Veteran firefighter starts over as aarookie

It's better late than never.

For Robert Stout, pursuing his career in the fire department meant taking a step up in size from the Bullhead City Fire Department, where he was a 16-year veteran and captain, to the Clark County Fire Department where he is starting over as a rookie. Stout, 44, graduated with 16 other new recruits, Oct. 25 at the Orleans Arena.

Stout, the father of a daughter, 15, and son, 12, will commute 100 miles from his home in Bullhead City, Ariz. -- close to a two-hour drive -- until the end of the school year.

"The Clark County Fire Department is really growing right now, and there's a lot of opportunity here that doesn't come along every day," Stout said. "I had to really get myself back into shape. I did some physical fitness but nothing on the level of what we have to do here."

Although Stout spent 16 years in the Bullhead City Fire Department, the Clark County Fire Department academy is his first. Everything he knew up to his acceptance to the Clark County academy was all learned on the job.

"I was mentally prepared for it to be hard, but it was definitely harder than I thought it was going to be," Stout said. In Bullhead City, there are five stations compared to Clark County's 24, including Jean and Laughlin. "I'm going to be starting over. It's going to be busier, I think. The tallest building in Bullhead City is four stories, so that's going to be different."

So far, Stout said he didn't mind stepping down from his captain's seat to earn rookie status. As long as the younger guys also were sore from the training, he knew he was in good standing.

"You're always a firefighter first," he said. "It's a different mind-set, but it's not all that different. It's less responsibility. I think it's going to be worth it."

Capt. Erik Grismanauskas, fire academy instructor, said it's common for firefighters from rural areas and smaller towns to aspire to join the big city fire departments, and experience is stripped away to make everyone equal at the beginning.

"They are treated exactly the same in the academy. In fact, we discourage them from helping the other recruits because we do things differently," Grismanauskas said. "There's no give. It doesn't matter who you are. We all have to pass the same tests. There's a minimum standard every recruit has to achieve.

"There's a brotherhood across the world when it comes to firefighters. We understand rank. We understand how the system works. Why else would they be coming here to lose rank? They're comfortable with it."

There are three recruit graduations this year, with about 80 to 90 new graduates. The number of new graduates in the most recent class will be swallowed up by the upcoming opening of Fire Station No. 28, near Sahara Avenue and Hualapai Way. It takes about 18 firefighters to run a station.

"The department is trying to, but this valley is growing so fast it's hard to keep pace.," Grismanauskas said. "In my opinion, the public deserves to have firefighters that go through a tough academy. We try to get recruits who are able to save people."

Stout will be working out of Fire Station No. 31, located at Sahara Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard.


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