Getting to Know The Firefighters of Station 69

By JULIETE SEO | Junior Reporter

“Gratifying.” “Rewarding.” “Awesome.”

These are some of the words that Los Angele Fire Department (LAFD) engineer Michael Raden and firefighter paramedic Mark Glenchur at Station 69 in Pacific Palisades used to describe what it’s like to be a firefighter.

Although being a firefighter can be synonymous with being a superhero, a typical day at Station 69 turns out to look a lot like a typical day at home in some ways—despite, of course, getting calls from people in desperate need for someone to save them.

“You have work to do: basic maintenance, paperwork, fire prevention,” Raden said. “We teach and talk to the neighbors and occasionally we go on emergencies, which, unlike everyday emergencies, are life-and-death emergencies.”

But the firefighters at Station 69 gladly tackle these responsibilities.

“It’s a challenge and it’s also satisfying to our problem-solving minds to fix these problems, whatever they may be,” they said.

I asked these two firefighters how they ended up in a career that would have them saving lives.

Raden became a firefighter when he was 23 because it was all he knew growing up, coming from a family of firefighters. He is new to Station 69 and April will mark his first year here.

On the other hand, Glenchur has been working at Station 69 for five and a half years. He was 25 when he started and was inspired by the movie “Firefighter” about the first female who became a firefighter for LA County.

She happened to be from UCLA, share Glenchur’s same major and she wanted to be a paramedic. That was the moment he realized what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

“It just hit me, that’s what I’ll do,” Glenchur said.

Our community is very lucky to have Station 69 (and Station 23) and the dedicated firefighters who work there.

Luckily, the Palisades also has something to offer the firefighters who work here, in return. It turns out that being a firefighter in the Palisades offers something different than working at other stations around the city. The community truly embraces and appreciates the firefighters.

They are also an integral part of many community events, such as the Holiday Ho! Ho! Ho! event around the holidays and the Fourth of July parade.

When asked what is special about being a firefighter in the Palisades, Glenchur replied, “People are very appreciative of what we do.”

Raden’s favorite part of being a fireman is that “each and every day I have the opportunity to solve people’s problems that might be my own family’s tomorrow.”

Glenchur enjoys “being able to help people” and believes that “occasionally saving a life is payment in itself.”

These friendly firefighters even offered some advice for aspiring young firefighters: “Keep your nose clean—in other words, do well in school, don’t get yourself into any trouble, avoid drugs and smoking, stay fit.”

There’s even a cadet program to teach kids what a day in the life of a firefighter is like, including drills. I would say that what these firefighters do for our community is in fact, gratifying, rewarding and without a doubt, awesome.