Quick update from July 4th cookout

Here are a few of the pics from the C-shift July 4th cookout at the station. Engine / Ladder 13 made it up and a it seemed as though everyone had a good time. The food wasn't bad either despite me almost burning down the station with our top of the line grill (it was however the most smoke and fire 13 has seen in a while...HaHa just kidding guys). I'll also add the video of the "almost" water melon eating contest (Tyrone became camera shy). The menu.. mushroom / swiss burgers, hotdogs both with all the fixins, cowboy beans, chips, watermelon and homemade strawberry icecream. Rhett also has some good photos and video that he may find time to post on one of his "feel good" sites.

QUICK RUN DOWN FOR C-SHIFT

Let me be the first to say that YES B-shift I am sorry for busting your chops about posting on the blog. I had no idea the issues ran so deep. Rest assured that C-shift will do all we can to ease your burden whether it be building steps for easier access to the Engine, duct taping old phone books for booster seats, installing a center cab roof mounted mirror for driver / officer visibility or anything else that may help. You can count on us! That said, I just wanted to give a brief run down of the day for us. A-shift had an interesting tour yesterday. Several calls, some heavy damage MVA's and even a gun shot wound in the side parking lot of the station. Our day started off a little bit more to the normal side but you can feel the tension in the air. We were out of service all day due to training at the RTC. The class was "Suspended Ceilings" presented by retired County Chief Poff. A good class for anyone on the job ... things to think about and good refreshers. The class also touched on light weight construction and the hazards there. I will put a link up on the top left of our site for those Brothers and Sisters out there who aren't in the City. Engine 5 covered a stabbing call for us while we were getting our learn on. They later said it wasn't much to it, apparently just a steak knife. Dispatch has warned of "shots fired" in our area multiple times so it seems as though hostilities are picking up a little for the weekend. I hope its quiet and we get some rest tonight. We are all looking forward to putting this cycle behind us and starting our 4 day break. Monday, Wednesday, Friday cycles SUCK! Anyway, here's the photo of training..Chief Poff entangling Coon in drop ceiling track, cross pieces, duct work and wiring...

The most fire we've see this shift has been from Coon's cooking tonight. Zuga better hurry up and pay his tax for the new grill...I'm not sure how many more infernos this ol baby will take.
Speaking of fire, the South Side has been catching. Station 6 in particular. Not just fire but some unusual call as well. Seems as though they have a thing with school buses this cycle. Check out their blog for the details and Lt. Gibson's ( "Smurf" ) first official post ( they even made a bigger web site found here ). Ok, to close I wanted to talk about Tyrone for just a moment. It seems he has been getting a lot of comments following our Wednesday post where the "monster man" was in his locker. Apparently, everyone has been getting a good laugh out of that video as well as some of the other post / videos involving him. Well, for the record, Tyrone is not here strictly for our amusement. He is married. He has a beautiful wife and is a wonderful father to 2 loving boys. He is an excellent Medic and a DAMN good fireman. He has SO much more going for him than just his comical side. A serious firefighter and a "lady's man" to boot... see for yourself.

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.

Smoke showing for C-shift

We had smoke showing alright, the bad news is that it was from 514 24th Street...#9 STATION! The ninja cook was back on kitchen detail today and tried to add his Cajun talent (which he has absolutely NONE of) to our ribs. Cajun as in BLACKENED. It was a fight but 3 SCBA bottles, a couple thousand gallons of water and some yard breathing and the fire was out and the ribs rescued. That has just about been the biggest excitement for the day, although I do wish Sheppard could have been here to have seen our last EMS run. Most of the day was spent in our "Moodle" training room. Moodle being similar to on-line training is the best I know how to explain it. Anyway, its cold and windy so all bets are off for a quiet night. FYI, at a minimum, the future C-shift posts will no longer have a "comment" section. If you would like to make comments on one of our post / pics etc. they can be e-mailed to the Capt. at willie.winesjr@roanokeva.gov