With Independence Day approaching, the crew at the Iola Fire Department will have their hands extra full with the likelihood of holiday-related mishaps as well as tinderbox-conditions due to a lack of rain.
To them, it’s just another challenging but rewarding week on the job.
The department covers a fairly large area including the City of Iola and 5 miles of the surrounding rural county, as well as providing assistance to the neighboring counties.
This is one reason why it often feels like there is never enough “meat” on the clock, despite the Iola department having a full-time staff.
The situation is “always changing,” said Lieutenant Corey Isbell.
“It’s always a mystery, and not any day is the same. … You never know what you’re gonna get.”
But as firefighter/paramedic Denver Mitchell pointed out, all the guys “work well in chaos,” and get a literal high from saving lives.
“That’s the word right there: ‘adrenaline junkies,’” confirmed Isbell — and it’s a rush that doesn’t quickly subside, like “drinking two or three Red Bulls.”
It’s easy to see why, especially after taking “450 degrees to the face,” as Mitchell described it, facing temperatures so extreme as to melt a facemask, or any number of other unthinkable dangers.
SOMETIMES the days crawl by, as the guys are waiting for something to happen; but this doesn’t mean they don’t stay busy.
In addition to fighting fires or performing rescues, the responders are jacks of all trades.
On a given day, they might perform maintenance on emergency response vehicles, paint the station inside or out, fix the air conditioning or do some necessary plumbing.
Oftentimes they’re assisting the elderly, performing business safety inspections and interacting with kids at local schools so they’re not afraid of how “scary-looking … like Darth Vadar” someone can be in a fire-fighting suit. These days they’re also busy inspecting fireworks stands.
And everyone has a second job outside the station, such as farming, servicing vehicles, coaching or taking classes as a student.
OF COURSE, what keeps the crew coming back is saving lives, even though many have experienced the trauma of having lost someone on the scene.
For instance, Isbell recalled a multi-vehicle accident on the Neosho River bridge involving a young girl, where “there was nothing I could do to save her, and I knew it.”
