Lifelong Pacific Palisades resident embraces life after fire
“You have to adapt and survive.” Pacific Palisades resident George Wilkin is adjusting to life after wildfires ravaged his hometown.
LOS ANGELES – What worries firefighter Brett Klimme isn’t the flames.
Here are the pictures.
On Jan. 7, the day the Los Angeles wildfires raged and forced mass evacuations, Klemme recalled, he entered a burning home in Pacific Palisades and saw pictures of two young children he thought were his own. Reminded me.
Klemme, 39, said he was overjoyed when he and other firefighters extinguished the blaze inside the home. Later, they circled back and saw that the house had burned down.
“It was a huge punch,” Klemme told USA Today during a recent interview. I wanted to say to them (homeowners), we did everything we could to save your home.
The wildfires have killed at least 28 people, destroyed more than 15,000 structures and affected countless numbers of firefighters like Klimme. “The only offense we have is what we could have done better,” he said.
It can be easy to overestimate the emotional toll firefighters take when a wildfire is extinguished, suggested Hugo Catalán Jr., director of behavioral health services for it. United Firefighters of the City of Los Angeles.
“Once (firefighters) get back to normal station life, that’s when we’ll start seeing more and maybe even more members,” said Catalan, one of the four mental health therapists on staff. are one of
Although Catalan said he is optimistic because firefighters are “one of the most resilient groups of individuals,” he also acknowledged concerns about self-harm.
gave Suicide rates for firefighters According to research cited by the US Fire Administration, the rate is 18 per 100,000 compared to 13 per 100,000 for the general population.
‘Everything went wrong for us’
Jeff Dill, who leads national workshops on suicide prevention for firefighters, said he is troubled by the situation in Los Angeles.
“Emotions start to play into our lives, ‘Hey, I’m feeling helpless, I’m feeling guilty, I’m not doing what I’m supposed to be doing,'” said Dill, a retired The fire captain who Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance in North Las Vegas, Nevada.
According to Dill, emotional problems among firefighters are exacerbated by cheating.
“Better equipment, better pay, more people, less overtime is being cheated by management so we don’t get tired,” he said.
Klemme, a firefighter who spoke about seeing images of young children in a burning home in Pacific Palisades, didn’t blame anyone for the struggle he and other firefighters faced to overcome the loss. Had to try. But he battled hurricane-force winds within the first 24 hours, indicating he had run out of water and had no radio.
“Everything went wrong for us,” Klemme said.
Monitoring the situation from his office in North Las Vegas, Dill said, “When we see what’s going on in L.A., I start to get a little scared....I’ve been in the fire service for over 34 years, and now I see my brothers and sisters responding without water. Or they don’t have enough guts when people are calling and saying, I need help, I’m stuck, and they can’t reach them.
“It’s a big problem in our fire culture. And knowing that, we’re still being culturally brainwashed that when we put on this uniform, we must respond, be strong, be brave, be brave, help. Should, should not ask for help.
Laughter in the Firehouse Kitchen
The door closest to the back door of Fire Station No. 69 in Pacific Palisades opens into a room with a large picnic-style table.
The kitchen table, they call it.
“Probably the most therapeutic room in the world,” said Mike Romero, a 50-year-old firefighter who works as an apparatus operator. “Many problems are solved here. At least we think so.
On a recent afternoon, firefighters filtered into the living room where up to 20 of them squeeze around the kitchen table before shift change each morning.
“Do you know why chieftains have gold badges?” a firefighter asked a guest. “It’s from all the melted wedding bands.”
Gallows humor was welcomed as the table buzzed with chatter. About the houses that “exploded” in the fire. And about the value of gathering at the kitchen table.
“We’re good at knowing when someone is off and needs an arm around them,” said Brian Sacramon, 58, a firefighter and paramedic. “But we can be better.”
A small memorial outside the fire station serves as a sobering reminder. An inscription on the painted rock: “RIP our brother Dan ‘The Ram’ Ramirez.”
Daniel Ramirez, a 23-year veteran firefighter and paramedic, husband and father of three grown sons. Died by suicide August 1, 2023.
He was 56 years old.
Ramirez was on leave due to physical injuries, according to Fire Station No. 69 Capt. Eric Nakamaru.
Sacramon recalled how he and other firefighters visited Ramirez in 2023 and marked the time with laughter together.
Friction between generations
The spirit of the kitchen table extends to a peer support program in which firefighters are trained to help others who are reluctant to talk to a licensed therapist.
Catalan, director of the union’s behavioral health program, said he thinks firefighters, especially younger ones, are experiencing less stigma about mental health.
“There’s always friction between the old generation, the new generation, and they’re, like, ‘Oh, they’re so soft. They don’t put work before their lives,'” Catalan said. “And I tell some of these young firefighters, it’s kind of healthy that you say, ‘No, I want to go home. I want to be with my family. .’ Because we’ve seen a lot of people who are older and then they’re retiring and they don’t have anything…
“Most of the guys who are union board members, and even presidents, will tell you they’re from the generation that sucked and they’re not mentally fit. It’s a lot of new to them.”
Sacramone, a firefighter paramedic in Pacific Palisades, said asking for help is no longer seen as weakness – a sign of a changing culture in a dangerous, high-stress profession.
An annual “We Remember” night, started a decade ago by the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance in Nevada, will be held May 16.
Firefighter rigs will be lit and candles will be lit to remember the firefighters and those involved in emergency medical services and dispatch services who took their lives – and for the families who have suffered tragic loss.
