Lucky #13 makes a grab, Rampage Media day and remembering Chief Slayton

I think I picked the wrong day to come back to work. This morning turned out to be pretty busy. The good news is that we made a grab this morning.
Ok, it was more like a “slide” rather than a grab … plus we did require a little help from “The Deuce” .

Actually, it wasn’t a “grab” at all but it sounded good in the title …LOL

We received a call for a male subject stuck on a roof. We ran it “single Engine” and arrived to find only a single story ranch style house with a male subject laying on about a 4/10 pitch roof. This is NOT the “typical” roof folks get stuck on. We made the roof easy with a ground ladder and found out the the man stuck was neither injured or “scared”.

He suffers from a disease he described as similar to ALS. He normally walks with the assistance of crutches or is forced to use a motorized wheel chair. I’m shocked he even made it up onto the roof. I couldn’t figure out why he would even try. The reason and story is outstanding!

One of the folks who lives in the house suffers from MS. This person is on a home vent and several other medical devices. The family has paid for all of the equipment out of their pocket. The forecast for the next few days is for rain and the roof leaks. They were afraid that  the equipment might wet and fail.

So, in an effort to help a neighbor (and friend) this fella somehow made his way to the roof to attempt to repair some shingles that were blown off durring the high winds over the past few weeks. After he got up there, his legs simply “gave out” on him and he was unable to make the climb back down.

Now, I could have brought him down the ground ladder using one of our many available ladder rescue techniques. I couldn’t see risking “roughing” him up, dropping him or having both him and Boots fall from the ladder. He was in no danger on the roof. There was no fire or smoke to contend with. No high winds, power lines arcing etc. That said, I special called a truck …. Ladder #2 from “The Deuce”.

Ladder #2 is the only “platform” ladder we have here in the city and I figured it would make our job so much easier (as well as easier on the victim).

The plan worked out well. We were able to get him in the basket with ease and he really seemed to enjoy “the ride”.

The story doesn’t end here. After getting him safely to the ground, my crew remained on the roof to replace a few shingles. Captain Martin (over at #3C) has a roof and siding business on his days off. Georgie used to work for and help Clayton so he has “roofing” experience but I was a little hesitant to put him to work this morning.

You see, we jokingly call Clayton  “one nail Martin” … LMAO!

We kid him and say that he only uses one nail per shingle in an effort to save money (while putting more in his pocket) and that then, he will get return jobs to repair the roof after his single nailed shingles blow off … LOL!

So I had a little “talk” with Georgie to remind him that he was not working for “one nail Martin” today and that we needed a good repair / patch job so that the occupants or neighbor wouldn’t have to climb back up onto that roof.

LMAO … now you guys should know that I’m just kidding here. I never have to tell Georgie to do a good job … that’s the only way he works. I’m joking around about Clayton as well. He has a very well respected roofing business and also does great work both on and off duty … (he’s just easy and fun to FRET).

Anyway, the gentleman was safely removed from the roof and the shingles were patched. Customer Service at work again!

Ok, today was also Media Day for the Roanoke Rampage football team.

There is a ton of work and logistics in running a semi-pro football and our staff does a GREAT job at it.

Today, we were able to complete some much needed paper work. We were issued our game jerseys and equipment. We also took our team and group pictures as well as got to walk through some practice.

This was the first time this season that we had almost every member on the field at the same time. Due to the shifts that fire, Rescue and Police work, it’s difficult to get everyone to practice during the week.

Practice went well …. everyone seemed to be a little more “settled in”.

Even the coaching staff seems a little more organized. That’s big Captain Phil “Triple D” Dillon of Lucky #13 B-shift in the picture to the left.

I blog about our team often and will once again remind you guys that we need your support.

We are close to our goal but still need to sell the remainder of our Gun Raffle tickets to meet expenses. Revisit an earlier post   “Back to the grind stone ..” for more details on the raffle. Contact me through the “contact tab” at the top of this site to purchase your tickets!

Here are a few more shots from today ….

And  YES … even the Buckaroo made Media Day and practice ….

Ok, today we also held a special event to remember Battalion Chief Bobbie Slayton. Chief Slayton was laid to rest January 12, 2011. See related posts   HERE HERE and  HERE.

Today was Bobbie’s birthday. He would have been 67 years old.

Our  Firefighters Auxiliary held a very nice gathering to remember Chief Slayton and celebrate his life.

The ladies did a FANTASTIC job. The event was held at the  IAFF L-1132 Union Hall and was attended by many. There was plenty for good food and fellowship. I’m sure the Chief was looking down on us with a smile.

I was hoping there would be a good crowd for the event and was very pleased to learn that it was even better than expected.

Bobbie’s wife, children and even grandchildren were in attendance and seemed to really appreciate the fact that they and Bobbie are still in our hearts and minds.

That’s what the “brotherhood” is all about. Looking out for and thinking of each other even after death.

Chief Slayton touched many lives in his long career. His memories will remain in our hearts forever and the stories of his antics will linger in our firehouses for even longer.

Happy Birthday Chief … we miss ya!

Ok, that’s gonna do it for tonight. I’ll try to check back in tomorrow.

Until I do, stay safe and in house!

Captain Wines.