fires are human, so coming face to face with fatal fire victims can be traumatic – especially when the victims are children.
Mobile Fire-Rescue Chief Jeremy Lami addressed the issue at a graduation ceremony for new firefighters on Friday. He told reporters that the Fire-Rescue Department has a peer support program that helps address the mental health of firefighters.
“So we provide them resources and a way to connect with other first responders that have gone through similar situations so that they, hopefully, can walk through it together because it is extremely – not only difficult and tragic for the families – but it’s also very difficult for our responders who witness it first hand,” he said.
The graduation ceremony welcomed 41 new firefighters into the ranks. That includes 30 who work for the Mobile department. The training academy serves other agencies, as well. The new graduates represent Spanish Fort, Satsuma, Semmes and Saraland.
“This is a very large class,” Lami said. “It’s really due to the fact that we received a federal grant for an additional 30 firefighters, which has been tremendous for our department. But to do that, to hire those additional personnel, we had to put on a large class.”
Lami was referring to a program called Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It is designed to help fire departments increase or maintain the number of “front line” firefighters in their communities.
Steven Milhouse, a spokesman for the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department, told FOX10 News that the department hopes to get another class started in October.
Lami said the training is grueling.
“It’s a tremendous amount of work,” he said. “I mean, it takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. It’s a tremendous amount of academic load and a physical load, as well. But they do a tremendous job, and they are dedicated to be the best that they can be.”
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