C-Shift is back on the blog scene

Yea, yea we know! It's been quite some time since a C-shift post and it seems all of our "Roanoke Fire" blogs have not been keeping regular updates. In every one's defense, things have been pretty busy within the Department. Daily duties, training, hydrant flow testing, another big "shake up" with more moves / transfers to come, etc has kept everyone on the road. Our brothers and sisters on the South Battalion seem to be catching a lot of fires as well. Not to mention the fact that every one's "home life" has become busier with summer time (vacations, lawns / gardens, honey-do lists etc).As for me, I took 2 cycles of vacation back to back with plans of knocking a big dent into my hay crop. The bad news is that it rained almost every day I was off. The good news is that I've got some really good help this year and was able to get at least some hay made between the showers / t-storms. You all seen the pics of Coon's vacation (if not view here) and I assure you, his was MUCH better than mine. He has made a few trips down river since his return. The most notable being a canoe trip over Balcony Falls and yes I meant OVER and in a CANOE! Ask him about it but make sure your bladder is empty. Wheezy and bride made it down to the outter banks for a week or so. Of all the things a man would figure to loose at the beach, his eye lashes wouldn't be the first to pop into your mind. Ask him for another good story. Opie has been at home working on his FDNY tribute basement. Although he doesn't live in "TOWN" he is in Bedford County so I guess that's close enough to being in "Little Brooklyn". Tyrone, well I'm scared to say actually. It's just hard to tell exactly what he's been into and the honest answer is I / we probably don't want to know. Let's just hope it's been not much more than house chores, HVAC work, a little plumbing work (recently hired by the French Canadian from over at station #11 eh) or working on his beloved "snow commander. Bugg has been a busy little bee as well. Not to be out done by Coon, he also went to Balcony Falls (with our SWR Team for training) and went over in nothing but water wings and flippers. He has also been busy working for a boat cleaning company out on Smith Mountain Lake. His free field trip job...errrr substitute teaching has kind of fizzled out with the end of school. In other updates, a few of us traveled to Lynchburg back about the end of May to give support while picketing City Council NOT to impose a 3% pay cut to City employees. Good and bad news there. At the vote that night, Council decided to indeed cut worker's pay by the 3% (this included Public Safety). That cut made the children of new hire Fire and Police Officers eligible for the "free lunch" program in school! The good news is that Lynchburg's Council recently reversed that decision and gave the money back. Here's a pic that really hit home for me and I'll add that I stopped by Station #6 to change into some dry clothes (it POURED rain that day) and want to thank the crew there for their hospitality. If you're ever in Lynchburg and have the chance to tour that station, take it. Back at home, the boys caught a few jobs while I was off. A couch fire on the 9th floor of Melrose Towers, a few vehicle fires, a dumpster fire, a mattress fire, and an Apartment Fire resulting in an Arson arrest. Seems we've been catching alot of "burnt food" calls as well. Here's a few shots of the most recent with L2 going to work on PPV. We have been busy training as well. City wide, we've been going through EMS competencies. Now, I know how much you all love our funny videos when Tyrone is involved and wouldn't you know it... we just happen to have one. Here he is testing the boy's skills on immobilization...enjoy

We also have another picture of our new station's construction. A measure of progress ... I'll close for now but add to keep C-shift Captain Clayton Martin and his family in your thoughts and prayers. One son had a trampoline accident that resulted in a very nasty fracture requiring surgery while his oldest son Nick was involved in a major vehicle accident leaving him in critical condition at RMH NTICU. Nick can not have visitors yet but drop by the 9th floor waiting room (9 Mountain) to check in on Clayton and Beth.
Station #13-C is headed over tonight for a 4th of July cook out. I will try to update tonight with pics etc of the gala. Until then, have a SAFE and HAPPY 4th of July! Captain Wines

Picture Update From Last Post

They have started laying the block on the new station.





Here are a few pictures of the MDA golf tournament.

Shes Back

We were able to get our War Wagon back today and our two little mascots riding on the doghouse are glad to be home. We are still missing our regular medic truck but hopefully it will be back by next cycle. Today is the last day of our cycle on A shift and it could not go out with a bang any better then having Duane and Gish(hey dude)working side by side causing TOXIC MADNESS all day in NW. Gish is filling in for Lt Dan who is in Alabama visiting family. We started this cycle out a day early by playing in the Union Golf Tourney for MDA at Hanging Rock Golf Course in Salem. We all had a great time and Station 9 A shift actually put two teams in this year and I hate to brag about it but one of them brought home the trophy. Well, I guess you call it the trophy, it was the last place team trophy but they are champions in our eyes. Pictures to come later. At the station we have been busy doing normal duties including EMS calls,brass,flowing and testing hydrants. Duane received some great tutoring from John (Babysitter) Dixon today assisting him on getting third medic calls in. Speaking of the Dixons, hope all of you guys are OK and get over that nasty bug you guys have. Our new home right down the street is coming to life now with blocks being placed and actually looking like a construction site. We will also have pictures of our new station being built that will come later.If anything exciting happens tonight we will post but if not have a safe one and see you next cycle.

The dog days of summer

A-shift is working a Fathers Day / Sunday shift here at #9. It has been pretty decent so far. Knocked out a few chores and made some repairs to the medic truck. Of course we have our calls, nothing too exciting just yet. Washed the engine and had some of the kids come by for visits. Along with kids, a bird came into the bay. FF Franks can be seen holding his latest rescue. Another life saved. Later we had a little neighborhood pit bull puppy stop by for a break. After a little water and nap, the little fella was on his way. His owners didn't mind us hanging out with him while they took a tour of the station. All this excitement and being on the ever running medic truck wore Jerry out. He can be seen in the pic taking a well deserved break. That's it for this cycle. Captain Weeks returns from the beach next cycle and we are back to normal (whatever normal is for us). Till then, stay safe. Good night.

A-shift returns.

Hey folks we are back. A-shift returns. Seems FF Franks has been too busy on the box to post anything while I was on vacation. If you see him, give him a hug. Today our Captain is somewhere in the OBX. The day has been busy with the normal duties, CE EMS class, Hydrant maintenance and some 3rd person time for our pal Jerry. We would like to thank Lt. Leroy "I am almost retired" Edwards for spending the day with us from #13. He told us stories of how he used to take care of the horses and pull on the 6 man team when the horses were tired. He remembers playing in the field as a child where station 9 is today. Another tale he shared of when we went from buckets to hoses. All in all, it was a great day having him here.
A few runs today kept us busy. No fire pics to share just yet. The pics we are posting are of the infamous FF/Paramedic John "CLEAR!" Dixon and Lt. Edwards during our EMS class. Also some pics of temporary Lt.assigned: FF(Lt) Duanne "Hell yeah I am taking the test, this Lt. stuff is awesome" Noell driving E9. To follow it up, a shot of Franks taking Old Glory down.....in the dark......again. It is still hot as you know, gun shots are ringing out, and the neighborhood bar is open. Looks to be an eventful tour. Goodnight to all, be safe and keep it in the house.

Slimmer A Shift

Some of us here at Station 9 A Shift have started working out to try to get back in shape and shed some unwanted pounds. Dixon and I(Beans) have started the P90X workout, Lt Good-O has been working out like he normally does(upper body only)and Wheels has been getting back into the gym from his past injury. The one we have not convinced to get back into shape yet is Duane(Lt Chief) who by his standards does not have to work out since he is in compliance and a specimen of muscle like no other. As you can see by all the pictures I believe he does do one thing very well, and that is making sure the kitchen is always open and their are no left overs going to waste. Normal meals for this man are served on platters and he eats cereal out of mixing bowls because the cereal box itself want hold milk. The next time you see Duane out looking for something to eat or as he says "just something to snack on" tell him how good he looks and ask him about his hero Tiny. Till next cycle be Safe.

Hump Day for A Shift

We had HazMat training today at Station 2 with Big Trav doing most of the instructing with Jim Cady assisting. This class was an awareness for what to do in case something happens with all the dangerous chemicals that travel up and down our roads and train tracks. The best thing I ever learned about HazMat incidents was to hold your thumb up and if you could still see it you were way to close. Thanks to all the Glow Worms that love to suit up and get in the Hot Zone to do their work. It was a great refresher for some of us that do not deal with HazMat very often and as you can see we set up the decon station for practice.
If you didn't know our very own Lt Goodwin(Good-O) is off for a couple cycles so Duane Noell has stepped up to the challenge of filling Lts shoes. I will have to admit it is quite a change but we seem to be adapting very well so fa to Lt Duanes stricter ways.
Today has been a fairly quiet day so far but we all know it is a beautiful warm night so we are not getting to comfortable. If anything exciting happens later on we will update and if not have a safe quiet night and A shift will be back on Wednesday.