Ryan Carter
GLENDALE -- Each year when the holidays roll around, there's at least
one constant on 9-year-old Graham Owen's wish list: a new Thomas Guide.
The map is an essential tool for the Burbank boy's interest in local
fire departments, police and airplanes.
Graham's interest is so intense that in the past few years, he's
developed his own Web site -- www.grahamowen.com -- with the help of his
parents. It's devoted to the Burbank Fire Department and other area
agencies.
He's memorized the Los Angeles freeway system and goes to the scene of
emergencies when he can. He has also memorized almost all of the Los
Angeles, Burbank and Glendale Fire department station numbers and
manufacturing information about each piece of equipment they use. "I
got so interested because I found it was so exciting," Graham said from
his Burbank home, where he listens to his scanner after school at the
Learning Castle in La Canada Flintridge.
The boy, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, said his
favorite local firehouses are Burbank stations 11 and 15.
"I like 11 because its the main station with more equipment, but I
like 15 because it's smaller," he said.
He has celebrated a birthday with a cake shaped as a Burbank Station
15 ambulance. When Station 11 got a new ambulance more than a year ago,
Graham showed up at its first call with digital camera in hand.
A typical day for him is school, then driving by a couple of fire
stations while munching on a snack. Homework and listening to the scanner
fill out the rest of his evenings.
Local firefighters have come to know the precocious youngster.
"Graham? Everybody knows Graham!" Burbank Fire Capt. Raymond Hickman
said. "We get kids who are fire buffs, but not to this magnitude. He's an
amazing kid. He's smart, and he knows the personnel. We really enjoy his
company."
Graham's parents are not sure how his interest started.
"Five years ago, there was a woodshed across the street that was
burning down," his father said. "The [fire] trucks, the excitement,
people in uniform taking charge, it impressed him."
Graham, too, has trouble explaining his interest.
"It just is," he said.
