Iron Firemen Wooden Ladders & Iron Firemen
There are several blogs / sites that I read regularly. One of those is Hydrant Gal (She calls it Hydrantgirl … I say “Gal”). I enjoy following her exploits plus I’m a sucker for a gal in wranglers and a cowboy hat. Anyway, her last post was about weird calls. You know … those calls where you ask yourself ..”did dispatch REALLY say what I thought they just said” .. or “they want me to respond for WHAT” ??? LMAO .. we’ve all had em. Hydrant Gal calls em “frivolous” … whatever that means (probably some fancy Canadian term).
My point here is that she jinxed us. Yep … we had one today. Dispatch hits our ring down phone. She gives me a number and tells me to call Police Sgt. so and so. He answers and says ..”Hey, is Captain Wines working today?”. LMAO .. now I’m trying to think where I was last night and what I did. Should I tell him I’ve never heard of the guy or that it’s actually me on the line..LOL.
Obviously, I tell him it’s me and then he asks .. “have you ever killed a deer?” LMAO .. I almost hung up. Now I’m thinking that this HAS to be a prank call. Well, the Sgt tells me his problem and convinces me he’s serious so we jumped on the rig and headed out to lend a hand …
We arrive and sure enough … there’s a wounded deer. Now, typically; deer are not a problem but this one was in the city. Not only was he in the city, he was in a VERY busy location.
He apparently had been hit and wanted to get inside this building to escape all the traffic. Needless to say, the folks who occupied this building were traumatized. City folk (men and women) watching this busted up and bloody deer keep slamming into the glass (obviously disoriented) trying to get in.
The blood was everywhere .. on the windows, doors etc. I don’t know how it didn’t break any of the glass but apparently worn itself out trying.
Our poor Brothers in Blue (or Grey in this case …Animal control) weren’t sure what to do.
They couldn’t shoot it due to it’s proximity to the building. They were afraid to approach it in fear that it would get up and run out into the very busy intersection and cause an accident.
Hummmm…. what to do … what to do…. I KNOW … call the Fire Department! LMAO.
Well, lucky for these guys … C-shift was on duty.
With me, Boots and Georgie on scene … something was gonna happen.
We devised a plan. A roof ladder, salvage cover and 10 minutes later, we were stuffing the deer into the side of one of those Animal Control trucks and washing down the blood …. errrrr hair.
I have to admit that this was the first time in my career that I’ve been called out to catch a deer!
I guess they figure Firemen can and will do anything …LOL
I do have to say that I was a little nervious that the needle would find the right target.
I don’t know what they had in there but I do know it works! We could have caught an elephant with that stuff …LOL
Of course the story has grown somewhat from the actual version. Now were up to a world record buck that Boots took single handily with 2 popsicle sticks and a tack hammer …LMAO
Of course we had to get a shot of him with the trophy… LOL.
So if that’s what “frivolous” means … we experienced it today.
We also caught a little work this evening.
The dispatch said “smoke from the roof ACROSS from ….”. Usually, when you get a report saying “across from” you have something.
We arrived with smoke showing from side Alpha and Charlie and marked it a working fire. I got a good look at Charlie, Bravo and Alpha as we pulled in with a decent smoke condition from the 2nd floor.
We’re kinda “John Wayne” out here in #13 land … our next in is a little ways off. Luckily, it was only a kitchen fire that had extended into the cabinets.
Once again, Boots saved the day. The incident could have easily been handled with 2 engines, a truck and medic.
Boots had her knocked down, searches completed (and “all clear”) and was starting to vent in no time.
Getting in quick makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE and our Department is on scene in 4 minutes or less 90% of the time.
We run with 3. That’s 3 TOTAL for all you New York guys. Yea.. 3 counting the Officer and driver.
We are lucky here at #13 in that we carry 1,000 gallons of water.
I typically don’t take a hydrant. We stretch dry, get in and on the seat of the fire quick, before it gets a chance to spread. Then, the 2nd due will lay in, establish command etc.
Our system works well … for us anyway and it helps that I’ve got a good crew.
That’s Boots and our Lieutenant George “Georgie” Perdue…. both “top hands” and good Jakes.
One neat thing about this call was that it is the first smoke condition I’ve been in with my new Illuminating Helmet Band from FoxFire / MN8 Products.
All the companies who came in behind commented on how much it stood out. The Chief said he felt like he could see me from a mile away. My Lt. from back in the Melrose Misfit days (Rob “Bugg” Reid) said he was “SOLD” on em the minute he made the apartment . Even through the smoke, he said I was visible from the door! So far so good for FoxFire and MN8 Products.
I’m gonna give it a little while longer before I do an “Official” review. I want to try and test it in a few more situations. The Brothers from County #1 did a short video with the axe we coated for them. I’ll get it up for ya soon but they seem happy with its performance so far.
Moving on….
I want to say Congratulations once again to Patrick Lynch of St. Michael’s College Fire/Rescue in Colchester, VT.
Patrick was the winner of our Black Diamond X2 Boot Give Away. Rhett and I had the Buckaroo “pull” the winning “chip”. If you haven’t seen the video yet click HERE .
We had 104 entries. All of the entries can be seen on Wooden Ladders and Iron Firemen’s Face Book page . Look for the Black Diamond Album under the photos section. If you move your cursor over the pics, you will see the entrants name and a number.
All pictures were numbered from 1-104. We then made a list of the names and their corisponding number. We also labeled 104 poker chips (1-104) and placed them into a X2 boot for the Buckaroo to pull from. Patrick’s lucky number was 90.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the event. It was my first of this size and I feel like it was a success. We all need to offer a special THANKS to Alan Lunder and his folks from Black Diamond Footwear for allowing us to do the Give Away.
These boots are valued at over $300! Be sure to “Like” and “Friend” them on Face Book as well as to drop them a comment of appreciation. We don’t have many companies out there willing to give away free products to the people who are gonna buy it anyway.
One last note for all you local folks is that tomorrow is the Roanoke Rampage’s last home game.
We play the Charlotte Cobras @ 3pm in Salem Memorial Stadium.
The forecast doesn’t look good. Storms and heavy rain but the game is STILL ON.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT. It’s the fans who help us pay the bills (operating costs) and donate to charity.
Even our own department doesn’t support us so you fans are all we have left. Bring your rain coats and umbrellas and come on out … we’re always there when you need us!
I’ll check back soon .. until then, Stay Safe and in House!
Captain Wines.