Heat of the Moment

By Abigail Whitcher

The Fourth of July has many revolving aspect to it: family, fun, fireworks. But there is one last aspect no one really thinks about: the fire department.

Stereotypically, the Fourth of July is filled with the most alluring things to a fire department. Using barbecue grills to make the classic burgers and hot dogs, a fresh cold one cracked to keep the good times and laughter rolling, little ones playing with sparklers and Roman candles – all good things equaling a potential recipe for disaster.

That is where the fire department comes in. For holidays, the emergency services are stocked up and prepared. For example, the Lenexa Fire Department has almost all of their staff on duty, whether they are attending the morning marathons or parade, or patrolling neighborhoods to make sure citizens are making safe practices.

“The week of [Fourth of July], we’ll do nightly patrols. We’ll go out around the city. So, each station has a district they’re responsible for, and we’ll kind of go out and drive the neighborhood,” said Jesse Wallace, a firefighter for the Lenexa Fire Department.

Both he and his lieutenant, Garyn Gorup, worked the special Fourth of July shift. And though the most exciting thing to happen this year was a massive heat wave, which made the emergency services stock up on personnel and resources for the morning 5K and 10K, both agree that the holiday could have had a lot worse ending.

“We pre-plan ahead of time to be able to respond to [emergencies], so there’s a whole big plan in place, for us and for the police department, because they’re kind of affected by it too,” Gorup said.