Iron Firemen Wooden Ladders & Iron Firemen
Dentist, doctors, morticians, the health department nurse after a Friday night at the local strip club … you know, all folks you don’t necessarily WANT to see.
How about your local Hazardous Materials Response Team ??
Usually not … but in my case today, they were more than welcome.
This morning, our local / regional Hazmat team was out on the farm bright and early for something very serious …. TRAINING.
Our team consists of members from Roanoke City and Salem Fire Departments and these guys are on top of their game. The best of the best. I sometimes kid and call them “glow boys” but I also have to give credit where it’s due.
I call em “glow boys” because they take care of hazardous materials / waste that will make you turn a pretty shade of bright green if ya get any on you. The “bad” stuff.
Stuff that will actually kill ya before you know your dead !
Yea …. the Fire Department does THAT too.
Well, when you deal with this kind of stuff, you have to be on top of your game and the only way to get and stay there is through training.
My Battalion Chief, Teddy Adkins; is also our HazMat Chief. Kevin Tottin holds that position in Salem. Tommy Crozier (pictured left) is our State Officer from VDEM (Va. Department of Emergency Management).
You folks should know / remember Kevin from here on Ironfiremen.com. He is a great personal friend and has partnered and helped out on the farm for the past few years. Tottin and The Buckaroo are “thick as thieves” ..LOL
Tottin came up with the idea to use the farm as a location for some Regional Team training and we were happy to oblige.
He came up with a pretty good scenario. The local FD was out for whatever reason, found an old barn / shed full of pesticides / herbicides and called in Hazmat.
Not an unrealistic situation.
Kevin used water and food coloring to fill several containers and placed them inside one of our old run down sheds. He placed real labels on the containers and he decided to make some of this stuff BAD…. REAL BAD.
The members of the team had to approach this stuff. Identify it and then decide how to handle, remove and dispose of it.
Of course not all of the containers were in tact. This IS a farm you know. They had spills, leaks etc to content with on top of everything else.
All kinds of equipment … staging areas, decon, etc. Those big yellow suits, SCBA’s, 55 gallon drums … GEESH!
Good thing they had enough help!
Oh yea… there was NO WAY that the Fire Department was gonna be at the Farm and The Buckaroo not be right in the middle of it all!
He was in heaven! His 3 favorite things combined … The Fire Department, the farm and his 4-wheeler.
Now, we was very quiet around the guys. He has never net most of them and is quite shy. But, as soon as they pulled out …. OMG! It was like one of em slid him some crack or something. He’s STILL talking about the day! JACKED UP ! LMAO
Of course, the firemen seemed just as excited to see the little fella riding around on his 4-wheeler checking everything out. I didn’t say it (or write it) in a recent post titled “Family” but it was very evident today. In that post, I spoke about having a “Fire Department” family and without a doubt … should anything ever happen to me … the Buckaroo will have 100 “Paw-Paws”.
Just knowing that makes it easier to do the job!
The team will be out on the farm for the next 2 days so each shift can benefit from the training. I’m on duty tomorrow but I’m sure the Buckaroo will have his “Nana” up and out early so he can be down there to help with the setup and keep an eye on the daily operations.
I hope the weather holds out for em like it did today.
While the team was on site, it stayed dry. Of course, they had wet, high grass and mud to contend with but the rain held off. Held off until the team returned home and we had work to do!
%$^^%$#%#^& …. I can’t seem to get ANYTHING done here lately! We had hoped to mow some grass and clean up a bit so the place would look nice for the boys … DIDN’T HAPPEN ! We had to just park all the equipment and seek shelter.
We hung out in the barn waiting for the rain to stop but as soon as it did, it would start right back up. The good news is that the forecast is for clearing conditions over the next several days. The bad news …. I’m not gonna be here to get any “catching up” done.
If everything works out, I’ll be hanging out at the Pa. Fire Expo with Zach Green and the folks from FoxFire. I’m excited about the trip but still need to cover my shift at Lucky #13 on Saturday.
Regardless if I make it or not, if there’s ANY way you can … TAKE IN THIS EXPO. While there, be sure to stop in The Fire Store booths (located in the North Hall, booth 817-826) to meet Zach and see all the great FoxFire products.
While in the “North Hall”, also stop in and visit some more of Ironfiremen.com’s friends and family between booths #122-127. Go Forward Media , Fire / Rescue Magazine , Brotherhood Instructors , and Wall Shields .
Ok .. I’m gonna wrap it up for the night. I’m back on duty in the morning and will check in as soon as I can. Until then, Stay Safe and in House!
Captain Wines