By Erica O’Neal
Managing Editor
Leaning back against the bright-red fire truck, Sabrina Reuda smiles and attempts to smooth away wisps of her hair. Sabrina has been working part-time as a fire fighter with Crisp County Fire Rescue for the last eight months. Sabrina is 24-years-old and started out volunteering as a fire fighter with Sumter County in order to help others.
“Just the need to help the community around me. This was the first course of action I took and I fell in love with it immediately so I’ve stuck with it. I didn’t have plans ahead of time to do this. I got my GED when I turned 22 and as soon as I got my GED I went straight to the station in Sumter County and picked up a volunteer packet. Once I started my classes and everything, I just stuck with it since then,” Sabrina said.
Sabrina has been a fire fighter for two years now and does not see a time in the future when she would not be working to save lives. So far Sabrina has worked multiple structure fires in Sumter County and a few smaller fires in Crisp County. Sabrina remembers the first fire she fought with Sumter County not long after passing exams and receiving her certifications. A propane tank had blown at a residence and when Sumter County Fire Department received the call, a notification was sent out to all volunteers via pagers.
“I followed one of the engines down to the house that was on fire and I parked down the road, but as soon as I stepped out I could feel the heat every time it (the propane tank) released the pressure that was built up in it. You could hear it and you could feel it from all the way down the road. I went and got my gear on and I ran down the road to where everyone was. You could see the fire, it was going so high in the air, it was catching the trees on fire, the shed that was by it was burning up, the vehicles on the inside, the motorcycles, part of the structure was catching on fire,” Sabrina said.
Once the fire was knocked down, Sabrina described how she helped with overhaul, which means fire fighters made sure to go back and hit any hot spots or debris. As they worked, Sabrina remembers picking up small pieces of the lives that lived in the home.
“Me and some of the other fighters as we were going, we were looking down and collecting picture frames, bibles and books that we could find, anything that we could salvage out of it and giving it all to the owner of the house because, when they lose something like that, anything you can save is precious. So that was my first experience. Anything you can salvage to give back, it may look like a little but it means a lot to the people who are receiving it. So it was a good experience,” Sabrina said.
Sabrina moved over to Crisp County Fire Rescue after hearing about it from friends who worked in both Sumter County Fire Department and Crisp County Fire Rescue. Sabrina no longer works for Sumter County, but now works two jobs: part-time at Crisp County and part-time as a machine operator at Tape Specialist of Georgia in Americus as well as volunteering with another county.
According to Sabrina, fire stations around the country have only a handful of full-time paid fire fighters and the rest are trained volunteers. Each volunteer has to go through rigorous training sessions and exams. After being certified, volunteer fire fighters are given a pager to notify when a fire is occurring and their own fire fighting gear. Sabrina makes sure to have her gear stored away in her personal vehicle in case of a fire notification. This way she can respond immediately without having to swing by a station to pick up her gear.
Sumter County Fire Department and Crisp County Fire Rescue are two completely different experiences as far as how they are structured. Sumter County Fire Department is a relatively new department, it’s only been around for about nine years since 2009, whereas Crisp County Fire Rescue is much older and has more seasoned fire fighters.
“Being that Sumter County is very fresh, very new, they are very trained-oriented and very big on teaching and learning and bringing people in and out. Here in Crisp County, it’s older; everyone here is experienced so it’s not so much as drilling in everything that you need to learn because a lot of them know it. You ask questions as you go. The differences you find, not only with the people but the rankings are a little different. It’s all basically the same, the command structures are basically the same, just a little different,” Sabrina said.
Sabrina balances being a mother to a five-year-old named Catherine as well as working part-time as a fire fighter and part-time as a machine operator. Her husband, David Reuda is a police officer with the Americus Police Department.
“She loves the fact of what I do. She loves the concept of the Fire Department and firefighters. I’m with her a lot. One day she’ll want to be a fire fighter, the next day she’ll want to be a cop,” Sabrina said.
Sabrina has found her passion and envisions herself serving the community as a fire fighter for years to come.