Joint Company Training

Last cycle we were fortunate to get some Extrication training with Engine 5. FF Greg Fulton from E-5 led the training along with Captain Swecker and Lt West doing a great job letting everyone get hands on training with all the tools. We were able to cut up(destroy) a nice Subura station wagon removing the top and rolling the dash. We took turns cutting one side off with cutters and saw-zall on the other. Fulton was able to point out a lot of ways that we can help 5 on future extrications where just getting things laid out for them which will help reduce time on scene. Thanks to the guys from E-5 for the training and letting us help tear up one of your cars.

Lost Video Found of Jr Dishwasher

I lost the cord to download pictures and videos off the station camera a while back and stumbled across it yesterday. Surprised as you might think for a camera laying around a firehouse their wasn't to many pictures I couldn't put on the site. I even found one video of Josh Holmes(retired) taking advantage of having little Dixon working that day to play dishwasher since the apple does not fall far from the tree. Hope all is going well for you Dr Holmes since your departure from the Department, come by and visit sometime. Congrats to Little Dixon for graduating Jefferson College with his Paramedic and passing the practicals.If you missed the first dishwasher video you might need to go back on the blog and find it first to understand. I also found some photos of a car fire B Shift had a while back so sorry it took so long to surface.

11 hours and counting!

I'm not sure who's more excited, me or the boys but I have just about 11 more hours until back to back vacations! Needless to say, I'm counting the ticks of the clock. I wish I could say that today has been laid back and easy to make for a smooth transition into my vacation but on the contrary, it's been fairly busy. Some of that was due to me (being the whip cracker that I am) and the rest due to calls etc. All in all, it's been a good day. We did witness what is sure to become bad news. Apparently the surveying has begun on the property adjoining our back lot. We have heard for some time now that the plans were for the owners to add new curbing etc which will take away our rear access (the main entrance / exit for the house). Guess it wont be long before we're shuffling vehicles to make room for shift break and using the (basically) alley way between the station and our upholstery neighbor. Here's a pic of the survey crew. Later in the shift, after the normal checks and chores, we did a little house cleaning. A-shift took the time yesterday to give the ol War Wagon a good waxing so we decided to give her a clean spot to rest. The boys went the extra mile and gave the bay a good scrubbing before washing out. Needless to say, when you add soap, water, a smooth floor, Steve FM radio and Tyrone you're in for some good video. The bad news is that I didn't get any footage. I did manage to snap a pic. Also, Thanks to the part time guys on Medic 101 today for jumping in there and lending a hand.
Now, It's only right to give the boys a little down time after working them so hard (despite my reputation..."by the book Wines") so afterwards, while the floor was drying, we took a break to enjoy the weather. Now this sometimes puts the boys in such a spiritual mood that they close their eyes to pray / meditate. Enter Wheezy and Tyrone and you get the following...


I'll also add in a pic of a visitor we had today. Jr Vandam or "Van damn it" as I say stopped by for a moon pie and RC cola. One of our Department's newest "road doctors" was chocked full of stories and seemed to enjoy passing some time with the Melrose Misfits.

Another visitor for the day was Opie's family. I had to snap a shot of his son Kyler's shirt. I reads Fireman in Training. Here's little Kyler.

We also received some "take that" news today. Apparently our little Medic truck "Poop Magnet" Coon has been keeping up with the blog while on vacation in Fla. If you too are a regular reader, you may remember we threw a tiny jab last post due to all the rain he's had while vacationing. Well, I guess it stopped raining long enough for Coon to drag himself down to the nearest watering hole and snap a few pics of his own. I'm not sure why he thought we'd enjoy this one, but he sent it anyway... lucky bastard

LOL all kidding aside Coon, enjoy the vacation and have a safe trip home. The last pic for the post is of yours truly. I'm not sure why the boys have such a fascination with my legs but every time I put on a pair of shorts (ok ok both times that I have) they run for the camera. Not to be predjuduce or "one way" I'll post it but I still cant figure out what's so damn funny.

Rumor has it that our little Hippie friends over at Station #3 provided an escort for the bikers from NYC on their trip through the city. If they update their site, you may get more details.. check em out here. There's a lot of things happening in Roanoke this weekend including the National memorial service for fallen EMS workers. I wish I had more details or a link but I don't. Maybe check out Rhett's sites here , here or here. I do know some of our men are providing the Honor Guard detail so hopefully Goodo will have more on A-shift's post. Lastly I'll mention once again our brothers and sisters in Lynchburg. They are facing a 3% pay cut and have a rally scheduled for Tuesday the 26th. Anyone wanting to take a short road trip to show our support, just give me a call...as of now, I think I'm going to ride up. Ok that's it for tonight...I'm going to get back to watching the clock and counting the minutes. See ya next month, stay safe and keep em in the house! Capt. Wines
PS. I almost forgot our favorite visitor of the day. Now Rebecca "Pookie" Smith ran out before I could take a picture but she did happen to mention NOT to call her "Pookie" or to let anyone else know of the nick name because she DOESN'T like being called by it. So, don't worry POOKIE, your secret is safe with us (shoulda let me get the pic...LOL).

A-Shift returns for a fire

We rolled into work minus FF Wheeling today. It's prime vacation time and he will be relaxing this cycle. Enjoy it big guy. The rest of us have been staying busy. The box has been out all day with Dr. Dixon and FF/EMT-I Franks tending to those who need them. Christmas (FF Noell), Captain Weeks and Lt. Good O stayed behind to wash/wax the Beast. Well you guys know what happens when you do that.....call time. We got the cab waxed and then we caught a nice little shed fire almost in Salem's territory. It was fully involved and giving an impressive smoke show from 26 blocks away. E9, E13, L13, ST1, Battalion 2 and the County's finest along with Salem Police and our own Roanoke City's finest handled with initial units.
After the return to the house, we just put the last of the wax on and began buffing it off when someone at a local school felt the need to see how shiny the Engine was. So they pulled the pull station and invited us over. We said hello and let everyone know that yes, we are here to help, even when it is a false call. Thank you, little butt-head. Back to the house for some of Christmas' fine Italian cuisine. The box was in and out for a few times more. When it settled down, the chores got done. Jerry "Richard Simmons" Franks led the boys in a P90X workout session. Way to go buddy. "BAM.....BAM....BAM"
That's all for now. We plan on staying in, but we realize it's not up to us...so, be safe out there. Catch yous next day.

We're still here

Sorry about the gap since the last post but things have just been busy the last week. Today is our middle day of the cycle so I guess we missed last day of last cycle and our first day of this one. Anyway, I'll try to do a brief update (yea, I know how long my "briefs" can be). Last day of last cycle the highlight was some training with Ladder 2 and the men from Engine / Medic #7. We had the opportunity to go to our drill tower and use the bucket on L2 as an elevated stand pipe. We also made good of the opportunity and played with our new 1 3/8 tip for the high rise pack. Here's 2 picks. Last Tuesday, our Local hosted a breakfast for our retirees. This was the 3rd such event held for the guys and once again, it was a HUGE SUCCESS. The retirees LOVE it and believe it or not, the younger guys working the event had just as much fun. Being able to put faces with stories and even better, being able to hear some of those stories first hand is priceless. Thanks to all the guys (and Gal) who helped out.. Lt. R. "Bugg" Reid, Ben "Tyrone" Obaugh, Scott "Coon" Boone, Capt. Kenny Furrow, Catpt. Craig Sellers, Lt. Barron "Smurf" Gibson, Rachel "Stormy" Winters, my dad Willie Wines Sr and the brothers from #9 A-shift. Our Union President Rodney Jordan, the Chief, and even the Mayor stopped in to say hello to the men. Rhett Fleitz attend and was able to shoot some great video and Mikey Overacker also attended as both retiree and photographer. Check out their coverage here and here. I'll add a few of our shots as well. Now if you checked out the link to Rhetts site, you got to see the video of retired Captain Pete Price. I hope you took the time to watch it. Sadly, Pete peacefully passed away early Saturday morning (may 16, 2009). I have had the pleasure of spending some quality time with Pete and can't put into words how much I enjoyed just sitting and listening to his stories. He had thousands and loved to share them. I must also add that at the breakfast that morning, Pete not only looked good but also seemed full of energy. He was pretty much the center of attention and told stories all morning long. I hope the younger firemen in attendance know how lucky (blessed) they were to have the chance to hear Pete tell his stories for the last time. We'll miss you "Skipper", rest in peace. Here's a pic of me and Pete at the breakfast. Another quick note here.. I attended Pete's funeral yesterday and I personally want to say THANKS to all the brothers who stood by their rigs and saluted as the procession passed each intersection on the way to Pete's resting placed. Several comments were made by the family and funeral home workers. Very professional and a job well done to the brothers of B-shift! Ok, on to something a little lighter on the heart. We get alot of request for video of Tyrone. Well, it just so happens that he needed a hair cut last cycle. Long story short, Bugg stepped in for Wheezy and the results...well, you be the judge




Our little "poop magnet" Coon is on vacation down in Fla. watching it rain LMAO! I'd hate to see his mini-bar bill. I'm counting the hours to make it through next day and then I get 2 cycles back to back. Well, I say I'm on vacation, the boys say THEY get the vacation. Either way, I'm not gonna be HERE! We ran across and interesting site this evening and the boys have had a ball with it (mostly at my expense). Anyway, I tried direct links and it didn't work so check out the site here and listen to a few of our favorites.. #90, #12 #16 and #25. Nothing else really exciting, a stabbing and gun shot run atop all the others that have rolled in over the past few days. Our brothers over on the South Side went to work this morning catching a job in South East. I did get word that our favorite Buff and County Brother is a proud new father..well, in a way. It seems that Brandon Sheppard punched a hole through the rest of his crew to catch an on scene delivery. Something was mentioned about him screaming that it couldn't be much different than "birthing a calf" and so.. welcome to the world Tarazae "Sheppard" ..LMAO. Just kidding Shep, good job on a successful field delivery. Not much else to report, hope everyone is enjoying the weather. Oh yea, check out this site and vote for Chief Barker's wife and daughters in the look a like contest. First prize is $1,000.00 and I can smell a pool party in the future! Vote here and remember to cast a vote every day. We're back on Friday, until then stay safe and keep em in the house. Capt. Wines
PS. I almost forgot. Our brothers up in Lynchburg are facing a 3% pay cut. Rhett has an article over at Va Fire News here I believe the date for the rally is May 26th. We also have a link to our Lynchburg brothers from station 6 at the top left side of this page. Check em out and make plans to attend the rally. Im on vacation, B-shift is on duty, contact me and maybe we can get a group together and ride down. Peace Out

Happy Birthday to FF Wheeling

Today, FF Matt "Yes, I am bigger than Crouch" Wheeling, turned 32 years old! His family brought by a cake for him, that Franks had no problem putting a kind hearted message on. Of course he also got a made from scratch B-day cake from the folks at #9. Happy Birthday from your brothers at 9!
The day was decent. The engine is up to call 5, the medic truck on the other hand is still out there in the streets. The Southies are on a working fire and it's raining pretty good, but at least we stopped having earthquakes. Here is to a quiet night!
Off to bed we engine slugs go. The rest of you be safe, and have a good night!

Time to pump you up!

It appears that due to recent events here on A-shift, FF "I can't fit into the attic" Franks and FF "I am so old I am almost dead" Dixon, have decided to get in shape. Yes summer is approaching and the boys are sweating to the oldies! The plan is to get buff in 90 days. Not like their Lt. Good O.....they are going for upper AND lower body exercise. Here is a quick clip of the fella's rocking those bodies to Richard Simmons or some other kinda VHS program. Jerry already feels something in his belly, he thinks they are abs! Chances are he dropped a few Swiss Rolls down his shirt at lunch. Anyways, best of luck to the guys, cheer them on next time you see them. Franks is easy to find, he is usually in the pastry section of Food Lion. We'll post more later if we run anything cool. So far it's been alarms and EMS stuff. Be safe out there.

Middle Day for the boys of C-shift

It's official, in a discussion with our Battalion this morning I learned that our beloved Medic is now the busiest in the city. Despite all the help our part time unit (Medic 101) is giving us, we are still averaging 9 point something calls per shift. The bad news is that most of the runs come after nightfall. I didn't update Saturday's post but with a full moon on Saturday night you can imagine... the boys were SLAMMED..13 runs. So, it was nice to hear it officially but all the boys assigned here already knew. I guess that I should add here as well that I am sure there are several other units that are running close to our numbers. The City as a whole seems to be getting busier and busier and all of our members are doing a great job in providing the best care possible to our city's citizens and visitors. That said, I believe I know why our numbers are so high.. it's Coon. He seems to attract the tones. When Tyrone is the only medic, runs flow in at a nice easy to handle pace. When Coon is assigned, it POURS! He's a poop magnet.. I don't know why, I can't explain it, but let's face it the proof is in the numbers (LOL). Here's a shot of the little stinker with Medic 9.

He's on the Engine today so at least Tyrone and Wheezy might get a little rest.It's been a day of customer service for us today. Smoke detector installs etc. Had a visit by Lt. Bugg's family. Here a shot of him and his daughter Cora.

Got to work with 2 retirees on Medic 101, Gracie and Capt. Lussen. Speaking of retirees, I need to take a minute to make a few very important announcements. Tomorrow we will be having a breakfast for our retirees at the Union Hall located on Patterson Ave. This will be the 3rd time we have done a breakfast for the guys and the first 2 were a huge hit. If you have the time... no let me say it this way.. MAKE THE TIME to stop by. We can always use the extra help plus, watching, talking to and listening to the retirees sit around and tell old war stories is an opportunity you shouldn't miss. Check out some pics of the past events on Rhett's blog here or on Mike Overacker's site here. Speaking of Rhett, he made the front page of a pretty big and decent web site. Check out that article here. Scroll down and read the morning lineup for May 11th. Also I need to let everyone know that this Thursday, May 14th there will be a work day at the Union Hall to fix up the Fire Safety House. Lt. Mark Brown from station # 5-c is leading this effort. Check out the Local's site here for more details. Also check out the pics of the tug or war we entered last Friday for charity. No trophy but a VERY respectable showing. Ok, that takes care of all the announcements, I had better get out here to spot some for Tyrone. Wheezy has had him on a pretty strenuous work out plan the last few weeks. Apparently his old bathing suit has become a little tight and he wants to make sure it fits and he looks his best before his upcoming vacation and annual trip to the big sand box. If you can't remember how good he looks in his suit, here's the link.and here's a pic of the workout

Ok, that's it for tonight unless we get something worth adding. Don't forget the breakfast and Safety House work day. Everyone stay safe and keep em in the house.. I'd hate to see ya lose a 400 dollar hand cart. Capt. Wines

Busy 1st day back for C-shift

Sometimes, it takes just a little bit of a push to get back in the groove when coming off a 4 day break. Sometimes it's an early call but there are also times when we need a little outside "boost". Well, the boys always check the back of my truck (aka the Cowboy Cadillac) and this morning they found a little surprise. Always quick on their feet, they decided to get a laugh out of the boys of B-shift..OK out of one of them anyway. Here's the set up and YES it's real and DEAD.

Don't ask how or why he was picked but it seems as though it was Zuga's day today. I'm pretty sure I haven't heard him curse until this morning... never knew he had some sailor in him (lol). Anyway what we really failed to capture on the video (due to the camera position)was him damn near hitting the ground. Here's a hint Zuga.. when on fire, Stop, Drop and Roll. When stepping on a snake...RUN! Here's the video.

After we got ourselves off the floor from laughing, it was time to get to business. Normal duties and then the calls started. A MVA with roll over right off the bat. No pic there, handled by our brothers over at "smoke and more, running 4". After getting back in the house and starting breakfast, BOOM!...and I mean BOOM! Apparently one of our neighborhood squirrels had taken all he could stand. Yep, killed himself by jumping onto / into a large transformer located in the substation just across the street. The explosion shook the station. Power (including all traffic lights) was out for several square blocks. Well, then comes all the alarms etc associated with power outages. Made for a busy morning, and left breakfast half done. Again, always quick on their feet and in an electrical conservation manner that would make our Hippie friends over at the "Green House" proud, the boys got out and fired up the gas grill. Worked great and despite tyrone's pleading, we had sausage gravy and NOT squirrel gravy. No calls from PETA or Station # 3 please.

Washed trucks, washed out the bay and sat down with an old neighborhood friend. Many of the guys on the job here in Roanoke have most likely heard stories from Station 5 about Junior. He always walked the streets around Loudon and always hollered his hellos to the firemen... "SAY FIRE..THAT'S RIGHT..FIRE DEPARTMENT". Just brought back alot of old memories for me but a little before the boy's time. Anyhow, here's a shot of June.

A few more runs including a "code blue" with the part time guys from Medic 101, then dinner and a visit from the "Buckaroo". If you're not a follower of our site, the Buckaroo is my first grandson and next generation firefighter...growing like a weed. Here's a few pics


That's it for now, time to write all these reports.. we'll update later if we get anything news worthy (Saturday night in North West...you never know). Until then, be safe and keep em in the house, C-shift is back Monday and Wednesday. Oh yea, I almost forgot, to all of the mothers out there tomorrow, HAPPY MOTHER's DAY! And to all the firefighters... don't forget, tomorrow's MOTHER's DAY.
Remember, Talk's cheap but it takes money to ride the train! Capt. Wines

A Shift Closing Another Cycle

A Shift is going out with a bang this cycle including multiple EMS calls, Fire Alarms, Working Fire, flooded basement and Bike vs Car with over six hours left, so who knows whats next. Working Fire today in NW included L-13, E-9, E-5, M-9, M101, E4and B2. Sorry, no pictures, our professional photographer National Registered Paramedic/Lt Goodwin is on vacation doing a Mr Olympia (Upper Half Only) show. He has really been hitting the weights hard working his chest, shoulders, biceps, and triceps. If you see Lt Goodwin after he gets back make sure you ask him how the show went and have him show you his upper body muscles. Although their were no pictures taken at our fire I do know of a cartoon that has already surfaced pertaining to an event that took place at the fire. I will not mention any names but if you see the cartoon it is self explanatory and I will be the first to admit it is pretty funny. If we have anything exciting happen before we close out this shift it will be posted but otherwise we will be back in four days. One last note, Station 9-B has a new face working with them to replace Josh Holmes departure. Welcome Xaiver Lee to Station 9 and good luck to you with your new home.

Station 9 Brings Home the Gold Again

Boone and Franks (Winning Team)

Duane caught in action shot.

Duane and Dixon doing what they do best.

Station 9 was out in force at BWs (Tanglewood) Monday Night participating in the Cornhole Tournament. It took a joint effort from A and C shift to continue the dominance and win the tourney for the second straight week. Scott Boone from C shift and Jerry Franks from A shift were the winning team on Monday with little competition. Matt Wheeling and Captain Weeks came in second wrapping up the prizes for the night. Next week we hope to keep the streak alive and defend our title. We all had a lot of fun and hope to see a lot more competition next Monday and yes that is a invitation to any who think they might be able to compete with the professional caliber Cornhole players from Station 9. Cornhole tournaments are at 7pm at Buffalo Wild Wings Tanglewood location and you must get there early to put your name on the list if you are interested in playing. Even if you do not want to throw come on out and have some wings, adult beverages and a good time. We even had one match between husbands and wives which I give Kudos to the ladies for playing but I believe Teressa is a natural as the Dixons beat up on the Noells in a friendly game.

No New Pics, So here's some Links

Last day for "C" Shift, then it's off to 4 day break where we will all probably work too much if the weather is decent.

Today has been fairly steady with calls and "to do" list type stuff. First things first we had a broken wheel stud, which believe it or not used to happen pretty regularly. So off to the garage to get that repaired. Afterwards it was off to our annual turnout gear inspection, a few "quick" repairs and we were given the blessing of the Big Show that our gear was good to go.

Back to the station to get some lunch. Nothing beats firehouse chili! Then time to mow the grass clean the truck (so that it will continue to rain), which included pulling the trash line off and scrubbing it along with the ladders. This was all while running a good many calls.

Lastly grabbed some dinner, and begin to wait to see what the night will bring. Sorry there's no pictures of funny videos. We'll see what we can do next cycle for you. Here's some links to websites we often visit.

• Firefighterspot.com, this site is wonderful for videos and pictures from across the country. I just wish we could see the videos from our city computers.
• Firegeezer.com Great blog site with incidents, training and other fire related news from across the globe.
• Statter911 Covers news related to Fire and EMS, including the politics involved.
• VAfirenews.com Apparatus Rosters, incidents, submitted articles from across the Commonwealth of VA
• VentEnterSearch.com Includes "What's in your pockets?", "Tips from the Bucket", training aids, and pictures and videos from companies pre-fire plans and incidents.
• OurHelathMagazine.com This is where our very own J. Holmes has begun his new adventure.

Everyone stay safe, if anything exciting happens later we'll get something posted.

Josh Holmes

The famous Josh Holmes of B-Shift does not call Station 9 his home anymore. Last cycle was Dr Holmes last with Roanoke City Fire/EMS as he now turns to a more lucrative fast paced career working for "Our Health" magazine. Josh came to the city on 12/11/2000 as a Paramedic/Firefighter and spent most of his time here on B Shift between Station 9 and 10. Josh has also been taken off the "Roanokes Top Bachelors list" as he will be tying the knot this year and we all wish Josh the best. Seen in the picture is B-Shifts latest: (R-L) Holmes, Matzuga, Ninja Hayes, Captain Bedwell, and Lt Franklin. Good luck to you Josh with your new career and try not to forget about us to quick and stop by and have lunch with us anytime, we would be glad to inform you of the all nighters on the Medic Truck you have forgotten about so quickly.