Firefighters respond in Altus Published July 23, 2010 By Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Seidl 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Altus Air Force Base firefighters responded to a fire in the city of Altus at 3 p.m. July 13. The fire, on East Live Oak west of Jackson County Hospital between Chalmers and Forest, was a fully-involved apartment complex fire. Altus AFB responded to the request for mutual aid support with two vehicles and six firefighters. Engine 11 carried crew chief Harold Bogle, driver Staff Sgt. Andrew Collins, hand line man Staff Sgt. Joshua Jamison, and plugman Senior Airman Cody Rupprecht. Support vehicle Brush-23 brought Master Sgt. Joe Fruge, the deputy fire chief and Nilz Brobjorg, assistant chief of training to the scene. "It felt great to know that when our community needs us we're there ready and eager to help out at a drop of a dime and vice versa." said Sergeant Joshua Jamison. The single-story building, holding five apartments, housed no military of civilian employees of the base. Engine 11 personnel made entry into the apartment, assisted with extinguishing the fire, performed salvage operations, and searched for undiscovered pockets of fire. "The fire was all but out and the Altus firefighters were exhausted from battling the blaze. When we arrived on scene, we took over as far as putting out any fire extension and spot fires and we conducted salvage and overhaul." said Sergeant Jamison. Two Altus AFB firefighters performed a search of the exterior to find any fire that had escaped the building. Altus city fire chief J.R. Wheeler declared the fire extinguished at 3:58 p.m. Altus AFB firefighters were back in the firehouse by 5 p.m. "We definitely had to work together as a team, not only with ourselves but with the city fire department." said Sergeant Jamison.