Firefighter Robert “Bobby” Kline got suited up in full gear his second day on shift at the Barstow Fire Protection District and made the rounds among dozens of excited school children.
As the “probie,” or probationary firefighter on his crew, Kline was nominated to be the centerpiece during the district’s Fire Prevention Week assembly at Henderson Elementary School on Monday. Paid-call firefighter Anthony Rudalf explained to the cafeteria full of children how to treat a burn or escape from a burning house. Meanwhile, Kline walked through the crowd, unrecognizable in his face mask, high-fiving the students.
As a father of two boys, Kline said he enjoys the interactions with the public, and especially with children.
“It was fun to see the smiles on their faces,” he said.
On the other hand, the hardest calls are those where children are victims, he said. As a trained firefighter/paramedic, he knows how to stay focused on the task at hand. But afterward, it’s hard to avoid thinking how he would feel if the patient was one of his sons.
“Every human, after the call, starts to think ‘What if?’” Kline said.
Kline was hired to fill a full-time firefighter/paramedic position that has been open since February, said Capt. Steve Ross. After a week-long orientation, Kline worked his first full shift Saturday.
Written by Barstow Desert Dispatch / photo by Abby Sewell
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