Working -- Ron Gamble

Danette Goulet

HE IS

Coming to the rescue.

SAVING LIVES

One year ago, Capt. Ron Gamble answered the call of his lifetime -- of

any firefighter’s lifetime, he’d say.

He and his crew responded to a call in which they were told a fire had

trapped two girls in their home.

The second engine to arrive at the scene, Gamble and his partner

immediately protected the stairwell while another duo looked for the

girl, with whom they had lost contact. When the first team ran out of

air, Gamble and his partner took over the search.

“We heard the girls screaming,” he said.

Gamble pounded his fist on the door, which collapsed under the weight

due to fire damage.

“It was probably the call of a lifetime,” he said. “[As a fire

fighter], everyone would love to be in that situation.”

IN CHARGE

Since that thrilling call last May in which he ended up saving the two

young girls, Gamble has been promoted to captain.

Now he’s in charge of a three-man crew that operates out of Fire

Station 5 on Marigold Avenue in Corona del Mar.

As captain, he leads fire inspections at schools, businesses and

retirement facilities. He also takes the lead on calls and makes sure

everything is running properly.

“The day-to-day, especially now that I have a rookie, is a lot of

training,” he added, referring to Ty Lunde, a fireman who came on board

two months ago.

While third crew member and engineer Tim Guckes, who drives the truck

and runs the hose equipment, is no rookie, they all like to keep on their

toes.

So rope, knot and ladder drills are par for the course at the station

these days.

This weekend, they will perform repelling drills off cliffs for

practice.

WHY FIGHT IT

After one year in sales, Gamble decided to follow in his father’s

footsteps.

“I saw my father’s job -- it was athletic, active and the camaraderie

with the guys,” he said.

So, he went back for his associate’s degree in fire science, finished

the fire academy and has spent the last 16 years as a firefighter for the

city of Newport Beach.

Although he loves the unpredictable nature of his job, about 80 to 90%

of the calls they get are medical aids, he said, which can be the

toughest to deal with emotionally if there are children who are hurt.

“It bothered me enough before I had two little ones,” he said.

Those cases are not enough to keep him from loving his job, however.

“The best is helping people,” he said. “Like that fire -- it’s

exciting, scary, it’s everything. Adrenaline.”