Kern County Firefighters, IAFF Local 1301

Spring and summer activities often find visitors and their children near rivers and streams, enjoying nature's serene sounds or cooling sore feet from a long da...y's hike. It's important to understand water safety in and around these tempting waters. What can seem peaceful, warm and shallow can prove to be deceptively cold and easily overwhelm the strongest individuals. Each year, unexpected victims, whether purposefully in the water (boating, swimming, wading or crossing streams) or accidentally in the water (scrambling on rocks or even falling while hiking), find themselves in a water rescue situation. U.S. Forest Service - Sequoia National Forest Kern County Fire Department Bakersfield Fire Department Kern Valley Search and Rescue Bureau of Land Management - California Kern County Sheriff's Office Tulare County Sheriff's Office See more

As ECC celebrates #NationalTelecommunicatorWeek our shifts have been coming in dressed for theme days, so far we’ve had favorite sports team, way back Wednesday and favorite fire dept day!

Here are the faces of those that are often heard and not seen. The ones that provide the essential function of connecting those needing help with emergency responders. Thank you!

This week is National Public Safety Telecommunications week! Dispatchers often do not receive enough praise for providing the essential link between the community and fire, law enforcement and EMS agencies. It is a difficult job and we are proud of our colleagues at Bakersfield City & Kern County Fire ECC. You are truly the best in your profession. Your #KernCountyFirefighters appreciate everything you do!

Have a safe and Happy Easter!

Former Local 1301 President Derek Robinson shares his story in a new book Continue. Thank you County of Kern, California for acknowledging the mental health factors of the profession of firefighting. As the Kern County Fire Department continues to see an ever-increasing call volume while still being understaffed and underfunded. Physical and mental fatigue will continue to be a reality for our members.

Second alarm structure fire this afternoon, and now a second working structure fire just up the road. A busy day for #YourKernCountyFirefighters in the Lake Isabella area of Battalion 7.

Congratulations to Captain Martin Hernandez on his retirement. After 20 years of service to the Kern County Fire Department and to the County of Kern, California, he’s hanging up his turnouts for the last time. Have a great retirement and enjoy your hard earned time off.

Your #KernCountyFirefighters at work during a recent #StructureFire in #Taft. Vertical ventilation is used to remove super heated smoke and gases to provide better visabilty for firefighters conducting fire attack and to give possible victims a higher chance of survivability. #AllRisk #TruckWork

#DYK: Cooking is the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries. Use this safety tip to prevent your loved ones from getting hurt.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Engineer Kyle Rutherford’s family, friends, and our brothers and sisters of @sac_metro_ff_association.

#YourKernCountyFirefighters would like to congratulate and say farewell to yet another Kern County Fire Department firefighter. Firefighter Eric Reinhardt will be taking his 3 years of training, experience, and education (Bachelor’s degree) to the Ventura County Fire Department. Eric made the difficult decision to leave due to instability in the fire department budget and future job security. Decreased take-home pay, benefits, and low morale throughout the department were also factors that ultimately lead him to leave. Eric, we wish you much success with your new department. After record resignations last year, Firefighter Reinhardt is the 2nd resignation this year with more likely to come.

We wish everyone a happy St. Patrick’s Day! For everyone that is off duty or get the night off, please be safe and never drink and drive.

Public Safety Alert Today we are experiencing yet another reduction to public safety services. One of the only two Kern County Fire Department advanced life support fire stations, station 25 in #Buttonwillow, will not have a firefighter/paramedic on duty this shift as the writing on the side of the fire engine would lead you to believe. Over the last few months and possibly unbeknownst to the residents of County of Kern, California, fully staffing fire stations has become ...increasingly difficult. Fire stations have been left without adequate staffing or contracted services unfulfilled putting residents and firefighters at an increased risk during the unprecedented pandemic and heightened calls for service. Your #KernCountyFirefighters always strive to provide the best service possible to the public. As KCFD continues to be #underfunded it is impeding our ability to provide the service citizens deserve. KCFD has not internally trained a firefighter/paramedic since 2010 and has received very little interest in the open lateral firefighter/paramedic positions. Retention of our high quality firefighters continues to be a major problem. The department is unable to hire enough firefighters to keep up with the mass exodus to other career opportunities causing us to be #understaffed.

Thank you Windwolves Wild Preserve for the acknowledgment and support! We are proud to be able to protect such beautiful lands with such great history.

We are saddened to here of another tragic line of duty death to COVID. Prayers to the family, friends and colleagues of Captain Mertz.

Kern County Fire Department is hiring for an upcoming academy. Apply today as this application period closes on January 29th. The above picture is exactly how it’s listed on governmentjobs.com, paramedics are encouraged to apply but is not required. Good luck everyone! @rio_hondo_fire_academy @oxnardcollegefireacademy @mt.sac_fire_academy @verdugofireacademy @scrfa @chcfireacademy @theelcaminofireacademy @hancockpstcfire @palomarcollege @shastacollege @sacfiretech @bakersfieldcollege

Welcome to Week 3 of Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month! This week we will kick your knowledge into action. We know that cancer is a big issue facing the fire service, but you can prevent or limit your exposure to carcinogens. In Week 3 we address the best practices that should be followed on the fire ground, at the station and in your personal lives. They include preliminary exposure reduction, on-scene gross decontamination, clean cab concept and modifiable risk factors. #FightFFCancer #FFCancerMonth

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others? -Martin Luther King Jr. #yourkerncountyfirefighters serving @yourkerncounty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, make an opportunity to be of service to others.

These are the faces of over 300 years of wasted experience, education, and training. County taxpayers have lost $29 Million in training and experience due to Firefighters fleeing the County of Kern, for better pay and improved work/life balance. Our #KernCountyFirefighters work an average of 4,000 hours per year, which is nearly double that of a 40 hour/week job. #KernCountyFire #Understaffed #Underfunded

Please drive safe!

Two-thirds of home fire deaths result from broken smoke alarms. Check your smoke alarms when you change the clock. #IAFF #IAFFSafetyTips

We would like to wish everyone a safe and #HappyHalloween! If you will be trick-or-treating tonight please remember these safety tips: Kids under 12 should go with an adult. Besides, it gives you a great excuse to dress up and go trick-or-treating. Stay visible. Bring flashlights, glow sticks or reflective goodie bags or buckets, and add some reflective tape to costumes. When going from house to house, stay on the sidewalk and off the road. If there aren’t sidewalks, walk ...facing traffic and as far to the side as possible. Use well-lit, marked crosswalks and never cross the road between parked cars. Be the candy police. Check your children’s treats to make sure there isn’t anything they could choke on. See more

Last night #yourkerncountyfirefighters had a great time at the Trunk-or-Treat drive thru event in #Taft. Thank you West Side Recreation & Park District for putting on such a great event! #Community #ProudToServe #happyhalloween

A GO FUND ME account has been established for our two firefighters who remain in critical condition after a burn over on the fire line. Please see the link loca...ted in the website location of our homepage. Thank you! @californiafirefighter @abc7la @abcnews @foxla @foxnews @ktla5news #firefighters #family #gofundme @orangecountyfireauthority See more

We send our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the critically injured firefighters. To all those still on the front lines stay safe!

Kern County Fire Department continues record breaking resignations. Kern County Firefighters are once again saying farewell to another community leader and highly trained firefighter. Firefighter Greg McGill has accepted a captain’s position with Templeton Fire and takes 14 years of training, experience and knowledge with him. Greg, a resident of Kern County, started as a seasonal where he spent 3 seasons in our wildland/air ops program. He was hired fulltime 11 years ago and... spent 8 years at station 63 where he honed his skills at one of our busiest stations. Greg’s desire to teach future generations of firefighters lead him to the firefighter survival cadre. Greg was passionate about serving on duty as well as off. He volunteered his time off duty at homeless shelters, coached youth sports and spent time with our veterans as a chaperon with Honor Flight Kern County. Impacted by his involvement with honor flight, Greg was the founding member of Honor Flight Central Coast of California. Multiple factors lead to him resigning from County of Kern, California, among them: cost of living continues to rise as pay and benefits decrease, low morale, and lack of support from our county leaders. Greg stated, experience and training from the Kern County Fire Department was the reason he stood out from other candidates and was ultimately offered the job. Greg is 1 of 17 resignations to date for 2020. #YourKernCountyFirefighters wish you and your family the best of luck in your new role and again our loss is another department’s gain. See more

On #Halloween, be extra careful about traffic. Remind trick-or-treaters to stay on the sidewalks and away from cars. #IAFFsafetytips #makesafehappen

Firefighters continue to be improperly paid during record fire season! Since the County of Kern, imposed their Cuts Only Last Best and Final contract on your #KernCountyFirefighters in June, our firefighters paychecks have been riddled with constant errors, massive under payments, and are inconsistent with the Fair Labor Standards Act. For months we have asked the County for the methodology and formulas on how they calculate pay for our firefighters, with little more t...han a We’re working on it response. Kern’s hard working firefighters continue to be paid the wrong amounts. Our firefighters have been working harder than ever during this record fire season. Tens of thousands of hours on the fire line, many working 30 straight days or more, only to get a call from home that their wife can’t pay the mortgage due to incorrect paychecks. This is the result of the CAO’s imposed contract that the county is ill-equipped to administer. They have had over a year to figure it out! Perhaps some of our County Supervisors would have voted differently if they knew the CAO and Human Resources couldn’t properly implement a contract it worked for 3 years to force onto our members? 23ABC Bakersfield The Bakersfield Californian BakersfieldNow Tehachapi News Midway Driller

Be seen on #Halloween with flashlights and reflective fabrics. #IAFFSafetyTips #MakeSafeHappen

Avoid a real scare this #Halloween! Make sure to keep flames away from decorations and costumes, and use battery-operated lights where ever possible! #iaffsafetytips

#KernCountyFirefighters IAFF Local 1301 proudly endorse Frank Lima for IAFF General Secretary Treasurer. Lima for GST Team 10th Frankie Lima California Professional Firefighters #limaforgst