[04/JUN/2022] STATION SHOWCASE: LIFEGUARD TOWERS

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Carter Osby
Assistant Chief
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Joined: 13 Aug 2018, 17:42
Primary Assignment: Operations Central Bureau
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STATION SHOWCASE: LIFEGUARD TOWERS
4th of June, 2022
LSFD Public Relations Trainee Emilia Jenkins
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Welcome to the third instalment of Station Showcase, the weekly series about the Fire Stations the Los Santos Fire Department operates across Los Santos, from Paleto Bay to Los Santos International. The Department's Public Relations Division will be taking a look at the Los Santos County Lifeguards this episode! The Lifeguard Towers located in, Vespucci Beach, the home of the Los Santos County Lifeguards!

History & Facts
Tower One & Two is not an ordinary Fire Station, that's because it's not a Fire Station at all! It's operated by the Los Santos County Lifeguards! The Lifeguards use the Lifeguard Towers as the primary base of operations and for training. The Lifeguards oversee 24 miles of beaches across San Andreas and are the priority responders for medical incidents in Vespucci Beach. A brief history fact for you: Did you know the Los Santos County Lifeguards merged with the Fire Department in 1994? The Lifeguards were previously a part of the Department of Beaches and Harbours.

The Lifeguards & Vehicles
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The Lifeguards currently operate out of Tower One and Tower Two, both are located at Vespucci Beach merely a 5-minute walk away from each other. Tower One contains the primary base of operations for Lifeguards, it includes bunks, medical equipment, boats, and a small workshop for minor repairs to the vehicles. Tower Two is used for training Trainee Lifeguards, it includes a pool and two classrooms.
Tower One currently operates a total of 21 vehicles out of the station, namely:
  • 7x CaraCara SUVs
  • 4x Seasharks
  • 4x ATVs
  • 2x Dinghy
  • 2x Fireboats
  • 1x Tractor
  • 1x Rescue Ambulance
Q&A with Lifeguard Section Chief Rico Marshall
Image Section Chief Rico Marshall Emilia Jenkins: Okay, so first of then, who is Rico Marshall, when did he join the Lifeguards?
Rico Marshall: Alright so I joined in July 2018, so I'm coming up to my fourth year soon. I joined Lifeguards when it was a fairly small team and ran by one of the old Chiefs Arianna Iglesias. Back then we had I'd say... potentially seven or so members? It was a pretty small team given the division was still finding its feet and members would come and go. After finishing my probation period I aligned myself up to become a Dive Instructor since I enjoyed that subsection a lot and this enabled me to have more input on actual ocean rescues as well. Then the role of senior lifeguard got brought into the team to enable that extra level of supervisory that would help people gain the experience needed for Captaincy and onwards. So I became a Senior Lifeguard and then went from there to Captain and then section chief.

Emilia Jenkins: Do you handle all the beaches across Los Santos County or the entire state?
Rico Marshall: Alright so, our primary focus is Vespucci beach, however, we can get dispatched to any calls in the entire state in regards to Ocean rescues or events. So say for instance there is a festival at Paleto beach, we can be requested to patrol there instead. Or if there's a lot of activity in Chumash we can send units there to ensure folks stay safe and get that support. For day-to-day running, however, we are for now primarily in Vespucci.

Emilia Jenkins: Any interesting calls you've attended the past week?
Rico Marshall: We recently got called to a large tugboat accident that had crashed into some rocks and had sent a distress signal out. We eventually located the injured owner on a dinghy, due to the nature of the incident we had to have both Rangers and SFM involvement as well so it was a large team operation that had a successful result at the end of it. You never quite know how rescues are going to go so we are always grateful when we get a successful ending.

Emilia Jenkins: When will you open up recruitment and anything to say to applicants?
Rico Marshall: In terms of Recruitment we are hoping to open applications middle of June, and I highly recommend those thinking of applying to go for it. Being a part of the team means you are part of something bigger and can help make a difference within the community. A lot of our work isn't just doing medical calls and ocean rescues. We take a big interest in the community and help run events. So every single day is different.

You can view our full interview here!
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Assistant Chief Carter Osby
Bureau Commander, Operations Bureau
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