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Cadet Angelo Urias and former Army ranger Joe Sain hold the fire hose, with the person in the back placing their hand on the torso of the front person.
This method adds support for the amount of water pressure spraying out.
Training tomorrows heroes
Quartzsite Fire
and Rescue show
cadets the ropes
By Cathyleen Rice
Times Reporter
The quiet morning of Fri-
day, Oct. 28, yielded a good
time for a few American he-
roes to properly train cadets
from the Blythe Area.
Proudly serving in Quartz-
site, Captain Aaron Marti-
nez, firefighters Joe Sain and
William Aaron taught cadets
Angelo Urias and Dorita Cas-
tro essential skills for being a
public safety professional.
Firefighting, a dangerous
process of extinguishing fires
and providing adequate medi-
cal assistance in some cases,
is a demanding field that few
are brave enough to sign up
for.
To take on the responsibili-
ty to protect lives and prevent
destruction of property, the
men and woman of Quartz-
site Fire and Rescue (QF&R)
bequeath themselves as team
players of an utmost self sac-
rificial organization.
Chief Kevin Hess of QF&R
gave a tour of the firehouse
and took the Times on a train-
ing excursion.
Just around the bin of the
ABOVE LEFT: Maggie and Gene Ross, winners of Quartzsites 2nd annual the volunteers do around the
Volunteer of the Year Award, beam with humility and gratitude at their home, community and as a means
Oct. 28. Bottom line: proclaim and be an example of Gods love and you
can take that one to the bank, said Gene Ross. ABOVE RIGHT: Quartzsite
local Riyianna Timberlake, winner of the towns 2nd Annual Volunteer of the
Year Award in the youth category, was presented with a certificate for her
selfless work and generous dedication to her community by Mayor Ed Foster. Senior Citizens Center and
Palo Verde Valley Times
& Quartzsite Times
Calendar/A3
Quartzsite
Times
Training took place on Friday, Oct. 28, with (from left to right) former Army ranger Joe Sain, Captain Aaron
Martinez, William Aaron, Chief Kevin Hess, as well as (bottom) cadets Angelo Urias and Dorita Castro.
firehouse, the first out en- field is being captain, Chief
gine and a water bender was Hess said. You still have
parked along the curve near a your boots on the ground,
fire hydrant. youre a part of the team and
Several firemen and one have leadership with very lit-
phenomenal woman worked tle politics.
laboriously, progressing Committing his life to fight-
through exercises and learn- ing fires for the past 21 years,
ing the ways of fighting fire Hess also teaches at Arizona
efficiently. Western College at the Parker
I think the best job in this branch and instills within his
Volunteer of the Year winners named
By Joanne Winer
Guest Columnist
At the last meeting of the
Quartzsite Town Council, the
2nd annual Volunteer of the
Year awards were given out
to the top three winners in the
adult category, as well as the
winner of the youth award, by
Mayor Ed Foster.
The idea of the awards was
Photo by Uriel Avendano/Quartzsite Times to honor the selfless work that
to thank them for all the long
hours and efforts they put in.
A lot of the local organizations
and places, like the resident
PVVT.com
Todays high: 82
Details on A3
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Photos by Cathyleen Rice/Quartzsite Times
cadets, physical and mental
strength.
Fire fighting is grueling
work, you must have a lot of
stamina, Hess said. Its not
about just staying in shape,
but being able to do your ef-
fectively.
With a minimum hour
workout to an Insanity
See training/A2
Q.I.A., depend on volunteers
to keep them going and this
award is for those who volun-
teer their time year-round.
There were seven candi-
dates for the Adult Volunteer
Award and two for the Youth
Volunteer Award.
Everyone was given a
framed certificate; the top
three adult and one youth win-
ners will have their photos
put on the wall in the Council
Chamber at Town Hall.
The top three winners were
in 1st place Maggie and Gene
Ross; in 2nd place Shananna
Rain BearCat; and 3rd place
was Marilyn McFate.
I wouldnt be able to do it
turn 7th Arizona
visit into win/A4
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Quartzsites
Own: WWII
Iwo Jima
vet Opie
Van Auken
By Jackie Deal
Guest Columnist
He was only 17 years old
when he landed on Guadal-
canal and barely 19 when he
fought his way onto Iwo Jima
with the other Marines. To-
day this 92-year-old WWII vet-
eran, O.P. Van Auken, vividly
recalls the black sands of Iwo
Jima.
You never forget those
black sands, he says.
Those black sands must
have been tinged with blood.
According to reports, 7,000
U.S. Ma-
rines and
21,000 Japa-
nese troops
died on Iwo
Jima. Opie
adds, There
were a lot of
wounded.
Iwo Jima
was a volca-
nic island
and he re-
Opie Van Auken
members that those black
sands stunk of sulfur and the
ground was so hot that the fox
holes were warm. The Japa-
nese had burrowed into tun-
nels and caves and came out
fighting.
We would have been glad
to fight them, if we could only
have seen them. But, said
Opie with a grin. There was
no street fighting. There were
no streets.
When asked what branch
of the service he had been in,
he replied, The Marines, of
course!
He saw the Marines raise
the first flag on Iwo Jima, not
the one in the famous photo
but the real first one.
Opie remembers when he
joined the service. Sunday,
Dec. 7, was the attack on Pearl
Harbor. That Monday, he
went to join the Navy.
He was only 53 and
weighed 105-lbs. The Navy
took one look and said, No
thanks.
That same weeks Tuesday,
he went with a friend to see
the Marines. As he recalls,
Monday they were still on
Peacetime restrictions. Tues-
See vet/A2
without him, said Maggie
Ross, patting her husband
Gene Ross on the back and
quick to add how many oth-
ers deserved the recognition.
Were living out our faith
and passing it on to a commu-
nity that needs it.
The other four in the adult
group were Monica Timber-
lake, Mark Church, Jessika
Gardner, and Beverly Cun-
ningham.
We were nominated for
this award last year; we dont
want this type of recognition.
Hopefully, we wont be nomi-
nated; Id love to be able to
nominate someone next year
See Winners/A2