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Calling All Firefighters!


jbr7t

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Humm. Seemed very familiar. Back in the day, you spent three months in fire college, six months in the field, and then three months back in fire college.

We actually did the pompier ladder, both two man and one man raise, to the sixth floor and back. The bad thing was that the window sills had no wood trim. As you would start up the ladder would 'settle' as you started up from the floor below. When you got to each floor, you had to clip in with the ladder belt onto the 'goose neck' and lean all the way back and clap your hands behind your head. Not too swift.

We also had to deploy, and jump, on to a rescue net from the third or fourth floor. We had more guys injured on that drill than any other. When you jumped you had to put yourself in a sitting position. Not easy. Most would land in a vertical position which resulted in leg injuries and, or, a launch off the net, onto the ground. Those holding the net had better have their elbows out to the side of the body, or, they would be driven into your gut with the force of of an young Mike Tyson body punch.

Plus no air packs. Just a chem pack that burned the hell out of your back if there where enough on the truck for you to get one. Otherwise you ate smoke. Thigh high boots, silver 'trench coat', and a fiberglass shell helmet, and cheesy cheap leather gloves. Some guys got smart and bought welders gloves.

 

And yea, in them days we kicked ass.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Man..sounds like some wild times. And the guys up in our risk management think we are reckless!!

 

I still think that a lot of the safety equip we have now is actually making it more dangerous. We get a false sense of security...but that's another story!

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skinny_tom (aka boney)

Up until a couple of years ago, the Pompier ladder was a "right of passage" in our training tower. One could not become a firefighter without having gone over the parapet of the 7 story tower and back down.

 

When the building was re-faced, the attachments for the antiquated safety net were removed and hence there are no more un-belayed exercises, including the pompier ladders.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thanks for the help. You don't know how many times we've pulled up to a fire to find a police car by the hydrant or blocking the entire street.

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Agent_Orange

Yea, but I love when they rush in on haz-mat incidents. :dopeslap:

 

Can we say 'cop-o-meter'? Where they drop is the hot zone perimeter. :eek:

 

But then again, I'm sure most, if not all FF's have seen the film of the moron FF with out benefit of scba or bunker gear that walks up to the leaking railroad tank car, and reaches out to touch, then sniff, then taste the leaking material. :P

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But then again, I'm sure most, if not all FF's have seen the film of the moron FF with out benefit of scba or bunker gear that walks up to the leaking railroad tank car, and reaches out to touch, then sniff, then taste the leaking material. :P

As I recall, that moron FF was wearing a WHITE helmet! :dopeslap:

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skinny_tom (aka boney)
Yeah, I think this one's in Boney's First-in:

 

76.jpg

 

That's across the bay in Oak-Town. But I'm on the lookout when I'm engineer.

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Hey KMG 365, say hi to Dixie. Also, I did image shack. I could only get the small picture you see, not the full size one. Please advise.

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skinny_tom (aka boney)
Hey KMG 365, say hi to Dixie. Also, I did image shack. I could only get the small picture you see, not the full size one. Please advise.

 

It appears that it's a thumbnail as evidenced by the difference in url.

 

Here there's an extra ".th" thrown in:

 http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/8296/p6010032jv7.th.jpg

 

So, I'll try to post it without the '.th'

 

p6010032jv7.jpg

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Take a look into a day in the life of Lt. Kevin Kelley, he seemed to be a great officer. Nicknames in the fire service are usually a sign of respect.

 

 

 

 

Pat

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Last chapter...

 

I went to a funeral today for a fallen brother. I know, it sounds corny doesn't it. Brother? There was no relationship between us other than the job we shared. The special bond that firefighters have with each other is probably very similar to what a cop or soldier has with their brethren. My thought on this “kinship” is that when the $hit hits the fan you will never have to look for your partner, he’ll be right there beside you. If you watched the video in my last post, Lt. Kelley mentioned the word trust, as in trust your life to the people you work with. I think that kind of trust is rarely found in most jobs & I believe it’s the main reason that firefighters anywhere will tell you that they have the best job in the world.

 

This was the church in Quincy Ma where the service was held.

101_0278.jpg

 

Preparing engine 37 for the last run.

000_0002.jpg

 

Lt. Kelley had a big family.

000_0003.jpg

 

 

 

 

Pat

 

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My prayers are for Lt. Kelley's family and the BFD. Thanks for sharing that video. We just lost 2 guys on our job just in the last couple months. Both well loved guys. It's never easy.

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It's all about the family.

 

Our Battalion Chief took out our entire shift and their spouses last week. We had a great time!!!

 

460165477_q8W4X-M.jpg

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I was going to post about one we had on new years day but, haven't received any pics yet. Anyway, it was an attached garage packed with everything this guy (and possibly six neighbors) ever purchased in his adult life. We went through the main house to push the fire back onto its self when all of a sudden, rockets (as in fireworks) began going off. Talk about bob & weave, nod.gif we had to dodge six or seven of them as they whizzed past us.

 

Pat

 

 

Local blurb...

 

Fire strikes garage on New Year's Day

 

Tewksbury - The cause of a fire that damaged a Chandler Street garage on New Year’s Day is still under investigation.

 

The Tewksbury Fire Department responded to a fire at 0000 Chandler St. shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday.

 

The blaze was contained to house’s two-story garage, and did not spread to the house. After extinguishing the fire, firefighters remained on the scene to be certain there were no hidden pockets of flame still burning.

 

No one was home at the time, but fire department officials report that people had been seen going in and out of the building prior to the fire starting.

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
skinny_tom (aka boney)
Thanks for that link Phil.

Tom, any update on the injured F/Fs?

 

 

 

 

 

Pat

 

Hanging in there. Official word is "critical but stable." He's reportedly still intubated, ventilated, and sedated.

 

The Leiu with burns is getting great treatment and will go home soon.

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skinny_tom (aka boney)
Here's a good report on engineered trusses.

 

LINKY

 

San Francisco is beginning to placard the buildings with engineered trusses. Because of the nature of our contstuction, and aggressive interior attack is almost always employed.

 

Here's a good recent example:

 

Imagine if that place was engineered wood.

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Here's a good report on engineered trusses.

 

LINKY

 

 

The TV station did a better job of presenting the information than some of the training films I've seen.

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Here's a good report on engineered trusses.

 

LINKY

 

 

The TV station did a better job of presenting the information than some of the training films I've seen.

No Kidding!

 

Boney, sorry to hear of your brothers' situation. Sending thoughts and prayers for quick healing.

 

I'm forwarding this "training video" to everyone at work (and I'll post it on our San Diego County Website as well). Because of the small lot size, required off-street parking and incredible value/ft2 in Coronado almost all new homes (and many remodels) are being fitted with subterranean garages (a common source of ignition) and with still no Residential Sprinkler ordinance on the horizon . . . . :dopeslap:

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  • 3 weeks later...
skinny_tom (aka boney)

Great pictures!

 

Not to steal your thunder but I thought I'd give an update. Our injured firefighter is extubated, up and walking and has been transferred to a hospital near his home.

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Our injured firefighter is extubated, up and walking and has been transferred to a hospital near his home.

 

That's great news Tom, glad to hear! :thumbsup:

 

 

Pat

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  • 1 month later...

Another thing to look at with the lightweight construction are many of the new commercial buildings. We have several going up in our county that are multiple story lightweight wood frames with poured concrete floors on all levels.

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If I may bring up another subject.. Fitness .. A lot of us "younger" guys are pushing hard for tougher physical standards here. Currently FF's are held to NO standard in our county, we've got guys that are morbidly obese, guys that get winded walking 1 flight of stairs and so much more. What sort of standard and method of setting/achieving/maintaining that standard do you guys have?

 

 

Oh, and just as an update from a post awhile back. I hit my 4 year anniversary mark with the county on March 9.. Paperwork was all in order so I'm a cleared "Acting Officer" I know...it's a scary thought! :rofl::dopeslap:

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Hey James glad to hear from ya!

 

"If I may bring up another subject.. Fitness .."

 

Peer pressure is all we've got & that's not working out all that well.

 

I recall hearing that fighter jocks have a list regarding landings & such & you don't want to be on the bottom of said list.

I kind of look at it like that, by no means am I the fattest guy on the dept. :grin:

 

 

Pat

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yea, good to be heard from. Sorry I haven't been on much lately. Anyway, our department used to have a sub-contracted company for "Fit Checks" but there was no consequence. You could go in do 1 sit up walk three steps and pass out, and they would say, "Ok you need to work on your fitness..see you next year." A bunch of our guys have gone thru the IAFF Peer fitness trainer program and are trying to institute a program so just figured I'd see what experiences people had.

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Engine-1 to the city of Lowell for mutual aid. Went for station coverage & then was called to the fire scene. We didn't get in any of the pics or the vid but trust me, it did happen. :grin:

 

Pics

 

 

 

Pat

 

 

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  • 4 months later...
Thermometer on the front ramp showed 102 yesterday!
Yeah, but what's the HUMIDITY?!?!?!? :dopeslap:

 

We've already had almost a dozen wildfires here in SD County, but totaling only a few hundred acres and thankfully no structures lost. We had a pretty wet winter for SoCal standards and as a result, we've got a LOT of light flashy fuels in the back-country. Looks like we're going to have a very dangerous fall when the Santa Ana winds come back to visit. :(

 

Palomar Burning

 

Getting ready for the coming fight (I was there, but Coronado got to the drill a bit late).

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Firefight911

Just did our final wildland annual refresher with a 1200 foot progressive lay, scratched way too many chains of fire line and ended with a deployment.

 

We've also had quite a few fires this year already. We had a quick summer rain yesterday so the humidity is pretty high (46% via psychromoter).

 

We're forecast a light wind, 102 degree F day for tomorrow. We'll see what happens!

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  • 2 weeks later...

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