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.

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

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX !

Ok folks, by now everyone knows I'm long....errrr...winded yes, long winded and today's post may be a record setter. So, If you want to know what the C-shift Misfits have been up to today, go get a drink and snack, sit back and continue to follow along. If you could care less and / or don't have the time, check out these sites for a shorter, less entertaining read ... here here or here. Ok, today was kinda all about one of our beloved part-timers, Alex Helms. Today is Alex's birthday and he decided to pull a tour and spend it with us ( ain't that special??) He even brought T-bone steaks in for dinner. He brought em and wouldn't let us pay for em (his other job is as a meat cutter). All he wanted was for someone to fix em...and that we did! T-bones, baked potatos, corn on the cob and a salad. We waited, slowed things down, then sped em up trying to get everyone here between calls and, have all the food done at the same time... it worked. Everything done to perfection, on our plates, the blessing said, forks in the air and.... you guessed it "ding ding ding". Out the door they went. Poor fella. The good news is that we're keeping it warm for him and we didn't cut the "special" cake the boys made for him. Until he made it back that is...Here's a few pics (the cake blurred out...ask him about it LOL) Just like all of our part timers, Alex does a great job and we are proud to have him run out of this house. He currently has his application for full time and should take the C-PAT in a week or so. Good luck and HAPPY BIRTHDAY Alex, I hope you enjoyed the day. Well, I say I "hope" he did but actually know he did. You see, being it was a sunny and beautiful day (despite or wonderful local weathermen's forcast) we had a little pump drill. We had Medic 101 tag along and Alex and John both got a little nozzle time. Soaking wet (accidental of course) but grinning from ear to ear. Here's the pics and a short video of the boys laying in..
That's Alex in the 2nd pic from the top.. bet that's the biggest thing he'll have in his hands tonight, birthday or not LOL. I guess I should have started out with the happenings from this morning rather than jump straight into the afternoon events. We had a couple visitors first thing. Roy Layne from the Shriners stopped in (as he often does) bearing gifts. A whole box of candy bars donated from our local shriners. We've posted on Roy and the Shriners before ( a must see post here) and have a really great relationship with their fire unit. If you are not involved with or don't know what the Shriner's do for our children's burn hospitals, take the time to look it up or contact your local Shriners unit. Here's Roy and the boys We also had another nursing student. OK today was more like a ride-a-long rather than a student. And just when we thought we were on to something here... they sent a guy! Yep' the exact oppisite of last day's students. Of Course Kaylor didn't mind, he jumped in the pic just like with the gals..here or here. OK, so we're having a litle fun today. This ride along (John) was from one our local hospitals (LGH). They send their new hire nurses out for ride alongs with Fire/ EMS so that they can see the other side of the incident or where their patients come from and what we have to do to get them to the ER. John was a good sport today and Im certin he'll be an asset for all our local medic units when he begins work in the ER. Speaking of fun.... well you know us misfits, we try to squeeze in a little anywhere we can and today was no exception. Even while training, we sometimes break the tension. Today, I was able to combine the two. I've been talking alot about the development of a local FULL CONTACT football team and at least here at #9 we take these things serious. So, our training has already started, and we're working our way towards 2-a-days. We managed to toss the ol pig skin a little and Bugg even shot some video (sneaky bastard) of yours truly. They thought it was funny that I was wearing a helmet and a pink one at that, but I explained...hey, make due with what you have and practice like you play ..LMAO.. Just look at them boys...ATHELETES!


Now I've tried to explain that I will be a running back and NOT a receiver but they still don't seem to understand. They laugh, giggle, mumble something about me in a hospital bed and things like that. The most recient jokes are because I've found some of my old High School equipment. Like they've never seen high top Puma cleats! They snicker and mumble something about a leather helmet and even made a new screen saver for our computer...
I still don't see what's so funny and look damn good with that head of hair. Wait till we hit the field next year...THEN we'll see who's laughing ;-) OK, to wind it up here..and oh yea, thanks for hanging in. We check our blog stats fairly often (click "view my stats" at the very bottom of the page, just below the stat counter) and have noticed several regular out of town, state and even country readers. Now, the out of country comes from Iraq and we figure that to be one of our previous firefighters Gary "Fish" Fisher or my soon to be son in law "Little Dave". The others, we're not sure who they are but are glad they're reading. Anyways, we wanted to say THANKS to ALL of you and ask if you have any requests or if there is something you'd like us to post about. You know, a loyal reader pic, a link for your personal or dept. blog, a practical joke video that we'd need to top, if there's something about the station, our department or members in particular you'd like to know about or see. I guess in short I'd say, give us some imput and feedback.
To close (I know...make it quick) we posted here on Charlie "Chuck" Fotchmans retirment and although he's WAYYYY behind, Rhett has added something on his "feel good" site here. We wanted to update you on Palmer in that he made it through some more surgery but is still not able to receive visitors. Keep Dave, BJ and the kids in your thoughts and prayers. And, it's with regret that we'll add the passing of William G. "Stick" Walters. Rhett also has a post on Sticks death here. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers as well.
I would think that's enough for tonight, thanks again for looking in on us. Stay safe and in the house. Capt. Wines

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).

Another WILD one for C-shift

Typical day for the Melrose Misfits. It's been one of those weeks. We've had shootings the last 2 days in a row, Gold Alerts, Trauma Alerts with a bizilion other calls in between. This morning started fairly normal. We've been working on the ol War Wagon a little this week and decided to give her a little shine today. Lt. Bug bought (with his own money) a little shine in a bottle and so the work began.He's a slave driver but the ol girl sure looks good! An old Captain of mine use to say so eloquently.."a clean truck is a happy truck". We even got to mow the grass this morning being it was such a beautiful day. Now as you've most likely figured out by now, not only do we work hard, we play hard as well. here's Wheezy scaring the crap out of Tyrone while mowing. Wheezy is behind the building and screams at Tyrone as he passes. Pay attention to Tyrone's knees. Turn your volume up and you'll hear Tyrone scream like a ..... well he screamed. So scared he couldn't even let go of the mower long enough to run away...enjoy

After lunch, the tempo picked up a little. We rode over to one of our training locations to continue some training on VES (vent enter search) and OVE (outside vent entry) techniques. Station #13 called and invited us to a pump drill as well but we were already committed and turns out that things didn't work out as planned (you'll see later). Anyway, we wanted to say thanks to the boys at #13 for the invite! Our training division also sent out a great video link this week that relates to our training today. Now, I know what some of you may be thinking...an Engine Company doing "truck work" or ladder training? Well, in today's Fire Department, you never know what your assignment may be. It's not that uncommon to see an Engine doing truck work or a ladder company performing Engine duties. Bottom line is that any training we can get our hands on is a benefit and we'll take all we can get cause that's how we roll here at #9. Anyhow, here's the link...take the time to watch it here. And here's a few pics of our training.

Now, I mentioned that things didn't turn out as expected. I guess I should CMA and add a warning here. Content of this post past this point my be unpleasant for some viewers. If blood and guts make your little tummy feel funny do NOT read any further. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you but offer the following links for a more pleasurable reading experience. click here, here or here. So on to the gore. We had a little accident at the drill today. After taking the window with the ladder, Oppie positioned the ladder properly and ascended to finish cleaning it with his halogen before entering. This particular window had a metal center sash that needed a little "extra" force. Well, you guess it, Oppie was swinging for the fence and found some glass. Right through the glove and into his baby butt soft skin. Bled like a stuck pig! Funny how I never knew he doesn't like the sight of blood...well, not his anyway. The good news is that he stitched up well. 6 total and a future scar. I tried to pay the Doc to let me do the work but I don't think he fell for the story of me being a quilter, knitter and cross stitcher. I was also VERY disappointed that the staff allowed him NOT to put that little hospital gown on....that pic would have been priceless. So, here's the pics we did get... oh yea..here's an interesting note on the injury... Opie may now be the last patient ever transported out of Southern Manor! LMAO!

When I transmitted the injury to the Battalion over the radio, every company in the City was taking bets on who it was. You guessed it, Tyrone was the odds on favorite but for once was not involved. Tyrone did have the honors of treating Opie's wounds and as always, did one hell of a job. I often times depict Tyrone on the blog as the company "jokster" if you will and have not yet really shown or blogged on his other side. I'll just say briefly for now that both of our Medics (Tyrone and Coon) are top notch. I'll put ether's skills and work ethic against anyone. I was glad Tyrone was on scene today to care for Opie and wouldn't want anyone else had it have been me. I should also add that while at the ER with Opie, we missed a working fire. Medic 9 (Tyrone and Wheezy) was back in service and made it down to help our brothers at the 12th Street Express and, word is that the boys from #5 made quick work of the job. So, that said, we got Opie home and fixed him a nice T-bone steak to keep his mind off that throbbing thumb.

After dinner, we got our "work out" on. It's a tuff job and you have to be in top physical condition to survive. I usually don't join the boys because at 132lbs if I out lift em or something I know they'd feel bad and it would just add undue pressure on them to work harder. But today, I decided to take part. I went up stairs and changed into my work out uniform and when I came down to lift..... Well, I don't know what they thought was so funny but we couldn't work for laughing. I guess sometimes they forget that I have feelings. They also apparently don't understand the dangers of laughing at a man pressing 2..not 1 but 2 3lb dumbbells.

OK quit laughing!! that's enough for tonight. Everyone be safe and stay in the house. Capt. Wines

Feels like Monday

Another beautiful day and C-shift is pulling the tour. I feel like I've been here for a week already today. Mondays have a few additional checks etc that need to be performed in the mornings but it's really not that big of a deal. Got all the trucks washed up, hit the grocery store and caught a few runs. Donnie Foutz is our other messenger truck driver (we have 2 who alternate, him and Jimmy "Jimbo" Jennings) and just like Jimbo, Donnie always takes the time to sit down and spread the good word. Jimmy retired from our Department in 2004 and Donnie worked for the Vinton Fire Dept. so both are an excellent fit for the job. Here's a shot from Donnie's visit today.After we all downed 4 or 5 of Wheezy's "gut bomb" hot dogs with chili, we loaded up and headed out for a little training (..YES station #3, we train EVERYDAY). Our training location today has one of those "good news / bad news" stories. The bad news is that it is a closed down retirement home. It didn't have the best reputation, nor was it anywhere near the cleanest place to go BUT, it was the spot I had chosen to put my dad once he retired from the Fire Dept. You see, it is right across the street from a convenience store. Dad could have walked the short distance across the street to buy his supply of Old Milwaukee. The residents also sat on the front porch every day in a very nice glider. By joining them, he would have had a front row seat for watching Engine and Ladder 2 run up and down Williamson Rd. Not to mention also having a nice shady spot for consuming the above mentioned purchase. And, the big bonus was the fact that I had budgeted in to supply him with a full carton of camel cigarettes and 1 brown paper bag per week. You see, dad didn't smoke but, there was one very nice lady who lived there. I figure she was rich because she wore a full length fur coat every day of the year (summer time included). Well, it was rumored that this nice lady traded .... well she traded "stuff" for cigarettes. So you see, dad would have had it made. Close to cold beer, near fire trucks, a working glider / rocking chair in a shaded area and ... the woman in the fur coat for ... well you get the picture. Anyway, they shut it down and now dad just stays on the golf course. The good news to the location is that they shut it down and it is an awesome site for training. We actually used the buildings during the last recruit school. I'm not sure if Lt. Bags or Chief Adkins acquired the location but, we continue to have access to it and it has worked out great. Room for tons of drills...flat roof, peaked roof, searches, single story, 2 story, numerous windows and doors etc. Here's a shot of some vent training.
For all the readers on the job, you may be wondering why an Engine Company has a saw. Well, we do carry a K12 on our War Wagon but we usually keep the abrasive blade on. We encounter a lot of security bars etc in our first due and having the saw with us saves some time vs. waiting on the ladder truck. We changed blades and did some venting just to get some time on the saw and, here in the City, it's not uncommon for an Engine to be assigned "truck work" and vise versa. Anyhow, later on, we caught another "cooker"! I mean it was "that" close to getting away from Wheezy. Had the inferno not been in a 55 gal. drum, I'm scared to think what may have happened.
After extinguishing this inferno, we headed back to the house to begin dinner. Once again, Wheezy pulled though... BBQ chicken, mac salad and baked beans.

What can I say? The boy was raised right and he has a good Captain! Now, if you think the yard bird looks good (and it was) check out what was for desert. Home made banana ice cream! Yep, that's how we roll here at the rock. Nothing like a friendly game of corn hole and some home made ice cream to wind the day down.

There was a little "picking" going on this evening as well. I have always told the boys that "I can tolerate a lot of things BUT, fretting is not one of them". I guess I'll bend that rule a little tonight. "Someone" stopped by for a visit to make sure I seen his new shirt and said he sure hopes it wont make the blog (hint hint). It seems as though there is another station to station friendly rivalry going on.

And to wind things up here, I was issued new gear tonight. YEP, brand new, shinny and clean. I'll add here that all the brothers on the turn out gear committee did a fantastic job of looking out for our safety when specking this gear. Morning Pride won the bid and in my opinion, theres not a better set of gear on the market. JJ Price and Randolph Smiff from down at the "Big Show" handle all the gear for C-shift and they too go above and beyond to take care of the men. Here's the pic, get a good look ...you know what new gear means.

I look like a ROOKIE all clean and pretty. Don't take no wooden nickels, keep em in the house and STAY SAFE tonight. We're back on Wednesday.