Middle day for A-Shift and we retire another 2 men.

It's a nice clear Saturday here in NW Roanoke City. We started the day off with a little breakfast, and a EMS run for a seizure. Only to find Medic 9 had a Working Code. FF/EMT-I Duanne "Just keep Dixon away and I can save him" Noell had the lead on a Code Save today. With Franks, Capt. Weeks, Dixon, Lt. Crouch (RS1), and myself on scene, Noell had all kinds of hands. They did a great job and got him back.

In other news, FF/Paramedic Hank Pfister is retiring after serving Roanoke City since 1985. He is eating his final dinner at Station #4 as we speak. Take care Hank and congratulations!


We are also saying good bye and congratulations to Lt. Leroy Edwards after serving Roanoke City since 1975. I believe he is working his whole shift tonight on Ladder #13. Both guys had plenty of visitors come by and say farewell. We hate to see them go.


Enjoy the pics, note that Hank wore his old shirt from 1985 on his last day. Nice touch. Some guys like Jerry can't even fit in their original shirts after 5 years! Good night folks and be safe out there.

P.S. FF Noell didn't retire...there was just some more free food.

50,000 and counting!

Almost forgot...we hit a milestone tonight. Our blog has reached 50,000 hits! Our first post was December 5, 2008 (A-shift) so we're just under a year old. Let us know how we're doing through our comment section here on the blog or on one of our face book pages (search Melrose Misfits or Engine9 RFD).

C-shift update

I was so caught up with Opie, I forgot to tell ya about an earlier call the Medic ran with Lucky 13. The call was a medical call, pt nausea and vomiting. The female pt was assessed and while giving her medical history and personal information, she stated that she had received both the Influenza and H1N1 (you know the Have 1 Need 1)shots this season. Well, it was about that time that Mr. "I used to be an EMT in Richmond" busted to the front(knocking Coon down)to advise the pt that these shots "only last 60-90 days". LMAO! Where did Dr. Fleitz come up with this??? He stated he researched it and found it as FACT. We figure he researched it as he did with the cut and paste job he did with or "new hire" list last day. Well, we put the Melrose Misfit's blog research department on it and have came up with the following rebuttle...FACTS...nuttin but em!
Check out sec. 2 paragraph 4 of this link.
or, simply check out this video You have to watch the entire video to get the appropriate answer. So, there you go.. proof again that Rhett is a fraud. A knock off, plagiarizer, copy cat! We just wanted to make sure our readers are up to speed on this issue and not be confused or misled on how long the shot is good for!
I also forgot to mention our 2 visitors of the day. Retired Lt. Mikey Overacker dropped by for a visit and we had a ride along on the Medic. Travis Meadow (Meadow...not Meador) is an EMT student and volunteer with Blue Ridge Vol. Fire and Rescue. Travis was hoping to see a little of what the job is and figured this was a good spot. It was good to see Mikey and as is everyone. Travis was very welcomed and we appreciate his interest in The Melrose Misfits. Here they are...


We also wanted to remind everyone of 2 A-shift retirements tomorrow. FF/Medic hank Pfister is retiring from station #4 while Lt. Leroy Edwards is retiring from Lucky 13. I have had the pleasure of working with both of these men and hold many many fond memories. Good luck and best wishes to you both! Stop by #13 between 14:00-16:00 and by #4 anytime.
Peace out...Capt. and the boys

Windy / cold night for C-shift. Meet our members..

Ok, now that we've joined the "big leagues" by feeding to Picture Book and Tweet Tweet, it has come to my attention that we should introduce our members to our followers. If you haven't caught on yet, we are firemen. This blog was designed to show a little piece of firehouse life here at station #9, the serious and the comical. Our Department has 3 shifts, A, B and C. Our Station is combination Engine and Medic. Each shift has a Captain, Lieutenant and 4 firefighter / EMT's / Medics. Here on C-shift, I'm the Captain. I give all my members nicknames and sometimes this can be confusing to those who don't know them by that name. Our Lieutenant is Rob Reid "Bugg". The senior Firefighter is FF/Medic Scott Boone "Coon". Next in seniority is Firefighter/EMT Travis Meador "Wheezy". He is followed by Firefighter/Medic Ben Obaugh "Tyrone". And our most junior member is Brad Glidden "Opie". In the next few posts, I'll give you a little closer look at the members of C-shift one by one. Tonight, I'll start with Opie...

Opie was hired by Roanoke Fire/EMS on July, 31, 2006. Following Rookie School, he was assigned to station #2. After approx. 3-4 months he was moved to Station #10 and in September 2007 became a Melrose Misfit. He is 30 years old, married to his wife Kristy and has 1 son (and future firefighter) Kyler. He lives and works his days off on a farm in Bedford County. Here at 9C Opie has all the duties of a Junior member.

He is a FF/EMT which means he rotates through the Engine and Medic unit. He is currently enrolled in the EMT-I program and is scheduled to begin class in Jan. 2010. Not long into his career, he caught his 2nd working fire on Pilot Ave. He responded in riding Medic #10 and was later assigned to work with our crew. From that point on, he was destined to become a Misfit. Here's a shot taken that day (left to right:John Dixon filling in from #9A, FF/EMT Chris Franklin aka Chicken Hawk then 9C now Lt at 9B, me and Opie)

Opie has been a good fit here at 9C. I call him Opie because of his resemblance to Opie Taylor of the Andy Griffith Show.... plus he claims to have every episode on DVD ( I think he lied because we watch it every night and he never knows whats going to happen at the end of the show). At one point I thought about renaming him "Ninja". We gave him the title "ninja cook" because on his days to cook, everyone else did it for him. Meal time came, the food was prepared but you never seen Opie in the kitchen....like a little ninja cook. Anyways, he's became much better. Not only does he stay in the kitchen and prepare mouth watering meals, now, he even bakes

He remains eager and willing to learn but we've found that we have to be a little "gentle" with him while training...he can't stand the sight of his own blood...

The pic above comes from a past post here. He lived through it and made history. Opie was the last person ever transported out of Southern Manor..LMAO. He's caught some big fires and several smaller ones...regardless of the size, he was out there "DOING IT".



The boys wouldn't let me put some of the "good" pics we have of him up. A couple real good ones from his last birthday party. Anyway, that was Opie. He'll be available for autographs next cycle. We're going on 4 day tomorrow, see ya next Wednesday and allow you to meet tyrone up and close (that's scary). Until then, be safe and stay in the house. Capt.

Happy Thanksgiving from #9

Happy Thanksgiving from A-Shift. It's our first day back. We started out a little slow, but the pace is picking up. We have run a few alarms, and a ems call on the Engine. Medic 9 is doing business as usual. Keeping with the holiday spirit, Engine 9 GAVE the Hippies an opportunity to be first in. Yep in the giving spirit, we let the tree huggers turn in front of us at the intersection. P.S. only E3, we're not that nice. M3 had to wait their turn. Just kidding Broadway...we knew you had us. ;)

A special thank you to the Fellowship Community Church and Operation Turkey Drop. For quite a few years now they have been providing Roanoke Valley Public Safety with complete Thanksgiving meals, from the turkey down to the dessert. Imagine all of the Police, Fire stations, etc. in the Valley. They have volunteers delivering meals to everyone. That's very impressive and we thank them very much.

For pictures, not too much today. Here are a few with the fella's hanging out in the office, and a call at the Towers. Everyone keep it in the house tonight. Wheels, enjoy the vacation, see you next cycle. Be safe out there.

TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM

Been one of those days for the C-shift Misfits. Wheezy is a little short of run and skills for his EMT-I certification so we had to transfer him up to The Deuce to ride with a preceptor. That led to us getting a fill in from Lucky 13 who ended up being First Lt. Sam Stump. Now, this affected us in a few ways. First, next day (Friday) is Sam's last day on C-shift for a while. He is being moved to Station #8 A-shift as acting Captain taking the place of recently retired Captain Jimmy Renick. Due to the facts of him being an Officer and his leaving the shift next day, I didn't want to assign him to the Medic unit. Here's a shot of Sambo.

Tyrone is still wandering the Highland County mountains in search of the perfect kill. That leaves Opie to ride and he's been on there for the last several days (not to mention they took a beating last night). So...the Ol Capt. bit the bullet. That's right all ye non-believers.... I'M RIDING THE MEDIC. OK, let me ellaborate... I'm out there "DOING IT". Yep, we've seen it all and in just 1/2 a tour. Heres the proof...





Now don't get excited. The box drives a lot easier than the "Cowboy Cadillac". The only reason I'm in the back of the copter is cause they wouldn't let me fly it. And, you have to admit that I look GREAT in my Doctor coat. I know, I know... I didn't have my mask on in the OR but hey, the stash makes for a pretty good filter. I mean come on guys... if it was easy, everybody would do it! Alright, the day hasn't been all about us saving lives, we always manage to squeeze in a little training as well. Today, we got to experience our newest training tool. Our regional gas grill....errr burn building. The latest and greatest. No more real fire, a brand spanking new Class B burn building. Here she is...ain't she a beaut?? More safety features than NASA and the Space Shuttle..Geesh

We basicly ran company evolutions with Ladder/Medic 7 and Battalion 4. Let me tell ya what... Woooooo. Talk about your barn burner! I mean just before those fans kicked on at 500 degrees ... OK OK so it's gonna take some getting used to. At least they have it labeled right..

LMAO...that's the actual label on the building. Anyways, we moved our riding positions around so the boys could get some training from other perspectives. Coon rode the seat and became the Incident Commander while Opie pumped the War Wagon. Both did an excellent job. Here are a few shots from the training...




You may have noticed the "bull horn" located on Coon's Command Board. Well, that's because our brand new radios work REALLY well inside that building. Communication was much better after he started using that thing. LOL. All kidding aside, we had some good hands on training (plus a little "pretend like" on the side) so helmets off to the lead instructor Lt. Tom "Bucket Head" AKA Guts Gherman (and his quality control Officer Plaza)...

Ok, enough of these shananagans, lets move on to some important stuff. New hires. We posted earlier AND FIRST on the 11 new hires for the City. Now Rhett would have you believe that he had the list first by changing his post time and date, BUT...BUT read the comments. He's a fraud....An imposter! We just may sue for copyright infringment and / or Plagiarism (that means you "stole" it PUNK). A cut and paster this guy is. And an insult to every readers intellegence by trying to cover it the way he did. An "arthur" my ASS! Anyway, regardless of where you read it, CONGRATULATIONS again to all of the new hires. And hey, just to PROVE we are the bomb and beat him to all of the "REAL" stories, here's the list of new hires for our Brothers and Sisters out in Roanoke County
Mallic, Meger*, Miller*, Martin, Campbell*, Hefflin and Googin (again, " * " denotes Medics) CONGRATULATIONS to these folks as well and "UP YOURS MIDGET BOY"...gotcha again :-) OK 2 more things real quick. Our Local's President Rodney Jordan and Lt. Steve Jordan from over at #4 A's father is in ICU up at UVA. Keep these brothers and their family in your thoughts and prayers. We also wanted to tell everyone HAPPY THANKSGIVING. We hope each of you enjoy the day and time with family. Keep the brothers and sisters all across this great country who have to pull a tour tomorrow in your thoughts as well. As for you folks out there not on the job...take a moment to stop by your local firehouse and let the guys know you're thinking of them. That's it for tonight... don't eat too much turkey. Everyone stay safe and in the House... see ya on BLACK FRIDAY... peace out! Captain Wines and the boys.

CONGRATULATIONS !!

The hiring process for the City is now complete and we have 11 new conditional employees. I'm going to give you the list now and maybe talk a little more about them / the process etc in tonight's post. Honest answer is that I wanted to get the list out before the "famed", "noted arthur", "blogger", "pod caster","mobile video caster", "mouth of the south" Rhett Fleitz got his grubby little paws on it...LOL!
Anyways, here's the list, CONGRATULATIONS, GOOD LUCK and BEST WISHES to them all.
A. Helems *
J.Kaylor
J. Dixon*
C. Walsh
J. Anuszkiewizz*
B. Wasson*
G. Crabb*
B. Hodges
J. Walker
M. Akers*
J. Lonnemann
( * denotes Medic ) Regular C-shift post this evening, catch it here or now via Face Book or Twitter. Capt.

Monday Monday 1st day back for C-shift Misfits

I don't know why but it seems as though when you take a few days off and then return 9 days later, tasks which before seemed simple and routine now have become much more difficult. I usually arrive for duty first ohhh anytime between 06:30 and 06:40. My first chore is to put on a hot pot of coffee. Today... NOPE. We have a new combo lock on our food locker and guess who didn't get the memo. Result... no coffee. Next, I get my gear in shape and on the truck, do the computer work, check department e-mail then my favorite sites. As the boys arrive, they too get their gear on the trucks and begin to complete their morning checks while one of them prepares our morning egg sandwiches. This morning, 08:30 before the sandwiches were up. OK, one slow / late meal ain't so bad but we do try to maintain a schedule here..it is a firehouse you know. Lunch is at 11:30 so we catch the Price is Right showdown and the noon time local news. Dinner is at 17:30 so we don't miss Andy and then get to catch the evening news. Well tonight, as 17:30 rolled around, I was waiting for a pregnant lady to walk in. Why a pregnant lady you ask... cause this is what Wheezy had on the stove...

Enough water boiling to birth triplets but NOTHING to eat...GEEESH! I thought for a minute or two there that Wheezy has been taking lessons from the 'ol "Ninja Cook" Opie. Guess I was just a little impatient cause after throwing a weee weee weee tiny fit, tossing a few pots and pan etc. Wheezy produced a master piece... and well worth waiting for. Yard bird, stuffing with gravy, mac and cheese and a side of CROW for the Capt....lol

And, my little "I'm gonna starve" tantrum wasn't the only obstacle for Wheezy this evening. I guess the clock and my showing had him picking up the pace a little. Ok maybe turning up the heat instead of picking up the pace. The result of that... smoke. It got kinda bad at one point... so bad in fact that Coon had to take protective measures...

And again, seeing how fabtabulus the meal turned out, I guess we should have paid a little more attention to the sticker atop the Captains desk

(NO WHINING...and also note my Fire Geezer mug, I'm not sure how it manages to sneak its way into so many of our pics). So, Wheezy's cooking and riding backwards. Tyrone has been off to hunt camp since Friday and with no cell service, all we can do is pray that he has and is taking his medication. If he's not...well Highland County will never be the same. Opie is riding the box with our own little poop magnet Coon. Opie actually attended hunt camp with Tyrone Friday through Sunday. He slayed the big one from his mobile recliner, slept ON a wood stove (placed inside a tent by multiple firemen), showered outside in 30 degree weather and used a 5 gallon bucket for a toilet. Guess he had all the fun he could stand so he came on back home. A rainy / cool day here in the "NOKE", sitting on 8 runs total. Nothing too exciting, some local lumberjacks fell a tree across a service drop and didn't think enough of it to slow them from continuing their work. Downed line and all, they finished cutting the tree, loaded the wood and cleaned up debris before anyone called it in... and oh yea, the line was hot


Other news includes a HUGE date that we totally missed. Our house..station #9 located at 514 24th Street NW Roanoke, Va turned 80 years old last month. The station was completed October 2, 1929 so HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY old gal. Like a fine wine, she gets better with age. Warm in the summer, cold in winter and, the roof only leaks when it rains. No, she's a good house and we'll miss her. Here's a pic of how she looks now. I'll also add the new station. Scheduled to open in March 2010, her replacement is well under way and we managed to snap a shot from across the street today. This pic is from the front or the Orange Ave side..check it out, a "measure of progress".


I also wanted to remind everyone that our Public Safety Football team will have it's 1st official practice a week from today. I CAN'T WAIT.... PUT ME IN COACH! Check out the Roanoke Rampage site here. Thanks to Captain Todd Stone and Assistant Fire Marshall Chris Price for all their hard work and effort.
I'll close with a very special announcement. Most of you have figured it out by now but today, we (ok..more like Rhett than "we") officially completed our "RSS" feed. What that means is that whenever we post here (to this blog) we automatically feed to "Networked Blogs" which takes the post to our newly built and under construction Face Book Fan and profile pages and then on to our Twitter page. WoooHoo, now all you "picture bookers" and "Churp Churps" can follow the Melrose Misfits as well. I hope you all enjoy the ride. That's it for tonight, We've got the Monday, Wednesday, Friday tours so we'll see ya again Wednesday night. Until then, stay safe and in the house. Captain Wines

A-Shift retires another 3 today.

Today we had to say Happy Retirement and good bye to 3 good men. Chief Ricky Troutt had retired last cycle with 34 years on the job. Today:

Captain at #13, Clonnie Yearout retires after serving Roanoke City since 1973.
Captain at #8, Jimmie Renick retires after serving Roanoke City since 1975.
Firefighter at #14, Roger Markham retires after serving Roanoke City since 1984.

Most of the city pulled some magic off and managed to stop by the stations to say thanks, and congrats. The food was a plus! There was a bunch of picture taking and I apologize for the few quick shots I got. Hopefully other pics will surface on other blogs. We were running in and out to make sure everyone could come by. I am sorry I don't have any of Markham. Among the on and off duty folks, it was great to have some of the retirees there. For young guys like me it was great to put the faces with the names. We hear the stories, it was nice to meet them.

A-shift isn't done. We have more coming up soon for retirement. Guys we wish you the best of luck, and a happy retirement. Thank you for your years of service to the city.

Here are a few photos. Good night and be safe out there. We'll return after 4-day.




P.S. FF Noell didn't retire....he was there for the food and the slow jams.

2nd Day at #9

I am gonna be honest. We are up to 6 runs on the engine at this point of the shift. We really don't have much to tell. The highlight of the day was cleaning the office and another run to the Towers, so we could get out and smell the smell that never was. Another good intent call....yeah! I have gotten one of those Droid phones with a sweet camera, just nothing to take pics of except everyone saying I am a geek. So I will leave you with this: Jerry is off for the rest of the cycle and Bevo (Noell) is back. I will post their pics so you can put the name with the face.
Until next day, be safe out there. Goodnight North West.
-Good O

FF Noell


FF Franks

Rain Rain.... Here's to another a day....or two.

I'll start by saying sorry for not posting last day. The captain is off and we had a busy day switching trucks. We started the day as normal as Mondays can be. Franks was still working for Coone and began the morning check of the truck. He noticed a tire a little low and checked pressures only to find out the inside of tire was FLAT! So it's off to the garage and to pick up a reserve. Here's where the fun begins!

We get equipment swapped and head to the store for lunch and dinner goodies. Get back lunch prepared and eaten and get the call to go pick up the War Wagon. We're excited cause nobody likes to be in a reserve. We get the ol' gal back and while preparing some Kool-aid pie we here a hiss from the bay. Turns out there is a 3" gash in the sidewall of the tire that was flat. Apparently you have to request to have the tire checked for damage after it's gone flat. Otherwise it's just filled with air and sent on it's way.

A quick call to the BC and we're off to the land of reserves again. a.k.a. Historic Station 1. Equipment swapped, and a quick explanation to the mechanic of where the gash is located, followed by a look of these firemen are crazy and something along the lines of " I don't doubt you guys that there's a leak, I just don't hear it". Good news is we got our truck back at 2100hrs and things could be worse.....


The night did get better. Alex are part-timer from MU101,(hopefully soon to be full-timer). Dropped off some delicious steaks that were "like butta". A huge thanks to Alex for a great dinner and best of luck!


Today has been slow, figures since I remembered my camera today. The guys have been all a stir like kids before Christmas. Wheezy is about to move in to his new home. Coone has been off forever and just got back. Tyrone and Opie are headed off to "Deer Camp" Friday.



Tyrone has got the hook up for camp, he has been making a list of needed items. Trying out possible recipes here at the station and counting down second by second. All in hopes of finding "THE TROPHY"


Really not much else to pass on. If anything good happens. I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow. I will leave with this link to the Happy Medic and the EMS Chronicles. If you haven't checked his site out or this project please do it's very impressive.

Also a shout out to Mr. Policeman for the kind comment and checking on us regularly.

Everyone stay safe. Lt. Bugg

A-Shift Day 1

It was a busy last day of last cycle. So busy that we didn't have time to Blog. We ran 14 calls and had a break long enough to wish Chief Troutt a happy retirement.
It started with several flooded basements. A GSW run, vehicle fire and wrapping up the night (morning), was a working fire with the Southies. It was a crazy day with not much of a break. I gotta admit, it made the shift fly.

Today we started with a few hours of training on the "Great Gas Grill", a.k.a. the new gas fueled burn building. Thanks to Lt. Gherman, Captain Mutter and 1Lt Arrington on some decent training. E9 and M9 got to do several evolutions with our Southie friends, M7 and Ladder 7. I am not sure if we see them more during training or on working fires. Always glad to see them, either way.

I am gonna wrap this up tonight while I am listening to our friends down the road run a chimney fire. If we get anything going tonight I will try to post some pics. Have a good night and be safe out there.

Picking up the pace

It's the first day back for the C-shift Misfits and it's been a long one. Heck, it's been a long week. I don't know why, but business has definitely picked up lately here in "the Noke". Our house alone has seen 5 jobs in the last 7 days. I'm not sure about the other shifts (I don't get the City text messages) but on C-shift, the Southies have had a few others that we don't run. Caught a notable one this afternoon though. Companies were sent to our local Pet Smart for a report of a fire inside, near the rear of the building. Some companies were at the far end of their district and that led to The 12th Street Express making it in first with us right behind them. Engine 5 had smoke showing on arrival and reported heavy smoke from the interior. A cool note here is that a past Misfit was on scene and helping to evacuate the building. Mark Brown (from E5) said he was met at the door by none other than former #9 member Josh Holmes (you may also remember Josh from our dish washer chronicles). Josh had removed some animals, assisted occupants and reported to Brown the location of the fire. Brown said you could tell that Josh had been working and even wanted to go back in with them. Just like old times huh Josh?
We caught a hydrant, supported the sprinkler system and forced entry from the rear. Things got pretty busy for a minute or two. Coon is off at hunt camp and tricked an A-shift Misfit into trading some time, so Big Jerry "Beans" Franks is riding backwards for us today. I was scheduled off for vacation but Opie has been crying about not having enough time off to hunt ever since his neighbor killed the "big one" out from under him, so I gave him the day. I have to admit that with Beans being from the house, it has been just like having one of my boys with me. He makes a good fit and worked his butt off today. Above, I mentioned forcing entry and I know what some of you will say ... "that's truck work". Well, I think I've mentioned it in a much earlier post, but we carry a K12 on the War Wagon. We have alot of security bars etc in our 1st due plus, we often pull the saw for car fires (to cut and raise the hood). Anyhow, the saw came in very handy again today with no ladder truck in the rear. Battalion 1 (Chief Beckner) was chomping at the bit while we cut the roll up door and then made entry with us establishing "Interior Operations". A decent smoke condition inside while the sprinkler system kept the fire in check. Still, a LOT of work. Pet Smart is located in a 26,040 sq. foot building with an estimated value near $4 million. A lot of smoke, and a LOT LOT LOT of water. Everyone there did a bang up job. Engine 5, the "Hippies" from up at the "Green House" Engine and Medic(less Winters who missed yet another one), The Big Show's Engine 1, The "Deuce" (Ladder 2), Lucky Ladder 13, Medic 101, Ladder 7, Engine 1, Battalions 1 and 2, RS1, the service truck and Fire Marshall. All total, about 32 personnel. Here's a few pics..


Here's one of me and Beans catching a breather and the War Wagon doing her thing (sure is good to have the ole Gal back)


Another interesting story about the fire involved 2 women whom I thought were medic or nursing students. These 2 Young ladies were working their tails off helping anyway they could. One even changed my bottle. Well, apparently they were not students. Bugg got the shot and the 411. He was so impressed with their hustle, he stopped and asked their story. He didn't get their names but they are actually applicants for our Department. They have participated in our recent hiring process and wanted to come out for a ride-a-long to see what it is like here and how we operate. I believe they rode in with Battalion 1. Anyway, Bugg said they did a great job and we wanted to say good luck in the hiring process and THANKS for the effort and help today. Here's their pic.

I'm gonna wrap it up here. It's late, we're sitting on 5 or 6 including the fire and a "code blue". Business is picking up at the "club" across the street so it looks like we ain't getting much rest tonight. I will add that as far as I'm aware of, all of the animals at Pet Smart survived. Pretty amazing for the amount of smoke. We will also have an update to this post in the next day or so because we have a video of another Roanoke Fire Department invention.... a very VERY high tech squeegee... you're gonna LOVE it. Stay safe and in the house.. Captain Wines