KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- Saving lives, putting out fires or rescuing injured out of emergency situations are just part of the job for firemen for U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz.
"Although it is always a team effort, every rescuer takes pride out of the job he or she does especially when a life can be saved though," said Michael Hill, assistant chief of operations. "Nothing is more rewarding than having done your part to help saving a life."
Now, a new fire alarm and control center at Rhine Ordnance Barracks will help. The alarm center was previously in Heidelberg Army Airfield and serves as a piece of the Army's transformation in Europe.
"When you pick up the phone and dial emergency services, you will get someone right away. They will be able to apply the proper resources to your situation in a very short period of time," said Lt. Col George Brown III, Director of Emergency Services, U.S. Rheinland-Pfalz.
"We have all of the required amount people, with the correct training, the correct equipment and supplies to respond to your worst day."
Eight dispatchers work in shifts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, awaiting calls from the community to give the best possible service to one of the largest military communities in the Army.
"It sure also feels good to be a member of one of the largest military fire departments in the U.S. Army worldwide," Hill said. "Back in 2009 we had been just less than 30 personnel and by today have been grown beyond 160 firefighters."
Many of the firemen assigned to DES also volunteer their service to local national fire stations here in Kaiserslautern. A benefit of the strong German-American partnership is majority of the responders to joint emergencies work for one of the fire stations on post.
"DES is often thought of as the organization that responds to an emergency. Our number one priority is to ensure none of those things happen in the first place," Brown said.
"We spend 10 times as much effort on prevention than we do response."
The fire alarm and control center directly dispatches Miesau, Kaiserslautern-East, Sembach, Germersheim and Baumholder fire stations. In addition, fire prevention inspectors visit numerous organizations to help prevent hazardous or unsafe incidents that lead to catastrophes.
"As accidents happen, we strive to provide the best service you can rely on, by providing training, equipment and appropriate manpower to our personnel to fulfill that service."
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