Volunteer Firefighters Protect Bishop

The town of Bishop, California, sits about 45 minutes south of Mammoth Lakes. It's a small town with a small population - just 3,715 residents, compared to Los Angeles' nearly 4 million.

A city of that size, or rather lack of size, can sometimes lack essential services, in this case, a fire department with a full-time staff. Like many small communities, Bishop's fire department relies solely on volunteers. Everyday working people who, when called, drop what they are doing to protect their community.

"Our local fire department is the front line," said Matthew Paruolo, a community resident and Southern California Edison Government Relations manager. "There's no cavalry coming, they're the ones who show up."

Paruolo, who works as community liaison for the Eastern Sierra region, including Bishop, is one of about 36 volunteers who devote their free time to answering emergency calls. Of those volunteers, three are SCE employees - Paruolo, the self-proclaimed newbie, along with Courtney Morrison and Adam Marcellin.

Living in a tight knit town, they felt compelled to volunteer and help make a difference.

Morrison, an SCE production specialist, has volunteered for three years and was awarded rookie of the year.

Marcellin, an SCE planner and fire captain, has the most firefighting experience of the trio with almost 20 years under his belt. Both his father and grandfather spent time in the department, and he feels great pride in following in their footsteps.

"This is bigger than me," Marcellin said. "We don't have enough funding for a full-time department, so it's us or nobody."

During a large wildfire, help from neighboring agencies will eventually arrive, but the response can take a while with Bishop being miles from the next town. Until backup arrives, the volunteers are the first line of defense. For structure fires or car crashes, they are the only line of defense.

To prepare for that responsibility, the volunteers participate in training once a week. Every Wednesday they spend three hours practicing vehicle extraction, hazmat training, search and rescue, CPR, wildland firefighting and more.

"It can be tough getting to the trainings because you have kids, sports, work - that kind of stuff - and all the volunteer hours that go into it," Morrison said. "It's definitely a commitment."

While it's not mandatory to attend each week, the firefighters take it seriously, knowing the entire community is counting on them.

"When you get in your gear and heading to an emergency, there is definitely some anxiety" Paruolo said. "But the department's really good about building trust and making sure we have all the tools and confidence before we're called in."

SCE adds to that confidence by partnering with local fire departments on emergency management and safety trainings.

"One of our SCE fire managers provided electrical safety for first responders training and that was a really valuable lesson for us," said Paruolo.

The training helped the first responders understand necessary steps to take when they encounter downed power lines, cars that hit poles or other scenarios where quick action is necessary to keep themselves and the community safe.

"SCE is a huge part of the ecosystem up here," added Paruolo. "Not just myself but other employees all stepping up, trying to give more and be good community partners - it makes a difference."

To learn more about SCE's wildfire mitigation, visit edison.com/wildfiresafety.