Volunteers keep West Valley safe

Photo by Paul Robeson

STATION 55: The West Valley fire station’s attractive sign in front of their building reflects their community pride.

Photo by Paul Robeson

CHECKING GEAR: Calvin Ciapponi, Fire Captain and Chief of the West Valley Volunteer Fire Company inspects a defibrillation unit on the rescue unit at the fire station on Gas Point Road.

Even before Calvin Ciapponi went to Anderson High School in the 1970s he wanted to be a firefighter.

“What kid has not wanted to be a fireman,” Ciapponi said about his career decision.

For the past 21 years Ciapponi has volunteered time to the Happy Valley Fire Protection District and now to the West Valley Volunteer Fire Company (WVVFC). He said he had worked for the Happy Valley district for about 9 1/2 years when former chief Brad Taylor of WVVFC invited him to switch over to West Valley to help.

Ciapponi made that move in 1994 at about the same time the new fire station was being constructed on Gas Point Road.

Ciapponi, now the fire chief at West Valley explained that there are 19 fire units in Shasta County under the jurisdiction of what used to be known as CDF (California Department of Forestry and Fire) and is now known simply as Cal Fire.

The 19 stations serving the county go as far south as West Valley, north to Lakehead or Big Bend, west to Platina-Wildwood and east to Old Station or Cassel. Staffing those 19 stations are 197 active volunteers.

Ciapponi said that anyone interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter should call the Cal Fire headquarters at 225-2418. Headquarters finds out where a person lives and gives the caller the dates and times of meetings in their area and then notifies the appropriate fire chief of a potential volunteer. A “self-paced training” program is provided until they become “full-responders” for a volunteer company.

At the West Valley station there are 14 active volunteers but, as Ciapponi said, they are all highly trained with 90 percent of them certified EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians), two paramedics, a Cal Fire firefighter, two Forest Service firefighters and a ROP (Regional Occupation Program) firefighter teacher. The West Valley fire station has two engines, a 3,000 gallon water tender and a rescue unit.

The fire chief who also works part-time with the Cottonwood Fire Protection District said there is about a ten-minute response time to a fire in the area, allowing five minutes to get to the station and another five to get to the call.

Ciapponi also said that the West Valley company has three fundraisers a year to raise money for the station. In November there is a chili feed and auction (of donated items), a rifle raffle in March at the sports show in the Shasta District Fairgrounds and a motorcycle “firehouse poker run” in June.

The poker run is in its second year and this year will be on June 9. Playing cards are handed to each motorcyclist as he stops at each volunteer fire station in the county. At the end of the run a barbecue is held at West Valley High School where the best “high hand” of cards and the best “low hand” receive a plaque.

“To be a volunteer firefighter you have to have commitment. You can have the very best equipment, but if you don’t have someone who can operate it correctly it is worthless,” Ciapponi said.