FIREWIRE Magazine Fall 2018 | Page 48

SBC O FD BEHIND THE SCENES SERVICE ABOVE AND BEYOND By Dan Nelson BEHIND THE SCENES CORNY ROBINSON SOKIE JIMENEZ One of the downsides of working for a fire depart- ment which is constantly growing is that the sup- pression personnel don’t get the chance to meet all of the incredible people behind the scene who keep our department running smoothly. Sokie Jimenez is one such talented person. For those of you who don’t know, Sokie is a fire mechanic who works at our shop on D Street in San Bernardino. Sokie began his career with County Fire in 1990. At that time, the me- chanics’ shop was located at the old Fire Station 74 in Fontana. Sokie was initially assigned as a “field mechanic,” performing the majority of his vehicle services as various fire stations throughout the county. After a few years in the field, Sokie was assigned to shop. Prior to joining the County Fire family, Sokie was a heavy equipment mechanic for CL Farris Sand and Gravel Company. He got his start, however, in the equipment maintenance industry in the Marine Corps in 1979, where he was trained as an “Advanced Diesel Mechanic.” At one point, during his Marine Corps career, Sokie was fortunate enough to be assigned to Camp Pendleton. He joyfully recalls going body surfing at Del Mar Beach with his fellow Marines after long days at work. Sokie is proud to be a Marine, and he credits the Corps for the great training he received during his four years of service. One of the aspects that Sokie enjoys the most about being a fire me- chanic for County Fire is the constant challenge of troubleshooting and then repairing our equipment. He refers to the troubleshooting aspect of the job as a “brain teaser.” As for the most challenging part of the job, “Receiving parts,” he said. “We used to keep lots of parts on stock, but now we don’t and it is frustrating when we have to wait on parts to arrive in order to finish a job.” He went on to explain that even our apparatus manufactures can’t keep spare parts on hand to send to their customers because it’s too expensive to warehouse all of these items. Many parts must be ordered from the part suppliers on an “as needed” basis. When asked about what the guys on the floor can do to assist Sokie 48 FIREWIRE • FALL 2018 and the other mechanics at our department, Sokie had this to say, “Safety checks, do your apparatus checks and don’t hesitate to send in an S-1, even if you think the problem is a small one.” He went on to say that sometimes guys will hold on to an S-1 until they have several issues with a piece of equipment to avoid having a mechanic come out to the station for one small item. According to Sokie, the mechan- ics would rather drive out to the station to fix a small problem rather than taking the chance that it becomes a bigger issue and possibly take the unit out of service. For Sokie, the whole job revolves around keeping the guys safe and the equipment rolling so there really is no repair that is “too small” to be dealt with in a timely manner. So keep those S-1’s rolling in! On his days off, Sokie enjoys spending time with his family. He is married to his wife Christy, who works as a librarian for the Redlands School District. Sokie also speaks proudly of his three sons. His son Sean is a floor supervisor for the Mission Company and will be re- locating to Kansas City soon. Meanwhile, son Jonathan is currently training to be a lineman in California. His oldest son, Brian, tragically passed away in 2002, at the age of 18. Sokie and Christy also have a 15-month-old granddaughter that they love spending time with. The Jimenez family enjoys riding bikes and playing cards and board games. In closing, Sokie would like all members of our department to stop by the shop and say “Hi”. He and the other veteran mechanics miss the “good ole days” when all County Fire employees knew each other. The members of Local 935 and the staff of the FIREWIRE would like to thank Sokie Jimenez and recognize his hard work and dedication to keeping us operationally ready and safe. Cornelius Robinson loves his job! “Corny,”as he is known throughout our department, is employed as a fire mechanic at County Fire, currently assigned to the vehicle mainte- nance shop on D Street in San Bernardino. As a 20-year veteran of our department, Corny has seen a lot, learned a lot—and most important- ly shared his vast knowledge and experience with anyone who has wanted to learn. The mot- to he lives by at work is, “Teach what you know, learn what you don’t.” Corny got his start in the heavy equipment maintenance world while working as a bus mechanic for the Pomona School District. From there he went on to be a mechanic for the City of San Bernardino, maintaining police cars. In 1998, he left the city to become a fire mechanic for County Fire. During his first two years here, Corny was assigned as a field mechanic before being placed at the shop, where he has worked ever since. Corny is also very proud of his eight-year stint with the SBCoFD’s dozer program, where he conducted training classes for both mechanics and firefighters wishing to be part of the system. For Corny, the best part of the assignment was responding to wildland fires as part of the dozer team. Robinson says he knew he was working at the right place when he attended his first County Fire Christmas party shortly after getting hired. Corny recalled how nice everyone was to him and his wife even though he was new and most of the people at the party had never met him. His feelings were confirmed when a prayer was said before for the meal thanking God for the many blessing at County Fire and asking for continued blessings, with safety and health as each mem- ber carries out their duties. To Corny, this was when he knew that he was on a “great team.” In addition to being part of a great team, Corny also enjoys the many challenges of his job. He explains that the fire mechanic’s job is al- ways changing because the apparatus are always changing with new technologies and capabilities—which means that the mechanics are constantly being given the opportunity to learn new things. Much of this learning comes from mechanics troubleshooting and coming up with solutions to problems and then sharing the information with other members of the shop. As Corny correctly points out, “Each fire engine is custom-made to our specifications, so you can’t just go to a dealer- ship and ask for a generic fire engine maintenance manual.” Modern and diverse fire apparatus fleets require a knowledgeable and hard working team of mechanics like we have here at County Fire to keep units responding safely to emergency calls. When asked about how the personnel on the floor can assist Corny and the other mechanics, he said to keep the S-1 forms coming in. He added that no S-1 is too small for a mechanic to address. Corny considers the fire suppression force as the “eyes and ears” for the mechanics. He added that a simple observation by an engineer who reports it to the shop can potentially save the department thousands of dollars and significant out-of-service time for equipment. Family life is very important to Corny. He is proud to say that he has been married to his wife, Isabella, for 30 years. That is truly something special. The couple has three grown children: Cornelius Jr. (30), Jere- miah (28), and Mariah (22). When the family is all together they enjoy spending time camping and going to the beach. Corny also enjoys both leather working and metal forging in his spare time. The FIREWIRE staff and Local 935 thank Corny for all of his hard work over the years. We look forward to working with him for many more years to come! Captain Dan Nelson is a FIREWIRE assistant editor. He is currently assigned to Station 32 in Needles. FALL 2018 • FIREWIRE 49