The comic book firefighter

[TEWKS]

A day in the life of the comic book firefighter. Some names have been changed to protect the guilty but, you get the picture. 

 

Breakfast at the firehouse. 

 

The morning  equipment check.

 

 

The hurry-up and wait game has begun. 

 

The tone, let’s go! 

 

She’s a barn-burner!

 

 

Ok men, setup the stick! 

 

 

Fine job, we’ve got it knocked down! 

 

Let’s repack the lines and clean up, it’s close to lunchtime! 

 

The meatballs should be just about ready! 

 

Oh look, the owner of the barn brought us some leftovers from his wedding anniversary gathering last week. I’m not eating that! Hey, let’s get Mikey to try it! 

[Rougarou]

Playing with a new toy?

[TEWKS]

Yup, and I can make a simple phone call with it also! 

[Rougarou]

You must be at work, putting those tax dollars to good use

[TEWKS]

No, tonight at 7:00. Gotta get my ass to the gym like right now though! 

[TEWKS]

Later that day after consuming 13 meatballs (why thirteen? ) we get dispatched to an MVA on the highway. We belch our way out to the engine and get rolling. Funny word to use in retrospect. 

 

 

 

As we roll up on scene we sees this! 

 

Luckily, the driver and passenger were youngins & flexible. They popped out of the top like a couple Whac-A-Moles 

 

My Lt. is an unassuming monster of a man and the line "looky what he can do" is often used when referring to him! 💪

 

Mr. Policeman leans in to take a look. 

 

[TEWKS]

So, the days roll quickly into years ( just like the old dude told me they would) 25 years ago!

 

The greatest thing this comic firefighter can tell a young recruit is enjoy your time. You’ll come upon many different situations. Some pleasant and others, not so much!

 

You’ll have flames & adrenaline!

 

 

 

 

Injuries and death. 

 

[TEWKS]

If you’re lucky, you’ll get to play a very important game of catch. Eight years of school, pfft, 3 months here baby! 

 

Cats in a tree have always been a no. Because, they’ll eventually come down. There’d be cat skeletons everywhere if not. But a ducky in a sewer drain, Let’s roll!! 

 

Your time in the fire service will fly by quicker than you could ever imagine. If you hang around long enough, you’ll get to say goodbye to many good friends.

 

We’ll see what happens when it’s time to go and this chapter closes. Maybe the tradition will continue. 

[RandyShields]

Tewks, your shot of rescuing the duck in the drain got me to thinking about our pooch rescue years ago that luckily ended happily thanks to the dedicated local volunteer fire fighting team.  My wife is a rider and was getting ready to leave the barn for the day, but she couldn't find our black lab, Chloe.  One of the farm hands heard some faint whimpering and they tracked it down to deep in a horizontal storm drain that acted as the overflow from a small lake.  Chloe had apparently chased a rabbit into it and then got wedged tightly at a slight turn in the drain.  She was now 20+ feet into the drain and about 6 feet straight down under a dirt and gravel road.  I was out of town on business but the heroes were a the barn owners, a neighbor with a backhoe, and the strong backs of the Stack Road volunteer firefighters who finished the digging for hours by hand before cutting a hole in the top of the drain to extract Chloe.  The rescue began about 6 pm and didn't end until after almost midnight, under floodlights.  The TV and print media picked up on the event.  Getting updates infrequently by phone was heart wrenching, but all ended well.  That fire team still gets holiday sandwiches and cookies from my eternally grateful wife.  You guys don't know how much joy you bring when you go above and beyond like you do!  (I attach a copy of an email with the Feb 2013 article and some photos of the rescue.  Not sure if they will come through; you might have to open them in another tab.)

Chloe rescue.msg

 

[TEWKS]

That's awesome Randy! I believe I said this before and most firefighters won't admit to it. The Holy Grail (Medal of Honor) of your career would be making a human save, more precisely, a save from a burning structure. It's not an everyday occurrence, (thankfully) so sombody's loved pet is second runner up! 

[TEWKS]

Richard, I have a storyline you're more than welcome to run with. "The Sand Soldier" oops...Marine.  An iPhone XR and some photos would make for an awesome story. 

[Rougarou]

15 hours ago, TEWKS said:

Richard, I have a storyline you're more than welcome to run with. "The Sand Soldier" oops...Marine.  An iPhone XR and some photos would make for an awesome story. 

 

All my good happysnaps are still in paper format.......it'd be alot of scanning.

[TEWKS]

Someday, it'd be a story worth telling, and hearing me thinks. 

[TEWKS]

The roadshow continues. Sun-glare and junior yelling from the backseat “daddy daddy I want a donut”  took out this family truckster.

 

Some ladder training for the old dudes. 

 

Where eagles fly is reserved for the real heroes. They gave us a seagull. 

 

A view of lovely South Tewksbury. For anybody geography challenged..that is not the Rocky Mountains in the background.  

 

[TEWKS]

It’s all about ice in the great metropolis today. The training was to cut the ice and pluck the junior guy in the Gumby suit. Sometimes it pays to be old!  

 

 

 

Later in the day, more ice. Making it to be more precise. 

[TEWKS]

Some new guy training today. Climb and Cut was the theme.
 

Not new. 

 

Climb.

 

 

Cut.