Senior Dirk Seib knows what it’s like to face fire with fire.
For more than two years Seib has been working with the Los Angeles County Fire Department and he currently serves as a call firefighter. He balances being a student and a call firefigher which is made all the more difficult because he must wear a pager at all times and respond to every emergency to which he is called – even if it occurs during a time that is not convenient (say during finals).
Seib lives an active lifestyle and he is pursuing a full-time career as a firefighter after graduation.
Tell me about your experience with firefighting.
I’m a call firefighter and basically we’re offensive staffing so we don’t live at the fire station all the time. And what we do is we carry a pager and if it goes off it’s like a radio. And we get paged out to all wildlife fires structure fires and swift water rescues. If my pager goes off I’m supposed to get back to the station. Or in my car I have all my equipment so I can just respond accordingly.
What training did you go through to become a call firefighter?
During the first semester of my sophomore year I started volunteering for a year-and-a-half at Fire Station 69 in Topanga Canyon while my application was being pushed through. And then I was actually hired and they gave me an ID. And a couple months after I was hired I went through the fire academy and the academy was eight weeks long. They trained me with all the equipment. We actually did a lot of fire burnings at actual structures where we could extinguish the fire. You learn all about the trade.
What first sparked your interest in firefighting?
When I was a little kid I’d run around the neighborhood with a little fire helmet and my little plastic fire engine so I kind of always knew in the back of my mind I would be a firefighter. But I never actually decided to go through with it really until 9/11. When that happened I saw all the firefighters and all the lives that were lost and I just wanted to do something to help out.
Have you ever fought a live fire?
Yes the last one I fought was the Lost Hills fire. And that was a long one. I think we were there for 12 hours and I was in the middle of class when I got paged. I had to leave class. But I tell my professors at the beginning of the year that I’m a call firefighter and that I’m sorry but if I get paged I have to go.
And last year it went off during my finals so I left. I came back and I said really sorry to the professor and they let me make it up. Professors are usually understanding about it _because time is of the essence with this job and I need to respond fast. I don’t have time to finish a final and go because in an hour-and-a-half it could be over.
Do you ever find your job to be scary?
Yeah it’s always terrifying. It’s not what you expect. In an actual structure fire the temperature is so intense that it just pushes you to the ground. I’ve had my gear just start melting on me or you’re standing there and your helmet starts to bubble. It feels like you’re in an oven even with all that protective gear. The gear just keeps you from burning. But you just try to put that fear behind you and you don’t think about it. The adrenaline’s rushing and you’ve got a job to do.
When you’re not at the station what do you like to do for fun?
I rock climb a lot. And I [ride] dirt bikes and motocross but I haven’t done that for a little while. I also enjoy snowboarding and I’ve done that several times this year. I like a lot of sports. I run every day I exercise I swim. I try to keep in shape because [with] my job it’s important. So mostly outdoor physical activities I enjoy. Even sports I’ve never done I enjoy trying them.
What are your plans after graduation?
After I graduate I’m going to stay a call firefighter with the county. I’m in the process of trying to get there full time so eventually I hope to be hired full time with the county. And then I would go through another training academy which is more in-depth. From there I would get assigned to a station. In terms of paramedic school I am planning to attend UCLA. I got into the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine for their EMT class and will be doing paramedics there as well because LA County Fire Department contracts with them.