The Forest Highlands Flagstaff Fire Department - Fighting Fires and Helping Homeowners

With all the stories of the massive fires we’ve encountered in Arizona this year, it certainly has brought the profession of fireman to everyone’s attention.  Fighting a forest fire ranks right up there with one of the toughest jobs, and certainly shows that a fireman has to be extremely skilled to be able to perform at that level.

However, not every day in the life of a fireman is filled with putting out fires. They are called upon frequently to respond to calls from homeowners for much smaller items.

In the community of Forest Highlands in Flagstaff, Arizona, the Fire Department is located on property near the mail room and main road into the golfing community.

I’m embarrassed to say that a fire truck and crew was called to my home a year ago when “someone” changed the setting on the toaster oven.  The smoke from burning toast immediately surrounded the smoke detector connected to our alarm system, and the call went out.  Even though I tried to cancel the call, they are required to respond  anyway.  So, I met a nice gentleman, completely dressed for the occasion, and had to explain what happened. Whoops!

This past week, I was on our deck and smelled a very strong gas odor.  Since our home is electric and does not have natural gas, I called our Security Department for guidance. They came over, but also asked the Fire Department to respond.

This trip I met the whole Forest Highlands fire crew.  They arrived with gas detector devices and checked out the entire back area of our house.  The culprit was finally found – a defective valve on the propane tank connected to our BBQ.  Needless to say, this time I absolutely required their assistance as they were able to shut the valve off and stop the flow of a flammable gas.

This trip out from the firehouse might not have been as exciting for the fireman as a real fire, but from my perspective, they provided a huge service and took care of a very dangerous situation.

We consider the firemen to be an integral part of our community and we all look forward to the annual 4th of July parade, led by a fire truck with sirens and red lights.  The fire truck parade is a great tradition at Forest Highlands.

In talking with the group, I was told that anyone who gets their picture in the media has to buy ice cream for the crew.  To be fair to all of them, I tried to get a picture of all of them. So here they are…

Originally posted on Live Better in Scottsdale