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By MACKENZEE SIMMS | Photos by Jeremy Raines

Tucked in the back of Helena City Hall, the Helena Fire Department drums on a constant routine.

In Helena, firefighters work 24 hour shifts with two days off in between shifts. They come in at 7 a.m. and complete a long list of daily tasks from checking inventory to cooking meals before leaving at 7 a.m. the next day.

According to Helena Fire Chief Chris Miller, the long shifts result in close bonds between firefighters.

“You spend a third of your life at a certain place and around certain people, they end up becoming friends, brothers, family.” Miller said.

Miller shared that the typical day at Fire Station One begins when the firefighters arrive for shift change, ready to go at a moment’s notice, including a clean-shaven face so as to not interfere with firefighting masks.

The first item of business? Checking all of their equipment and trucks, grabbing a tablet and doing their reporting. From there, some firefighters choose to do their daily physical training in the mornings before they complete details such as deep cleaning the fire station.

Afterwards, the fire fighters wrestle with what Miller described as the hardest decision of the day, what to have for lunch? Then, the afternoons are a little more free. Some firefighters may continue with tasks such as testing fire hydrants throughout the city, while others spend their afternoons in the classroom studying for paramedic school.

The evenings calm down with some electing to do more PT, cook dinner or unwind before bed.

“It becomes a way of life for these guys,” Miller said. “You wouldn’t believe how much of a habit staying up all night and getting to see your buddies becomes, until you get a five day week job.”

But no matter what the firefighters may have planned for the day, the minute a call comes from a person in need, they drop everything and go.

“No day is ever the same,” Firefighter Craig Sikes said. “We’re just fluid. We could be in the middle of eating. We could be in the middle of taking a shower. We could be in the middle of training. Whatever it is, when the tones hit, we gotta go.”

Calls for help range from classic house fires to motor vehicle crashes to electrical fires caused by wiring issues or exploding lithium batteries.

“We always hope for the best that everybody’s healthy and safe, but we’re here if that is not the case,” Firefighter Jacob Mueller said. “There’s a variety of reasons why we would run calls, whether it be somebody’s fallen and they’re hurt, or there’s been a car wreck or they’re sick. You name it.”

Miller shared that 82% of calls in 2023 were related to medical emergencies since every firefighter in Helena is expected to achieve Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support certification and most of them are EMT paramedics.

In addition, the HFD also operates as hospital transport in Helena, ensuring that patients are able to get to the hospital in a medical emergency.

With all of their various calls, Miller even jokes with his wife about his son’s story books where firefighters rescue cats in tress because it is the one kind of phone call they never actually receive.

“We don’t get cats out of trees, but we literally do everything else,” Miller said.

But in an ideal world, the Helena firefighters would never have to leave the station at all. Every call means that there is a citizen somewhere in Helena that is unsafe, and the HFD would love to see the number of fires in the area decrease.

National Fire Prevention Week is Sunday, Oct. 6 through Saturday, Oct. 12. This year, the Helena Fire Department wants to share the best tips to prevent fires with the community.

Ask in firefighter in Helena the best way to protect your home in the case of a fire and they will all tell you the same thing: Check your smoke detectors.

While you can wait to change the smoke detectors every few years, you should replace the batteries in the smoke detectors twice every year.

According to Fire Marshal Keith Martin, the HFD recommends getting in the habit of changing your smoke detector batteries every time the time changes, so you can remember: Change the clock, change your batteries.

“You need to be changing your batteries every time the time changes,” Martin said. “Change those batteries so that they’re fresh, they’re working.”

Martin shared that there is a common misconception that if a smoke detector is wired into the house for power, then the batteries don’t need to be changed. In reality, the batteries serve as a backup if the power goes out.

If you haven’t changed your smoke detector batteries in years and the power goes out, your smoke detector is relying solely on the old batteries. Now, let’s say you break out the candles to have light to see by and one of those candles starts a fire, you could be in big trouble.

“It’s important for people to know that these are battery backups. These aren’t being charged because it’s connected to power,” Martin said. “That battery is your first line of defense to wake you up and get you out.”

Now, it can be difficult for some families to change their batteries twice a year because of cost or mobility issues. For those citizens, the Alabama Fire College and the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office have partnered for the Get Alarmed, Alabama! Smoke alarm installation program.

“We provide smoke alarms to anybody that can’t afford them or anybody that can’t get them put up themselves,” Miller said. “We will come out, and we’ll install them.”

Beyond smoke detectors, it’s important to have a plan in place for all members of your household to evacuate safely.

“Have a plan how to get out of your house,” Firefighter Hunter Blackburn said. “Teach your kids how to get out and where to go. And if something were to occur, the best thing you can do is call 911 as early as possible.”

Miller shared the fire department’s main goal for National Fire Prevention Week is to inform the Helena community of these tips to remain safe.

“Practice drills, change your batteries. Pay attention to these things,” Miller said. “That’s really the big goal of Fire Prevention Week.”

Those interested in more information about the Helena Fire Department can call (205) 663-2161 or visit Cityofhelena.org/fire-department.

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