Friday Night Lights...

It's been quite a while since my last post. Unfortunately, nothing "blog worthy" has happened over the past handful of A Shift days. I believe B Shift caught a job sometime last week, but as to the details of such, I have not been able to obtain any. With no photographic evidence of any kind, it makes one wonder if they actually catch all this work they speak of at shift change. Hmm. Anyways, Webb and I just got back to the house from an MVC in north county. The result of a high speed pursuit that landed one in cuffs and one innocent bystander with a broken vehicle. Quite the show. Unfortunately, it never once crossed my mind to snap any photos of the accident while we were on scene. My bad. Perhaps tomorrow, C Shift will question whether or not we actually did anything today. As of now, the medic truck sits on three runs. I haven't heard our Lieutenant go out on any thus far. Must be nice. He's probably couped up in his office doing something related to his job. I've been spending a vast majority of the evening trying to recall if we actually had any type of significant run all last cycle and I can't seem to place anything right now. It's a weird feeling and I don't like it. The day shift crews throughout the county were held over today with various medical locals dropping at shift change so hopefully the call volume will continue throughout. Except during the hours of 12AM and 7AM. Please and thank you. I believe the hose wagon marked off on time(no surprise), and headed out for a delicious meal at Outback Steakhouse. Must be nice. Is Steakhouse two words? I'm not sure. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Well, enough with the rambling. Time to turn in here at the four house. Hopefully more to follow this week. I believe there is an Instructor 1 class being held here in the morning, so I'm sure we will be awakened fairly early to the sounds of curious minds and the sheer desire to learn. It rings loudly throughout this place. It's a big building, so there is an echo constantly. Until next time!

And Everything...

 Where oh where to begin. We on A-Shift are winding down the last night of our cycle here at the 4 house. As we speak, Farley is whipping up a delectable meal consisting of venison burritos and rice. The smells wafting in from the kitchen are spectacular. It just so happens that Webb is off today, so we have a transfer from Station 3(Buchanan), Kevin "Turtle" Martin on scene. Quite the character. He won't quit talking about how "swolt" he is going to get tonight in the gym here at The Palace. Best of luck Turtle. The engine company has just marked out of service for the night. I believe we logged one call today on the hose wagon, while the medic truck sits on four so far. Not too bad for a Friday. For the past few work days, there hasn't been the normal amount of runs that I would consider "blog worthy." Fortunately, we have been fairly busy around the station so I will attempt to catch you all up. Today being a holiday(Lee Jackson Day), we were lucky enough to have the afternoon off after a morning full of house work and training. As luck would have it, Jeff "Elmo" Elmore and I noticed that Logistics 7(Clay) happened to be out of town today, which left an entire apparatus bay open for activities! With Jake "Spit Shine" Newton and Lieu. Farley on the box, Jeff and I decided to make the most of our afternoon with an arts and crafts project. For a while now, the station officers have been researching a way to reduce the clutter on the table that contains all of the radio and pager chargers, as well as the Zoll and stretcher battery chargers. With a little ingenuity and some positive thinking, Jeff and I were able to come up with a solution to their quarrel. A 48' x 24' piece of plywood would be utilized to construct a custom made hanging board for the wall, capable of holding six radio straps and radios. An ingenious idea if you ask me. With a little paint and some sand paper the project was a go. Pictured below is Jeff and I putting in the man hours to study the science of what you need...

(Do not worry yourselves, no vehicles were harmed in the making of this board.)

The project literally took ALL afternoon. Not quite what I figured we were getting ourselves into, but it turned out well in the end. The board is painted in traditional BCES colors consisting of forest green, white, and gold. The logo and apparatus identifiers were custom hand painted and drawn by Jeff and I. The tapcons and washers were donated to us by the farmer and the drill used was county owned. 

 Not too shabby for not using a level!

To no ones surprise here at The Palace, the project would not be complete without a slight mistake by Jeff and I. Apparently, using a font that is less than recognizable is hazardous to potential projects and leaves the "do it yourselfers" wide open for typos. As you can see above, Jeff and I managed to spell MEDIC using an Old English C instead of an I. Wow. But have no fear! For we were able to correct our mistake by simply painting of the misused letter and replacing it with the correct one! Just prior to completing our afternoon project, Lieu. Farley appeared and began an impromptu training course of self defense for the first responder. Distracted from our work, we stepped aside and took an ever valuable lesson from the man himself. Here he can be seen demonstrating one of the moves taught to us today. 

I believe this is aptly called the "one legged whipper snapper."

Once back in the zone, Jeff and I were able to finish our "radio board" and hang it in the appropriate location above the radio table. 

Complete and ready for straps! And everything...A special thanks goes out to Lowes for supplying the board, Dupi-color paint products, Rustoleum primer, Sharpe markers, Microsoft Word for the font idea, Dewalt drills, and Logistics 7 for the use of his apparatus bay. We couldn't have done it without y'all! 

In other news, there are certain members of The Palace who recently took a weekend ski trip to Snowshoe in West Virginia. Without naming names(Elmo and Turtle), those members who were not lucky enough to be invited on such an awesome and fun adventure(the rest of the guys), were able to catch a small glimpse of the two tearing up the slopes. 

Sweet tunes guys! If you notice at 1:23 seconds, Turtle almost wipes out an innocent skier! Way to go. Until next time!

Working Job For B-Shift As Well As New Addition! A Must See...

As stated in my previous post, I believe I may have jinxed the boys of A-Shift yet again. Just after dinner time at the four house, the guys were hit out for a working fire on Albemarle Ave. in the town of Buchanan(Co.3), which is a considerable distance away from Station 4. I believe the run card went something like this: E3, E2, W7, M754, C3, C2, W3, K3, SQ2. Not necessarily in that order. With Wagon 7 as the second engine on scene, they found a single wide with heavy fire throughout. W7 and M754 assisted units OS with extinguishment procedures for over three hours until units were able to clear up. I believe one injury was reported on scene and M754 handled the transport of that patient to the hospital. All together a decent job for the guys. With Jake "Spit Shine" Newton and Jeff "Elmo" Elmore on the line, what would you expect? Fire cringes at the very sound of their names. Especially with the addition of Jake's brand spankin' new leather hat. Now if only we could find a new home for those rubber dingys he continues to sport proudly on a daily basis! I believe the farmer was manning the pump panel, but what else is new. That's no way to break in that new leather Lieu! Perhaps it is best seeing that Jeff put in so much time and effort into your custom painted shield. I failed to mention Cap. Rob "Sweet Tea" Johnson. I believe he rode the cab. Next time use the flash on the camera boys, that's what it's there for.

        Must be nice...(notice the hand crafted leather shield the farmer is sportin! Way to go Jeff!)

 Nice scotchlite. It's hard to see the Captains smiling face! Such a somber bunch...

On a lighter note, there will soon be a new addition to the parking lot of The Palace! As everyone who ever comes by or even drives down the road near The Palace knows, Ron goes through more used vehicles than a Buick dealership. To the extent that I have lost count of exactly how many cars, trucks, jeeps, and vans he has gone through in the past six months...wow. I literally tried to count them by memory, but I lost myself somewhere around the miata and the wrecked jeep. We on A-Shift noticed that the conversion van stayed parked at the station last night until the wee hours of the morning. Wondering what the situation might be, I inquired this morning as to the nature of Ron's vehicle placement. Jeff informed me that as of last night, Ron would be the proud new owner of a late model 4-door Honda Civic hatchback! Here he can been seen standing next to his new family addition. I cannot imagine how proud you must be Ronny. Makes me smile just thinking about it.

Ron advised me he chose this particular model for it's spacious interior and family friendly cabin design. This model boasts a 1.2 litre four cylinder power house and front wheel drive. It comes equipped with A/C, manual windows and locks, and power steering! As well as AM/FM stereo/cassette. Perfect for those weekend getaways to Busch Gardens or simply a trip to the Dollar General for some supplies! With Ron's solid taste in automobiles and excellent car buying sense, I have no doubts this purchase will last a lifetime. Or around 3 to 5 months, as predicted by the rest of the guys at The Palace. Until next time!

       A multitude of EMS units responded to accident reports from as far away as Rockbridge County.

As fate would have it the monotony of yesterdays shift, as predicted, would come to an end. Shortly after the daylight crews would mark out of service, Botetourt County decided to have it's first major weather event of 2012. Due to the drastic changes in elevation in northern parts of the county, it has come to my attention that the weather in those areas can change drastically without notice and leave the southern half of the county untouched. It is an anomaly that took years for my to fully understand. Temperatures were predicted to drop into the teens last night, with wind chills being significantly lower. However, unknown to the crews on duty last night was the amount of snow and ice that would accumulate on major highways throughout. At approximately 1945 hours, crews were alerted for an accident with entrapment in the 18000 block of Botetourt Rd.(Rt. 220). Units from Glen Wilton were OS within minutes and advised that large portions of the roadway there were covered with ice and snow hindering responses from outside agencies. As reports of injuries were being given, second and third accidents were occurring in the same vicinity with multiple injuries noted. M754 checked out sometime during the radio chatter and headed that way requesting mutual aid units from Alleghany County to respond for assistance. After an approximately 25 minute response time, crews were able to mark the incidents under control and transport necessary patients to medical facilities. While A Shift was tied up on incidents on 220, crews from Stations 3, 2, and 4 were responding to a multitude of accidents along the northern I-81 corridor. All together, units turned in with some 10 to 15 runs last night. M754 and the power shift turned in with 4. This morning when I awoke from my slumber, I walked outside to find the weather had not changed much. Hopefully today will prove to be not quite as dramatic as last night for the crews of B-Shift(we could only hope.)Until next time.

New Addition!

Thanks to our brother Curry from LFD Station 1, we here at The Palace have been able to endure hours of enjoyment from our new and improved ping pong table and paddles. (http://lfd1.blogspot.com/). Thanks Curry! As fate would have it, I have only been beaten once, by a C Shifter none the less. However, I am working to dramatically improve my game in order to rule once again. Naturally we will only be using the table during scheduled down time and of course holidays(per captain Rob and the farmer). None the less A Shift will strive to continually dominate, with the exception of Webb, who needs considerable work, however, under the strict coaching of myself, he could be the best. Even Daniel "Joe Radio" Murray got in on the action! And did surprisingly well I might add. Ron "The Mobile Pharmacy" Kovar made a valiant effort at the title, however like most others, failed miserably. Being as today is a holiday for men of The Palace, Captain Rob has only appeared once from his dungeon office for a delicious meal consisting of steak-ums and tater-tots prepared by Murray(pictured below.) More than likely the only work he will be doing all cycle. Neither the medic truck nor the wagon has turned a wheel so far, so lets all keep our fingers crossed that a box is in store for the near future. A Shift out.

The New Year Is Upon Us

As we wound down 2011 on A Shift, I found myself looking back at a multitude of drastic changes that have taken place in our station since 2010. New faces, new apparatus, and new attitudes. It seems as though the fire service is as ever changing as our very own personalities. I personally have come to learn not to expect too much from your job. However, at the same time expect everything from life. This philosophy has led me to a much happier and well rounded work environment over the past year. With the addition of six new members to our house, one could expect the personality conflicts to rise dramatically. With that being said, I am glad that our house(all shifts included), seems to have broken that mold and adapted fairly well throughout the year. Throughout shift squabbles and apparatus melt downs, we have become a close family of brothers. Don't get me wrong, I myself was apprehensive at first, however have grown quite fond of our arrangement and our new daily routines. It's a good thing. This year also marked the decade anniversary of the greatest single lose of life in the fire service since its creation. 9/11. In honor of those who passed, some of the brothers completed the annual 9/11 stair climb in Richmond while holding cards that displayed the member of the FDNY, as well as his personal information, that they were climbing for that day. We joke around the house that they made us all look bad, however I think there was a general mindset of jealousy that we all could not attend. I myself was unable to participate this year due to work conflicts, though I think we all chose to remember those lost in our own personal way. It was an emotional day, marking ten years since the incident, though it feels like just yesterday that those events unfolded on televisions across America. As I was taking my gear off the rig this morning, I passed by Jeff's locker and noticed his card he carried hanging proudly next to his name plate. I silently reflected for a brief time those events and those we chose to remember as we continue to do this job proudly every day. I am hoping that 2012 brings us as much excitement as 11. I'm sure some decent jobs are in store for us, and I can only hope that every single one falls on an A Shift day...naturally. Sorry guys. Being as though Webb was off for the shift, Sir Douglas Fresh(Station 2 medic) and I rang in the new year returning from an MVC w/o PI. Exciting I know. We finished off the shift with a whopping four runs. Our fearless leader, Lieutenant Farley turned in with a significantly higher number. Apparently south county parties a lot harder than the rest of the world. Tomorrow marks the second day of our cycle. I hope to bring you some more updated information and pics as the work week continues. Stay safe and Happy New Year!