Every day, 600 men and women protect 75 square miles in Baton Rouge from fires.
Baton Rouge Fire Department fire equipment operator Mike Leming is one of those 600, though he doesn’t think of himself as a hero.
“I just like my job,” Leming said. “My job is to make sure the truck is completely equipped and ready to respond.”
When an emergency call is made, Leming drives the truck to the scene and operates the water pump in case of a fire.
Of the 30,001 potential fire incidents BRFD responded to in 2011, 726 were fires. Of those fires, 313 were structure fires and 257 were residential fires, according to BRFD statistics released Tuesday.
One person died and two were injured in fires last year.
“We see a spike in fires during the colder months … due to space heaters, some chimney fires [and other] heat sources,” Leming said.
Kinesiology senior Lindsay Hazel has felt the impacts of fires. Her family home burned down Jan. 5 after the family pet set off an accidental fire.
“It spread to the roof,” Hazel said. “From there, it spread to the rest of the house.”
The blaze destroyed Hazel’s entire house, leaving behind only her mother’s wedding dress in the ashes.
Hazel said her family struggled in dealing with the loss.
“My father, who passed away two years ago, built the house,” she said. “It was the house I grew up in, and all of the memories are gone now. The hardest part is knowing that it is all gone and I can’t get it back.”
But Hazel is still grateful for the safety of her family and the efforts of the firefighters who helped them and many other families.
“Firefighters do a good job and deserve a lot of praise,” Hazel said. “They don’t get the appreciation they deserve.”
A staple of the Baton Rouge restaurant scene experienced a similar loss in December. Mike Anderson’s Seafood Restaurant on West Lee Drive burned after a fire engulfed the famous local dining spot.
The fire call came at 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 13, according to Robert Combs, BRFD public information officer. The fire started in the banquet room and spread into the attic, and the restaurant was consumed in fire. He said the cause has not been determined, but arson is possible.
Mike Anderson’s declined to comment to The Daily Reveille for this story. The restaurant will reopen its doors to the public in spring 2012, according to its website.
 
 
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