Wow,,,I think that is the most calls I have ever been on in a single day! By the time I signed into chat last night I had six calls under my belt,,,I was thinking,,whew! What a day! But then as I was trying to enjoy a conversation with Snowbunny and Old Reb,,the dispatcher came on and said there was a huge fire in the neighboring county and they put us on standby,,,Then my chief called and said we weren't waiting,this fire was huge and we were going to cross the county line and kill it before it came to us.Well,on the way there,the alarms started going off,,,first us,then the city to our south,,to our west,,,to our east,,,,just about every department in the lower part of the county,,,That fire had crossed the county line. It was an impressive sight! First,the fire itself,,,I could see the flames above the trees from miles away,,,Then arriving on scene and having all of the departments come together to kill the beast before it got to a subdivision. Our department has three six wheel drive army trucks that can go through just about any type of field,,so out they went to try and make it turn to the south,,,at the same time the chief and I were laying down a swath of foam about 20ft wide next to the road,giving us a 45ft wide firebreak,,the two departments that we work with all the time joined right in with the guys in the army trucks and started knocking it down. So with about 10 departments and about 50,000 gallons of water,we were finally able to kill it,,,Then as we were mopping up the hot spots,an alarm came in for our neighboring city,,,kids,,,fireworks,,,grassfire.So the commander on scene told us to go fight that one,,,so off we went again.That one wasnt too bad,,,only about 20 acres,,,we had it out in no time.Then as we were packing up and getting ready to head back to the station,,,Bam!Another call,,,this time,,,a housefire,,,fully engulfed! Technically we didnt have to go to that one,we werent dispatched to help,,,but these guys helped us all night,,there was no way we were going to let them fight that fire alone.The nice thing about riding with the chief in the command vehicle is,you know exactly what dispatch is saying to the chief,,,and she told him that there was an old man with three large dogs believed to be in the house,,,so when we got there,I was already fully bunkered and ready to do S&R,,,the good news! Nobody in the house,,no dogs in the house!Yippie! I love a happy ending!Well,,,anyway,,by the time it was all over and we got back to the station,reloaded the trucks,refilled the scba`s,and refueled,it was 6am,,,so the chief said,,,come with me,,I will by you breakfast,,,,but he had a weird smile on his face,,,,So,I hopped in our pumper truck and followed him to the gas station,,,refilled the truck and went inside,,,and he said,,,here,,,breakfast is on me,,,,Hmmm,,,,what a cheapskate! It was coffee,,,and there is a huge sign over the coffee pot that said,,,for all of our police and firefighters,the coffee is free,,,,,,hahahaha,,,Man am I tired!

 

haha. nice work though man, don't lknow if I ever told ya, thanks for what you do mate. Even if ya are an old fart.

We know I think 3-4 families from my sisters high school whose houses have burned down over the last week... :/

 

How many times have I got to tell you,,,,it`s fermented essence!

 

either way. you smell like a rotten egg.

 

maybe to you, but i think he smells like a burnt 2X4.

 

Since you are on two departments, were both of you there?

 

i had to go through marine Fire fighting training in Toledo OH, that was the coolest and scariest 5 days in my life, you guys have my eternal respect for what you do.

we were just fighting liquid fires with water, never had a chance to use foam, but halon is really cool stuff to bad its toxic.

 

No,,,I think I left me behind,,,,no,,,I scratched me behind,,,I must have been beside myself!

 

Sounds like a navy guy could find a job there.

The fires we fight you can't back off from!

 

Sounds like you had a busy day. I used to be a volunteer firefighter in Priest River, Idaho. It's the most rewarding job I ever had. I'm hoping to get back into shape and back into volunteering again sometime soon. Your story gave me more motivation.

 

Wolf,,,as screening Chairman I can tell you that we would accept guys like you with open arms and be glad to have you!Heck,we cant even get enough guys who don't have any experience,little own guys that do! It seems that most people today are either too busy or just don't care enough to do it!

 

That is something that I would love to do. However, last I checked our town has 20 sets of gear, 25 fire fighters and a waiting list of 15-20 people long to join, and a population of 600. That and my wife really don't want me to do it.

Funny thing is, when I was in high school they had 7-10 guys, half did not want to be there, and they were begging everyone who was 18 to join.