![\"IMG_1245webtop\"](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_1245webtop.jpg\")
<\/a>Some aspects of firefighting have changed and others have stayed the same since Danell first visited a firehouse with his brother years ago and decided to leave San Diego State University and pursue fire science at Grossmont College.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe care for people on medical incidents has improved quite a bit,\u201d he said. \u201cWe deliver advanced care much faster than we used to and almost all fire departments now have paramedics on their fire trucks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also, the equipment for firefighting has improved, he said. Fire trucks today are stronger, faster and can pump better, but the biggest advance is the addition of computers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are able to access information that we never could have in the past,\u201d he said. Knowing the layout of a building and, more importantly, what kinds of possibly hazardous materials are on a fire site gives today\u2019s firefighters an advantage they didn\u2019t have when he first started, Danell said.<\/p>\n
But, he said, firefighting\u2019s core is still the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s interesting that hasn\u2019t changed with all those improvements in equipment and technology is that it still takes the same men and women to be brave enough to go into a very hazardous environment and put water on the fire,\u201d he said. \u201cWe still have firefighters killed every day. That part hasn\u2019t changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Danell has fought many fires on the job, it was during a wildfire while he was off duty when he came closest to dying.<\/p>\n
During the Cedar Fire in October 2003, Danell was off duty and traveling throughout the county to help where he could. He and another firefighter who was also off duty went to Julian to check on a retired fire chief who lived there. The wildfire headed that way and eventually reached them at 11 p.m., he said.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The wildfire] came in and split and came around the house so we couldn\u2019t get out if we wanted to. We spent the whole night protecting his house.\u201d<\/p>\n
All they had was a small pump with two hoses connected to a water tank, but only one hose could run at a time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spent all night holding it back and the one firefighter I was with actually passed out because there was so much smoke and heat,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was one point where I had my face down in the dirt, trying to breathe and thinking to myself, \u2018This was a bad choice to stay here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the pump ran out of gas and Danell had to refill it while lit embers rained down around him, the three made it through the night and the retired fire chief\u2019s house was the only one that survived in the area.<\/p>\n
In a small city like La Mesa, not every call to the station is going to be as dramatic as the Cedar Fire. However, even calls that seem mundane \u2014 like tending to elderly residents who may not have family nearby or know their neighbors well enough to ask for help \u2014 are \u201cthe times you realize you can make a difference and it doesn\u2019t take long to spend a little extra time,\u201d Danell said. \u201cYou can\u2019t do this job if you don\u2019t want to help people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danell was born in New York and has cousins and uncles who work as firefighters there. After the 9\/11 attack on the World Trade Center, his department raised $20,000 for a widow of a firefighter from his uncles\u2019 department by holding fundraising drives like selling T-shirts at Oktoberfest. He went back to New York to deliver the money and attend funerals of fellow firefighters, thanks to the La Mesa community pulling together to show their support.<\/p>\n
It is that generous spirit he will miss most from the community he served for 31 years. \u201cLa Mesa has been a great city to work for,\u201d he said. \u201cThe people here truly like and support their police and fire. I do truly believe they appreciate what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013\u2013Escriba a Jeff Clemetson a jeff@sdcnn.com.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By\u00a0Jeff Clemetson | Editor<\/p>","protected":false},"author":778,"featured_media":222541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11548","_seopress_titles_title":"La Mesa fire captain bids adieu","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11548,11551,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-la-mesa-courier","category-news","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/778"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}