Tulsa’s Fire Station 2 celebrated its 115th anniversary Sunday. That’s 115 years of struggles, sleepless nights, and risking lives for strangers.
The Tulsa Fire Department said Station 2 responded to about 5,000 calls in 2022. It’s also responsible for the department’s two most-visited addresses. That’s a lot for one station to handle.
As Lt. Michael McClendon sat down for dinner with the rest of his crew, he said it was a rare sight.
“Things get interrupted a lot,” he explained. “There’s very seldom a meal we get to sit all the way through without getting up to make a run. It’s usually dinner.”
It’s certainly not limited to meals.
“It always seems like, at the most inopportune time, you’re going to catch a run,” he said. “Whether it be in the shower or working out or eating dinner.”
NewsChannel 8 asked if firefighters get to finish their showers in those circumstances.
“You gotta rinse and go!” he exclaimed with a smile.
Cpt. Wes Lightle said that’s just life at Station 2.
“It is a grind to work here at Station 2,” he admitted. “We’re running anywhere from 12 to 18 calls a shift.”
“There’s a lot of nights that we don’t get very much sleep,” McClendon added. “We might sleep two or three hours.”
“This is one of the busier stations,” he continued, “but it’s not”
His voice trailed off as he looked above to the station’s wall mounted speakers, listening to a call come in from dispatch.
“Hold on,” he said before walking away.
Maybe the station really is that busy.
“It’s physically draining,” Lightle said, “to where we’re gonna be running calls our entire 24-hour shift.”
Firefighters at the station said its location makes them so busy. Not only do they cover the city’s homeless services and the jail, but the BOK Center and most of the city’s nightlife.
Fire Chief Michael Baker said out of all 30 fire stations in town, Station 2 is the fourth-busiest.
“It takes unique individuals to work here,” he said. “They are often very stressed, and they are often very busy.”
“It becomes very taxing on your body, on your mind, and just on your morale,” Lightle explained, “to where every single day you’re extremely busy, you’re extremely tired.”
But every time they slide down the pole – and yes, Station 2 has two poles which firefighters use regularly – they do it with a smile. They also do it with humility.
“No, no, it’s not an elite corps here,” McClendon said, chuckling.
After all, that’s just life at Station 2.
NewsChannel 8 asked McClendon if there’s anything he would change about the station.
“No, sir,” he responded, shaking his head. “There’s nothing at all.”