Roanoke County doesn't have a "Star City Award", a "Knock your Socks Off Award" nor do they pass out gift cards for exceptional work. What they do have is Chiefs who go the extra mile for men who go that same extra distance for the job. Brandon Sheppard was one such recipient today after having passed all the requirements for EMT-I. A County Chief struck a deal with him in that if he passed all testing, the Chief would arrange something Brandon has wanted for some time now...a ride with City E9 on C-shift. Apparently, he has a touch of "mustache envy" and longs to be near Capt. Wines. Well, today his dream came true. Brandon reported for his regularly scheduled shift today at 24th and Melrose Ave. NW Roanoke CITY, as opposed to Roanoke County Hollins station # 5. For us, it has been a slow day but we will never convince Brandon of that. A couple of runs and YES, more training. Pictured at top is Brandon riding 9 Engine beside C-shift Senior Firefighter "Coon". The middle pic is from the 8th floor of Melrose Towers after having humped the stairs and connecting to the stand pipe. In the lower picture, you can see Brandon standing behind the Capt. while gathering information following a small rubbish fire in our 1st due. I must say that I wasn't sure what to expect but, Brandon has done an excellent job today. He arrived early this morning and has fit like a glove. Hats off to his Officers over in Roanoke County ... it is evident that he comes from good leadership. Rumors are floating of future City / County cross training such as this. If they all have the same work ethic and attitude as Brandon, I'm looking forward to the day.
10 comments:
Sounds like the county firefighter just signed the wrong contract when he got hired, should of had city not couty behind Roanoke
I think he was offered a City position when hired but he already had time in the Va. Retirment System so he chose better pay and benifits over fighting fire
Hard to argue with that logic! Sounds like he is smart as well as motivated.
Yes, very good all the way around. At least that’s what I thought. What I thought until we went to bed. All day long, the boys had spoken to him about letting the Capt. get his rest. On top of that, before bed last night I spoke to him personally concerning some rules... 1.) DON’T “John Wayne” the doors! 2.) If you get up for the rest room, TIP TOE, not everyone has to pee. 3.) Take your boots to bed, the Capt’s room is 10 feet closer to the pole...he’ll leave you standing in the bay 4.) Anything else comes up just remember..be quiet..DON’T WAKE UP THE CAPT! Well, I’m not sure how Captain Witt does it over in the County, but here, those rules don’t mean blow an aerosol can air horn when you climb into bed! There I lay sound asleep when all of the sudden, I’m scared into some state between good and asleep and WAKE THE HELL UP by of all things a pretend air horn (pretend because it wasn’t mounted on a fire truck)! It was like playing cards with my brothers kids or something! An air horn IN THE BED ROOM! Needless to say, the boys (and myself) were having a little fun. Making a big deal about “the Captains sleep” and then rigging his bed with a cut off broom handle between the mattress and the plunger of a well secured, floor mounted portable air horn. When he attempted to quietly slid into bed.... BUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Too scared to move and not knowing for sure if the ear blasting echoing chaos was due to him sneaking into bed, HE SAT THERE! Damn near bled the whole can empty. But, we had faith, and after getting back to his feet and relishing in the once again quiet of # 9's bunk room, he tried it again! HE TRIED IT AGAIN! HAHAHAhahahahahaha WE ALMOST PUKED we laughed so hard! Well, He also takes a joke very well and was honestly a pleasure to work with. Following a busy day, he caught another EMS run after mid-night and then got to walk through and baby sit a 3rd alarm fire the boys on the South Side did one HELL OF A JOB ON! All in all, I think a good tour for Mr. Sheppard. Hope he enjoyed it, I know we did. Capt. Wines, Jr. # 9
I would like to say that Mr. Sheppard was a pleasure to work with yesterday. He hung in there with all of us. No matter what were doing he was right there in the middle of it. He wasn't hesitant to ask any questions that he had and was willing to learn anything that he could. He was able to see some of what our day at 9 is like. He fit in well and seemed to have enjoyed his time with us yesterday. He took some firehouse fretting (of course anyone knows that Capt. Wines doesn't allow any of that) like a champ. I wish him a safe and successful career.
Scott Boone
Hats off to u-guys at Station #9 C-Shift. A Special Thanks goes out to u-guys for opening your home and allowing Brandon to be apart of your family for the day.Your Receptiveness and Enthusiasm is what made this work. Thank You!
Yes anonymous you too are correct and thanks for the comment. I’ll add this for all the “nay sayers” out there. NO, I usually do not train on Sundays or holidays. In this case, the boys and I spoke about Brandon coming for the day and all decided that if runs were slow, we’d make a good day of it by having a few drills, take a ride here or there etc. So, it was the boys who sacrificed their day of leisure to give a County Brother a chance to see a little glimpse of City work. Brandon not only knew and understood their small sacrifice, he was grateful, AND IT SHOWED! Capt. Wines
Union Meeting Tonite
Cool story and comments to read. Nice to see interagency cooperation!
I would just like to thank Capt. Wines and the men at 9 for a great time. Also for the training and knowledge I was able to pick up. The air horn was a hoot! I about came out of my skin! Hopefully one day I can go back. Brandon Sheppard
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