Mayor Steinberg climbed Tower Bridge, answered every call during turn as firefighter

Leaders of the Sacramento Fire Department Tuesday presented turnout jackets and fire chief helmets to Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Assistant City Manager Chris Conlin Tuesday to thank them for going on day-and-night ride-alongs with fire crews.

Chris Andrew, vice president of the Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522, said he could not recall a mayor ever going on a full ride-along with a fire crew.

Mayor Steinberg responded to all the fire calls received by Station 2 in a 22-hour period. He climbed to the top of the Tower Bridge and climbed 11 flights of stairs in full gear. The jackets he and Conlin received Tuesday were the ones they wore while on duty.

“It was really one of the great experiences of my professional life,” Mayor Steinberg said at Tuesday’s surprise presentation. “I really don’t need to be thanked for it. It was just kind of doing my job.’

Mayor Steinberg said he came away with a new appreciation for the physical demands of the job and for the demands placed on firefighters to be “the first and last resort for so many of society’s problems.”