Fire chief fires up audience with entertaining speech

Costa Mesa business leaders were practically rolling on the floor as Fire Chief Mike Morgan delivered an entertaining speech on the Fire Department at Thursday’s Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

The chief described the difference between a handful of types of fire fighting vehicles, talked about the rigorous selection process to become a firefighter and lampooned the Police Department, describing its members as an incompetent bunch of cavemen who were rejected from the fire squad, as Police Chief Chris Shawkey looked on with a wry grin.

“If the world were going to hell in a hand basket and if I could only have one thing, I’d want a fire engine,” Morgan said.

During the light-hearted presentation at the Costa Mesa Country Club he compared the department to an athletic team, highlighting the management hierarchy, the uniforms and the post-game celebrations.

To illustrate this last point, he showed a photo two firemen dumping a bucket of water onto their leader’s head from the top of a multi-story building.

— Alan Blank