Annually, firefighters from Johnson County join firefighters from across the state to volunteer their time at the Missouri State Fair.
Two first-time fair firefighters from Johnson County were awarded EMS Personnel of the Year for 2021. Firefighter Emma Smith, Johnson County Fire Protection District – Station 10, and Firefighter Kylie Frerking, Warrensburg Fire Department – Station 2, were co-recipients of the award for their work as EMTs during the fair.
Smith said she is grateful for the award.
“We just did our best,” Smith said.
Smith said she volunteered for the fair because she loves everything about working EMS.
“For me, it’s not about the money,” Smith said. “It’s about being able to help people.”
Smith just finished school, earning her EMS license, in May.
“I feel happy to get it,” Frerking said. “We ran a lot of calls down there and I loved every second of it.”
Frerking said she had excellent partners throughout the fair.
“I heard about it from a couple people and I’m like ‘well, I’ll try it out,’ just to try it out … I was a little nervous,” Frerking said. “I didn’t know too many people down there but by the end of it they’re like family now.” Firefighters Association of Missouri coordinates the emergency response personnel and equipment for the fair. A firefighter must be a member of the FFAM to serve in the Missouri State Fair Fire Department (MSFFD).
“We have a lot of applications,” Larry Eggen said. “I think we had 150, this year, apply. Our biggest day we take 75 (personnel).”
Eggen serves as a battalion chief for the Johnson County Fire Protection District (JCFPD), working with the captains, lieutenants and firefighters of Station 1 and 6.
At the fair, Eggen serves as the public information officer, safety officer and is the captain of public relations for the Missouri State Fair Fire Department.
Eggen said, in total, about 125 firefighters work in the course of the fair.
The MSFFD operates only 11 days out of the year and the fair serves as an opportunity for additional training.
Eggen said the different departments across the state train differently because they face different circumstances, such as city fire departments may be more accustomed to using fire hydrants where more rural departments rely on tankers transporting water to the scene.
The MSFFD does not have its own equipment and relies on FFAM member fire departments to loan equipment to the fair.
“Our fire department, we have no equipment,” Eggen said. “So, we’re the only known 11-day fire department that forms only for the state fair. We have no apparatus, no equipment, no ambulances, no supplies. So different member organizations donate the equipment.”
The fair emergency services receives donations of equipment and supplies, such as adhesive bandages and ambulance cots, from businesses.
Eggen said that because the department is only in operation for 11 days, it would not be cost-effective to have their own equipment that isn’t used the rest of the year.
“It’s really unique and we do it by the grace of all the members of the FFAM, they support this organization entirely and all the member departments,” Eggen said. “That’s what makes this happen.”
The MSFFD operates as a fully functional department and has bunk space, a kitchen, command center and training space on the fairgrounds.
Emergency services at the fair operate as their own jurisdiction during the fair and even have their own dispatch center.
The MSFFD is a fully functional fire/EMS service, providing fire safety and prevention services as well as transport to the Missouri Disaster Assistance Team on the fairgrounds.
“We have paramedics on our ambulances … just like if you would be at home and call 911,” Eggen said. “You are getting the same quality of service.”
Eggen said the MSFFD provides the same level of care as any city department and is dedicated to the fairgrounds.
“We do a lot of public education here in the front (about) fire safety,” Eggen said. “We do some drills. We do have a smoke trailer for sprinkler systems.”
Eggen said the fire department does fire safety education out front of the firehouse as well as different demonstrations throughout the week.
“We have a fire extinguisher demo that the kids can actually spray fire extinguishers on live fire; very controlled. The parents love it. We try to do that four or five times through the fair.”
Eggen said the department trained about 200 kids the first day of the fair.
“It’s an attraction for the fairgrounds,” Eggen said. “Let kids sit in the fire trucks, they all want to do that, so they can be more comfortable if they have to call so they won’t be scared of us when we come.”
Eggen said a big focus for the department is educating the public.
Eggen said he volunteers at the fair because it is an opportunity to exercise skills he doesn’t usually get to use and he gets to interact with firefighters from across the state.
“Everybody does stuff their own ways, so it’s an excellent learning opportunity … we train with people state-wide here so it’s a different look on things,” Eggen said. “Gives you different ideas and I feel that it helps you grow professionally.”
The MSFFD trains throughout the duration of the fair.
Eggen and MSFFD Chief Robert B. Brown from the Eureka and Union fire protection districts said they have both served at the fair since 1995.
“This is my calling,” Brown said. “I was put on this earth to help people and how much more can we help than being here at the Missouri State Fair. We have everyone from all over the state come and volunteer their time to do the work that they do at their home departments, representing their home departments, to assist the great citizens of the State of Missouri and the fairgoers.”
FFAM
