Firefighters Assist in Birth at Base

Firefighters upped the population by one at Point Mugu naval base the hard way--delivering a baby boy who came much faster than expected.

Firefighters were called to a woman's house on the base at 3:53 p.m. At the time, the caller, whose husband is away serving on an aircraft carrier, said her contractions were about five minutes apart.

But before firefighters could get the woman in an ambulance, she was ready to deliver, said Fire Engineer Daryl Sanford. The healthy baby was born at 4 p.m.

"Everything went really smooth," said Sanford, 36, who has been a base firefighter for 10 years. "Then again, it was my first delivery, so how would I know?"