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.

Have a HAPPY and SAFE Halloween !!

The Melrose Misfits want to wish everyone a safe and happy Halloween. We've got our "firemanzzz" pumpkin out and have gotten to see many trick or treaters thus far. I think I'll just post a bunch of the pics instead of my usual ramblings. It's gonna be a long post either way. Oh, and by the way, Lt. Bugg was the artist who carved our pumpkin...great job huh? And let me back up a and explain just a little about the first pics I'll post. Everyone knows that the FD is loaded with traditions. More often than not; for the men and women on the job, traditions are carried over into our family life, job related or not. Well, in my life, I have always helped my girls carve the pumpkin. This year is the 1st Halloween for my 1st grandson (the Buckaroo) but I've been on duty for 3 days straight. So, my daughter (Reba) brought him by the station yesterday so I could carve his 1st pumpkin with him ...



BOO! Ok so today, the Buckaroo came back by to show off his costume...and to get some CANDY! Tyrone's wife and boys (Jackson and Noah) also came by to show off their costumes...some great family pics at the station.



There's 3 future members for the Melrose Misfits.. (L-R) Jackson, Noah and Wesley (Buckaroo).And hey, Halloween isn't just for kids... we've had some adults stop by in costume... and NO, not the usual drag queens but just as scary... here's Raggedy Ann/Clown

And who needs the Million Dollar Man Steve Austin when you have the Hundred Dollar Girl? You know..."it takes a $100 dollars to make me holler, I get paid..." ok ok but it was a good song LOL WILD THANNNNGGG!

A couple of witches (non-firefighter wife types...WITCHES...with a "W")



and just a good, all around collection of goons, goblins, cheerleaders etc. we even had Micheal Jackson (back row, far left).



All in all, a good night so far. Wheezy's still on vaca and Bugg tricked Lt. Crouch into riding the night tour so he could take his daughter out trick or treating. Thanks Jason for filling in from #7-A. You know though..I think we could have gotten by and allowed Jason to spend Halloween at home with his family as well. Think I've found a pretty good fill in driver... really doesn't look much different than Bugg either.


LMAO!! Just kidding Bugg, enjoy the night off with Cora. I'll close with saying that tonight is fun and special for alot of kids but others use the occasion for mischief and shenanigans. Our brothers and sisters all across the country are often put in harms way several times a shift on Halloween night and for no good reason. None more so than our brothers and sisters in Detroit where "devil's night" has become famous for raging fires. To our brothers and sisters out there, wherever you may be pulling your tour, STAY SAFE!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!
Captain Wines

Time to beef up the ol armor

Well, this is North West but the ol slogan of running out of "the knife and gun club" wont exactly fit anymore. We run our share of shootings and stabbings, everything from 22 cal to AK's and AR's. Hell, they advertise em in stock just up the street (click the pic for a larger view and read the sign).

But today we had a first. A live grenade. WDBJ7 made a brief mention of it on the 6 o'clock news or check out their report of the incident here. Nothing too exciting really, no detonation and best of all, no injuries. The Engine was called to assist PD which ended up being of Cities finest along with the State Police Bomb Squad. Nearby businesses were evacuated and safety zones established. Then, the waiting game. Here's a pic of the scene

It's not often we get the State guys in our neck of the woods (it's usually the feds..ATF or DEA). They did have a cool rig and only needed a 40 acre field to turn it around.

We also called in our little hippie friends from the Green House or Hippie Hotel as we like to call it. Medic #3 came and sat with us for a while just in case.

Then we got to thinking... just in case?? What if this thing really goes off?? What Medic do we have again??? Oh yea, it's #3. Then we got realistic..better call in some professionals.

LOL...just kidding #3, you guys (AND GAL) do a great job. Well after a hour or so of deciding what to do (other than NOT letting the Firemen remove and dispose of it)the bomb guys loaded up the pesky little explosive devise and hauled it off to where ever they haul stuff like that off to. We took up and headed back for lunch and Air conditioning. Oh, I guess I should also mention that we had a mixed bag of members today. Wheezy was off once again getting his EMT-I learn on. Opie is somewhere in Dollywood starring at Dolly's....errrr...ummmmm well he's in Dollywood and Bugg banged out sick. So, that meant we got the "banned blogger" Rhett Fleitz backwards on the Engine until class was over and "quiet as a mouse" McDonald for 24 on the Medic. Here's our 2 fill-ins


We also had a "ride a-long" for a few hours tonight. Add him and Medic Unit 101 and that meant 8 people around the table for dinner. We were thinking about running up the street to steal a church pew (kinda felt like the Waltons) but then we figured out if we stole a pew it would have to come from a church (I don't think #3 has a pew). Now we are "Misfits" and we will pilfer just about anything we need (or want bad enough) but stealing from a church?? Don't worry, we didn't! That ain't how we roll. We made due with some rolly chairs from the office and sat down to a really nice meal.

After dinner and cleaning the kitchen, it was up to our theater room for Popsicles and a movie. "Last House on the Left" is worth the watch...it works out in the end! I'll leave ya with Larry's shirt from shift break. I don't know where he gets em but I love em.

That's it for now, keep em in house and be safe. Capt. Wines

Easy like Sunday morning

It's been a peaceful return for C-shift thus far. Opie is off on vacation and nobody else had class etc. this morning so no fill-ins or anything away from the norm. I didn't post our last day due to pure laziness. About the biggest excitement around here lately happened last day (8-11-09) when our Medics ran a GSW with the men from the 12th Street Express. The guys did an excellent job and had the pt in the trauma room 14 minutes following dispatch! He had good vitals and was even talking, despite being shot in the chest. We also had a past member of station #9 fill-in for 16hrs last day. Craig Champney, now of The Big Show fame, returned to his ol stomping grounds for a short ride. From what I understand, "Chappy" is the creator of the Big Show's blog but was very shy and uncooperative about letting us get a pic of him for ours (we always try to post pics of our visitors, guest and / or fill-ins). Well, we did manage to snap one of him helping me with some technicals issues concerning our blog.

Everyone here reported an enjoyable 4-day break (the weather was perfect for a change). Wheezy has been crying a little about his legs being sore. Apparently the Ol Kick-ball league had a full schedule this weekend. I mentioned in an earlier post that he was in a league and off to training camp. It seems he was picked up early in the draft and made it through all the cuts. He is now a proud player for the "Free Ballers"!! LMAO I am working on a picture of him in his little outfit, uniform or whatever you call what you wear while playing kickball. I did however find one of his team mates... hope wheezy looks better in his.

Don't worry... there will be alot more posting and pics on this kickball stuff so stay tuned. I got a cool gift from a friend this morning. I have posted several times in the past about my morning web site / blog visit routine. Firegeezer has always been on that list and his "digital day room" is one of the few sites I hit regularly. Well, today I received one of his famous coffee mugs. Now, I happen to know he enjoys seeing where his mugs end up so here's a few pics just for him. The geezer (or at least his mug) has now made it to the Captains desk of The Melrose Misfits and sat upon our War Wagon. Hope he enjoys the pics.



Speaking of sites I visit, because of the lack of a posting last day I didn't get to mention a post from the Fire Critic. If you folks aren't hitting this site regular, you need to. It's post like this one that make it even that much more enjoyable.
I'll wrap it up tonight with a pic of Larry's shirt from shift break

We'll update if anything exciting happens tonight, until then.. don't take no wooden nickles! Capt. Wines

Middle day for C-shift

Well, my last post was titled "Slow rainy day for C-shifts return" and apparently I should have said slow day for Engines 9 and 3 because EVERY OTHER piece of firefighting equipment in the City stayed busy working a 4 alarm fire. YES.. we stayed IN HOUSE while our brothers and sisters made a great stop on a 4 banger over in South West. Rhett has some excellent coverage and links over at VAFireNews.com and you can also check out Mikey Overacker's site for more pics here. A few comments here before I move on... 1.) How or why we remained in house I DON'T KNOW, but we did...^%*#&@^ C.A.D 2.)I didn't know we had a 4th alarm! I always though it went 1st, 2nd, 3rd and General. I suppose the use of mutual-aid (Roanoke County and Vinton) allowed for enough apparatus to fill a 4th? 3.)I was NOT on suicide watch nor did I pace holes in the office floor 4.) HELL OF A JOB to all the brothers and sisters who were able to make that stop. I know their job was easier knowing the Melrose Misfits were at the ready to catch anything else that may have came in.
Now, on to today's excitement. I mentioned Mikey Overacker above and it just so happens Mikey stopped by today for a visit. I have posted before about Retired Lt. Mike Overacker here . He has some really cool pics on his site, so take the time to browse around that site. Here's a pic of Mikey from his visit today.

I also mentioned Rhett above and guess who our fill in for the day is??? Yep the Ol "Banned Blogger" himself. Here's a shot of him in action...ok, not alot of action in this shot. I guess he needed the rest because even Lucky 13 made the fire!!

We started our morning with a "Crispy Critter" but NOT the kind your thinking of. ANOTHER squirrel fatality. I'm not sure but it's looking like a trend starting here. Remember our other suicidal furry friend? He took out an entire sub-station. Today's little kamikaze must have been a rookie because he only managed to take out.... well hell, he only took out himself


I'll give it to him though..he was one tough SOB! HE NEVER LET GO! The 2nd pic is exactly how we found him...well, after he burned himself out anyway. OOPS... **DISCLAIMER** No animals were harmed in the posting of this...oh wait I guess at least one was...hmmmmm... **DISCLAIMER** If the agonizing, horrible, smelling like burnt hair and flesh, death of this squirrel is offensive to you OR if you are a member of PETA, we APOLOGIZE and ask that you please visit these links for a more pleasurable blogging experience here or here. Guess the little fella should have came by the station this morning to read Larry's shirt.

I guess maybe I should have rubbed Larry's belly as well but as much as I enjoy his shirts, I found one that suits my mood this week a little better...

I'll wrap it up with a few shots of another visitor today. K.B. "Kenny" Walker dropped in for a visit. K.B. is now working "scerity" up at our local Meth Clinic. The good news is that they didn't give him a gun. The bad news is...well it is K.B. working at a Meth Clinic and by the way, you gotta see the uniform they gave him. He thinks the stripes on his collar means he's a Captain...well maybe if he was on Reno 911 but NOT here.


LOL...no kidding K.B. Enjoy retirement! That's all for tonight. We'll update if we miss any other fires tonight. Until then or Sunday, be safe and stay in house. Capt. Wines