Beyond County Lines: KCFD firefighters travel state and country on assignment

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — (KBAK/FOX58) After Kern County received some out-of-county help battling its largest wildfire in history, the county’s firefighters are paying it back. And they are doing it in California, Idaho and Oregon. Eyewitness News spoke with Kern County Fire Department officers Captain Andrew Freeborn and Battalion Chief Kevin Ostrinski who have worked to keep Californians around the state safe this summer.

Earlier this summer, Freeborn worked for an interagency fire unit in counties north of Kern. The veteran captain reveals the difficult part of the job: leaving the family.

“That is something that you have to, as a family, have those conversations before you go on these incidents,” Freeborn said.”You start to learn where someone [in your team] might get reception on their phone. And you pull off real quick on some turnout somewhere and you fire off those messages.”

Ostrinski is in the middle of the action. The battalion chief is leading a strike team of nearly 20 firefighters at the Airport Fire in Orange County. The blaze torched more than 23,000 acres with 35% containment according to CalFire. Ostrinski said his team helped protect an old Scout building and several nearby homes.

“We were able to go in there and clean up the road, make it accessible for or equipment and other equipment,” Ostrinski said. “If the fire had pushed through there, we would have been able to get access in and make a stand and protect those homes.”

The job can be fatiguing. However, Ostrinski gets up to do the work no matter the challenge, no matter the county.

“It is just something that is innate in me that I just want to help other people,” Ostrinski said. “Being in this career allows us to be part of someone’s worst day, and the minute we show up on scene, we are there to give them comfort.”

As of Wednesday, September 18th, Ostrinski is on Day 10 of his 14-day shift in Southern California.