By Iris Ng (class of 2021)
Photography: Thuy Nguyen (class of 2022)

On April 29^th, the excited DVGS high school students sat in the Chan Hall chattering away. However, when three people wearing their dark navy blue uniforms and badges came in the noise level died down to a pin-drop silence.

Curiosity hung in the air for a few moments though the lingering curiosity turned into feelings of interests when the three people introduced themselves as Ukiah’s local firefighters, including retired Fire Captain Peter Bushby, who fought tooth and nail to save lives.

During that short span of time, the firefighters told students anecdotes of their firefighting experiences, how they dealt with different types of fires, and gave advice to minimize the chances of starting an uncontrolled fire. With their humor and friendliness, the firefighters managed to capture everyone’s attention in the room as students listened intently, by the tips of their ears, to how they could tell when to get out of a burning environment and how they would crouch low to get more air flowing in and out of the body.

In order to put out small fires, one needs to eliminate one of the three factors in the fire chemical reaction which feeds on each other. The three factors are: oxygen, heat, and fuel. It is important to know these factors, because when facing these situations, students will know how to put out the fire by eliminating the oxygen using fire extinguishers or taking away the heat by watering down with cold water. Although when the fire starts to become uncontrollably enormous, the most crucial thing to do is to ring up 911 and not try to put the fire out by yourself.

These brave heroes of our town are always there in times of need if you ring them up even if it might be a false alarm (sometimes, they also rescue cats from trees). Thank you firefighters for waging a courageous war against the fires in Ukiah.