On Thursday September 22, five Escondido Fire Department employees were honored by the North County Business Chamber at their annual “Region’s Heroes” award ceremony held at Safari Park. Captain Chris Duralde, Engineer Dom Polito, Firefighter Paramedics Kyler McFarland and Brad Kenny along with EMT Cody Satkoski were honored for their actions on April 10, 2022 while responding to a serious medical emergency 9-1-1 call at a home just south of Escondido. When they arrived at the house, crews found a male injured as the result of a
large glass fermentation vessel exploding. A glass shard had lacerated the victim’s neck, severed his carotid artery and injured his esophagus and trachea. The victim’s injuries and the resulting blood loss were traumatic and extremely life threatening. Firefighter Paramedics stopped the flow of blood and first responder team rapidly transported the patient to the trauma center where a surgeon repaired several injured blood vessels.
On, Saturday, September 24, the Escondido Fire Department and Rincon Del Diablo Water District’s Fire and Water Expo took place at Fire Station #4 located next to Kit Carson Park. This annual event was once again a huge success with over 2,000 people in attendance! In addition to the many exhibits and informative booths staffed by public and private organizations, the crowd was treated to an auto extrication demonstration where firefighters cut apart a car.
Although CAL FIRE’s helicopter was unavailable this year, an air ambulance from Mercy Air landed and provided tours of their airship. And of course, kids of all ages enjoyed rides on antique fire engines throughout the day!
October 9-15, 2022 is National Fire Prevention Week and this year’s theme is “Fire Won’t Wait. Plan Your Escape.” Escondido Fire teamed up with the San Diego Regional Fire Foundation to hold a “Home Fire Escape Plan” contest at one of our local schools. The students were asked
to draw their home layout and show their fire escape plan, which includes two ways out of every room, smoke alarms, and the location of a meeting place outside. The winning students were recognized during the Fire and Water Expo and Joan Jones, the Executive Director of the
Regional Fire Foundation, had the pleasure of awarding each of these students’ cash prizes. The students’ efforts were a great example of a simple plan to keep their families safe during a fire.
