JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers TIES RUN DEEP- Ventura County Fire Battalion 3 Chief Jim Arledge is flanked by his two sons, Aaron, left, and Kyle, all of Simi Valley. Inspired in part by their father's love for the profession, the two younger Arledges are now firefighters. On a Saturday afternoon in October 2003 Battalion 3 Chief Jim Arledge of the Ventura County Fire Department watched from a helicopter as aggressive flames, sparked by the nearby Verdale Fire, began to engulf the hills of Moorpark and Simi Valley.

While dark smoke penetrated the skies above the two towns, Arledge was busy directing the first responding teams of firefighters into the hills Oct. 25 to battle the beginning stages of a fire that would come to consume more than 108,000 acres and at least 25 homes.

"It was one of the most intense in the county," remembered Arledge, a Simi Valley resident, sitting comfortably in the office he shares with the two other chiefs at Station 30 in Thousand Oaks.

All in the family

Last Saturday, while speaking with the Simi Valley Acorn in his office, Arledge was about nine hours into a 24hour shift that began at 8 that morning. Still, the father of three was energetic and showed no sign of weariness.

Arledge spends 56 hours a week on duty as a battalion chief. While most of his nearly 30-year career has been spent serving Simi Valley, the last six years have been dedicated to leading nine crews- about 30 people- spread out through eight different stations in the Conejo Valley.

"The essence of why you're here is to help people during their worst moments," he said.

Arledge's dedication to public service is a common thread among his immediate family that goes beyond the ties of kinship.

His wife, Ann, is a surgical nurse at the Thousand Oaks Surgery Center. Their 19-year-old daughter Laura just finished her first two years at Moorpark College and is pursuing a teaching career.

As for the Arledge sons, Aaron and Kyle, their desire to serve the public has manifested in the same way as their father's.

Both are firefighters for the Ventura County Fire Department, assigned to stations in Simi Valley. Not surprisingly, their desire to join the profession burned early on.

"I loved watching the fire engines go by," Aaron said about his childhood.

At 27, he is the oldest of the three Arledge siblings. He graduated from Royal High School in 1998 and was a member of the high school fire cadet program during his senior year. Currently, Aaron is assigned to Station 46 on the north end of Tapo Street.

Like his father, Aaron remembers the challenge of the 2003 Simi Valley fires. At the time, he was only one year into his career in Simi, and battling a fire of that caliber was a new experience for him.

"We did a lot of work for a lot of days in a row," said Aaron, recalling the brutal first few hours of the fire.

Blazing their own trail Although Aaron and Kyle both pursued the same occupation as their father, neither of them feels that it was the deciding factor in their career choice.

Jim isn't surprised. "I didn't discuss work much at home," he said. "So I was pleasantly surprised when I found out they were interested."

Still, both brothers have fond memories of visiting the firehouse as children. Jim said that being a part of the fire department is very much like having two families. Because firefighters work in battalions with the same people during the same shifts, the teams become very close. Consequently, the families get to know each other, and the kids grow up learning a little bit about the department.

"I always had the aspiration to be a firefighter," said 24-year-old Kyle, who also went through the fire cadet program during his senior year at Royal High from 1999 to 2000. "Every young kid likes firemen."

Now Kyle is assigned at Station 43 on Cypress Street near the Santa Susana Knolls. He runs the high school cadet program that he and his brother were in as teenagers.

The program, which is operated through the fire department specifically for high school seniors, gives students the chance to participate at the firehouse and ride along when firefighters answer calls. At the high school level, participation in the program counts for a grade, and it is part of Kyle's job now to choose which cadets get accepted.

Besides their activities within the fire department, the brothers have established homes for themselves in Simi Valley. They both said they are comfortable living and working in their hometown and said it helps them give back to the community that they grew up in. Furthermore, they get to stay close to their parents and sister.

"We've always been a close family," Aaron said.

Although the three firefighters tend to work different shifts, the family said they are in constant communication. Knowing that they all receive generally the same extensive training gives them peace of mind, they said, despite the potential dangers of being firefighters.

"I'm sure he does (worry), but he raised us well," Kyle said of his father. "We all go to the same training on a daily basis."

As a battalion chief, Jim has equal confidence in his sons, but said he cannot deny his fatherly concern for their well-being.

"There's always some concern there," Jim said.

Always on call

While talking this past Saturday, Chief Arledge was interrupted at random intervals by the walkietalkie attached to his hip.

He monitors the device carefully- sometimes turning up the volume to hear the message behind the fuzzy static. Outside his office but somewhere at the station there are at least two other firefighters working the same shift.

Shortly before 6 p.m., a bell goes off. Arledge stands up quickly, turns up his walkie-talkie, and the voice on the other end says something about a structure fire in Simi Valley.

And the father/firefighter is off again.