In the Giving Spirit of the First Thanksgiving : Firefighters Work In a Traditional Meal During Busy Day of Dealing With Crises

Firefighter Mark Perez was putting the final touches on Fire Station 3’s Thanksgiving dinner when an emergency call came in at 3:22 p.m.: “Man injured in a fall . . . 4106 Zaring St.”

The six-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Fire Department slung off his apron, shoved the black olives into the refrigerator and headed for the fire engine. “I’ll finish it when we get back,” he said.

He kept his promise about 40 minutes later, and the 11 men of “C” shift at the station in East Los Angeles were finally able to sit down to a traditional turkey dinner.

The feast, it turned out, was to be the only quiet time for Fire Station 3, the busiest place within the county Fire Department. It handles in excess of 6,000 calls a year in the unincorporated territory east of the Los Angeles city neighborhood of Boyle Heights.

And Thursday proved to be no exception.

By 10:45 a.m., the firefighters had answered several rescue calls, including one involving an infant choking on some turkey; ran four miles in their customary morning jog; cleaned and inspected equipment on the fire trucks, and mopped the station’s floors.

“It’s always busy around here, but that’s the way I like it,” said Firefighter Pete Murrieta, one of three brothers assigned to Station 3.

Murrieta and his partner for the day, Bill Niccum, operate the station’s rescue unit, which accounts for the bulk of the station’s calls.

Niccum and others at the fire station say they do not really know why the station is the busiest in the county Fire Department. But whatever the reason, Niccum said, the action keeps the firefighters on their toes.

Sometimes, there is little time for personal chores.

Before 11 o’clock--while Perez struggled in the kitchen--Murrieta had been unsuccessful in trying to squeeze in a shave. He had tried several times during the morning, but rescue calls repeatedly interrupted him.

He returned to the station from one rescue call, a person having problems breathing, at 11:26 a.m. He began grumbling when another alarm was sounded six minutes later--a chain-reaction accident involving six cars on the Santa Ana Freeway near the Triggs Street exit.

But as the rescue unit sped to the scene, Murrieta’s complaints had turned into smiles. “I got my shave,” he said.

Because the station handles so many calls, firefighters there do not prepare an elaborate dinner or invite many guests on Thanksgiving and other holidays.

“You just know about this place,” said Capt. Bill Miller, one of “C” shift’s commanders. “Sometimes, it can get real quiet here. But normally, it’s like this--busy.”

The calls received by Station 3 and the county’s 127 other stations vary. Units roll on everything from structure fires, heart seizures and traffic accidents to gang-related shootings and mothers giving birth.

One of the rescue unit’s stops on Thursday, for example, was to admonish one Spanish-speaking resident on Folsom Street about burning dried tree branches. “That’s against the law,” Niccum told the man in broken Spanish. “Leave them for the trash collectors to pick up.”

With that, the unit sped off to another call.

The pace in the station finally came to a standstill at 3:53 p.m. when the P.A. system announced that the Thanksgiving dinner, prepared by Perez and several other firefighters, was finally ready.

Forgot the Stuffing

The men joked among themselves and with three invited guests over the traditional dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries and green beans. As they ate, the firefighters kidded Perez because, in the midst of the many station calls, he had forgotten to put the stuffing in the turkey.

“It’s actually quiet around here,” Battalion Chief Darrell Higuchi said.

“No, no, just wait,” Murrieta warned.

He was right. At 5:08 p.m., Station 3 was off on another emergency.