By HANNAH GARCIA

STAFF WRITER

hgarcia@gulfcoastnewspapers.com

While the island community at large experienced the wildfire through vicarious means like headlines and sound bites, men like Orange Beach Battalion Chief Jeff Smith fought the blaze face-to-fire.

And while spending so much time battling the fire, Smith also missed a major milestone in his 7-month-old son Rainer’s infancy. While the division leader was on duty during the wildfire, Rainer crawled for the first time.

Late one night during the week of the Gulf State Park fire, he was looking at a social networking site when he stumbled across a video his wife had posted earlier. She had already fallen asleep before he got a chance to phone her.

It was then, on a computer screen, Smith saw his son crawl for the first time. Smith’s wife, Sunshine, had posted a video of the baby inching across the floor.

“I’ve been pushing him to do it, so I was kind of happy. But at the same time, it was a little sad that I didn’t get to be there for it,” Smith said.

Although disappointing, missing milestones is part of the job, Smith said. Smith also has two daughters, 16-year-old Madison and 3-year-old Lakin.

“I know we’ve all missed stuff like that,” Smith said. “We work holidays, kids’ sporting events, you name it. If we’re on duty, we can’t get off.”

You get as much as you give, though, according to Smith. Fire personnel typically get two days off before heading back to the station for another day of work.

“You gain as much as you lose with this type of shift work,” Smith said. “It’s a good job for helping people. I don’t know why anybody wouldn’t want to do this job to help people.”

As the conflagration died down and the Alabama Forestry Commission headed back to Montgomery, firefighters on the island got back to regular hours and spending more time at home. One side-effect of the fire-filled week was “getting behind on life,” Smith said.

“I had to bring my bills to work one day,” Smith said. “My grass is over a foot tall because I haven’t been able to mow it in over a week.”

Crews from Gulf Shores and Orange Beach fire departments were attempting to contain the blaze around the clock with officials from the Alabama Forestry Commission and fire personnel from nearby municipalities.

“The complete incident was just under 224 hours, from time of dispatch to the time we terminated command,” Smith said, shortly after finishing his report on the wildfire. Command was terminated Monday night.

Of those 224 hours, Smith tallied four additional 24-hour sessions on top of his normal shift. Orange Beach firefighters typically work a 24-hour shift every three days. The battalion chief logged just under 100 hours of overtime while the blaze burned in the Gulf State Park.

“It was probably the longest incident I’ve ever been on time-wise,” Smith said. “I’ve worked fires for 24 hours, but never for more than a week.”

Smith cited the community support during the fire. Churches and businesses around the community supplied food, water, and Gatorade while personnel worked to extinguish the flames in the park.

Chief Forney Howard expressed interest in issuing a thank-you for the community’s support during the past week. Smith warned him that he might want to make it vague, because there’s “no way we could remember everybody that did stuff for us. I hate to list them, because there were just so many,” he said.

The fire department had more food “than we knew what to do with,” Smith said.

“Not only supporting the crews on the scene, but the crews here (at the fire station). Our last shift, a lady came in with a pan full of banana pudding to the fire station,” Smith said. “Not only the fire departments and the mutual aid groups that came and helped us, but the community as a whole. You drove through town, and out on the marquee signs in front of businesses you could see ‘Thank You, Firefighters’ all through town.”

“It was just really nice to have that support, to know that our extremely hard work was appreciated,” he said. “All the guys worked extremely hard through all of this. They did great at the fire as they do everyday.”

A different kind of family

While firefighters were spending time away from their own families, they were keeping an eye on another family.

Smith and fellow firemen Brooks McKenzie found a family of alligators after hearing reports about a possible dead alligator in the park.

“Brooks McKenzie and I found the gators,” Smith said. “We had heard that there was a ‘dead 10-foot gator’ on the west side of Power Line Road. She didn’t look dead but we were not going to walk out there to find out. After staying there for a few minutes she finally slid down into the pool. We don’t know if someone saw her and thought she was dead or if it was just a rumor. She obviously wasn’t.”

The alligator, mother of nine new hatchlings, was eight and a half foot long. The wildfire-fleeing reptiles took refuge in a mud hole. The firefighters from Orange Beach kept the haven hydrated so the alligators could stay alive during the blaze.

After the fire was largely contained, the alligators were moved to a bigger pond on Monday.

“Per the authorities we are not going to disclose the location so she can get ‘reacquainted’ with her babies, new surroundings, and no human interference,” Smith said.