Volunteering for duty By MATT KAPKO Half Moon Bay Review April 27, 2005 The things a man will do to please his wife. Just ask Larry Whitney, chief of the all-volunteer La Honda Fire Brigade. If it weren't for his wife's Farrah Fawcett hairdo (and her desire to own a horse), it's doubtful the pair would've settled in La Honda 29 years ago, Whitney said. The colder weather on the coast could've given Cathy Whitney's hairstyle the frizzies and La Honda offered the perfect setting for horse riding and ownership, Larry Whitney added. La Honda has seen a lot of the Whitneys since they decided to move to the town in the redwoods. Cathy Whitney joined the La Honda Fire Brigade in 1988. To spend more time with her, Larry Whitney joined in 1992. "I never had any inkling or particular desire to become a firefighter," he said. That is the sort of humbled servant approach for which Larry Whitney is now being recognized. Earlier this month, the county Board of Supervisors named him one of five county residents who have made extraordinary contributions to their community. Whitney and the four others were nominated for the 2005 Jefferson Award for Public Service. Whitney's been chief of the La Honda Fire Brigade for nine years now, and he said he expects to stay on another couple of years. The brigade serves as the first responder to 54 square miles and the second responder to an additional 80 square miles, Whitney said. Residents formed the brigade in 1962. Back then, locals would call Apple Jack's Inn, a bar sitting just a stone's throw from the fire station, to report emergencies. The bar also had two alarms that it would sound to inform residents of the emergency. "This has always been an all-volunteer fire department," Whitney said. "We're really very proud of the response and quality of service we provide." The brigade currently has 16 volunteers. On an average call, about five volunteers will show up for a response, Whitney said. "They really do come to us from all walks of life," he said. "Being a volunteer firefighter really is a second, unpaid job." Whitney prides himself on the brigade's response record and its strict adherence to safety. "Our organization is a very safety-conscious organization," he said. "In every single effort we try to raise the bar. We challenge ourselves," he said. "We are our own worst critics." Whitney's low point in the brigade came on May 4, 2004, when a house fire in San Gregorio claimed the lives of two young boys. His decision to order all of the firefighters out of the burning home was the hardest call he's had to make, he said. "This fight, or this rescue was over before we'd arrived," he said. He still vividly recalls when one of the boys' parents told him that the young boys were still inside. "We purposefully have to detach ourselves from it," he said. "You really have to leave it with the incident." Whitney's job is different from that of his paid counterparts. The La Honda Fire Brigade deals only in helping people. "We really are in the people-helping business," he said. "Our only mission is to help people. We don't have any other mission in the world." Whitney has nothing but admiration for the volunteers that back him on every call to duty. "What they do makes me look good," he said. "I do not know another industry in America where almost three-quarters of them do it on a volunteer basis," he said of the fire-protection service. "We are very well supported by our community," he said. "It's a wonderful, unique area." Home