PoqFFEMT

Be at peace Brother

Fantastic shots Bill!!!! I'm guessing trash pickup might be a little late this week!

Fantastic work once again Bill!!!

Ya'll need to get a Chipotles!!!! Awesome burrito joint! White Castle makes me wish I was back up that way again.... Nah... Not really.

US Coastguard handles pretty much everything out in from the Ocean to the Bay. Va Beach takes from the Bay to all the little streams and creeks.

Here's a link that is pretty good for info.... Virginia Firefighters Website John

N. Korea will be in for a world of hurt should they try anything stupid...

Ok... My 2 Cents... I'm currently Military. Air Force at that. I've been in a little over 16 yrs right now. When I'm out, I'm pursuing a FF/EMT-P career here in Va. It pisses me off that you say I missed the boat because of my choices. Yes I chose to join the AF. I also chose to stay in for 20. Why? Because I love the job I do. I would not trade these 16 years for anything. I've been over there protecting my country and what I believe in. I've stayed active as a Vol wherever I've gone. Kept up my training on the fire and EMS side. I keep fit and I bet I can run circles around a most my age. I even do so regularly to the paid portion of the fire dept I vol at. Am I looking to be running when I'm 60? I doubt it, but I can see me putting the training I've gathered over the last 20+ years of being a vol FF/EMT AND a Non-Commissioned Officer to use. Again, my 2 cents!

Rest in Peace Bud. Thank you for the many colorful discussions bout "the way it was" and "the old times" while I was a member there. You and your family are in my thoughts. John

Here is an interesting situation that could have been much worse than it was today. First off a little info on my department makeup since I'm down here in Va. Poquoson Fire/Rescue is a paid /vol department. The paid crew are 24-7 coverage with 6-7 workers on the floor per shift, one LT and one Capt per shift as well working a 24 on 48 off sched. The Chief and Deputy work weekdays 9 - 5 but are on call at all other times. The paid crews are split between 2 stations, both with 2 medic units, 1 front line pumper each as well. Station one has a backup pumper while 2 has the ladder truck and medium duty rescue. The paid guys on the floor are all EMT-I or P's and rotate assignments each shift. The paid guys are supplemented by the volunteer crew of wich we have about 20 - 30 guys that are active. So now I can tell you what went down today. At about 2:30 today we received to EMS calls at once, taking 4 paid guys out of pocket which left 3 guys on the floor to cover 2 stations asl well as the LT and Capt. Around 2:40 we got a call for a possible sturcture fire, heavy smoke in a residence. Both stations respond a engine, both with short crews. The Chief and Deputy get on scene within 2 min and sound a full alarm for a fire in the residence. I pull up as the first in engine is laying a line from the closest hydrant along with 3 other volunteers. On scene is a Verizon work crew that is installing FIOS to the house in question. It seems that they were drilling through an exterior wall to push the cable through into the house. The homeowner was inside when the power flickered, she heard a loud pop, all the power went out in the house and within 2 minutes the house was full of smoke. We go into the house and find that where the crew was drilling was directly under the main electrical service panel. We quickly found the fire with the TIC, opened up the wall and extinguished the small fire that was limited to the wall cavity. Looking from the outside, the Verizon crew was about 10 feet to the right of where the meter was on the house. (In VA it's code to have the meter within three feet of the main breaker box) So as it seems, someone performed an non-permitted change some time ago. The installation crew had no idea that the electrical main was behind the wall they were drilling into. They just happened to catch the main feed line from the meter and went right through it. What's worse, when I was in the crawlspace under the house to chack for extention, there was a improperly capped gas main about 6 inches to the right of where the crew drilled into the wall. As it was, the only damage was contained to the wall cavity directly below the main breaker box. So, we got lucky on this one in so many ways. We could have been really hit with a large job with a very short crew. We even found out later thet the closest mutual aid was working an extrication MVA on the road that they would would have been taking into our district.... So I ask you all, what's in your walls? John

Well I will give it to Verizon. the had a supervisor on scene before we even left and he was working with the homeowner telling her that they would pay for any and all damages...

We had a fire in a kitchen not long ago that had the ceiling covered in them tin tiles. We resorted to a pitchfork and a forestry rake to pull them from the ceiling. Our pike poles did nothing put poked a hole and not much more. Could not get enough of a swing to set the hook through the tin and the wooden lathe above. So the fork and rake were used to pull all the tin from the ceiling, then we used the pike poles between the lathe and pulled it down.

Beautiful Truck!!

100% YES!!

WOW that is simply amazing. My wife and I were there last year at this time and got to see the building up close. We drove right by it as well on the Third Ring Rd which comes within 50 ft of the building. I did think when we were there that it would be a nightmare to handle an emergency in just during the construction much less when the building was complete.

Sign language is a pretty easy thing to learn at least the basics. When my wife and I had our daughter, we learned that babies can pick up sign language before they develop their vocal skills so we picked up enough to be able to communicate with her. I've only had to use it once on a call but it did make the difference.

Yes, that is a funny one... funny until the guys at my station here decided to take that joke a little further. The career guys here that were on the overnight shift took the lone female on shifts hairdryer and put powder in it, then directed it under the (sleeping) shift captain's door late one evening. At about 3AM we got a MVA call and everyone got up to respond. When the captain came out of his bunk room, he was COVERED and worse yet, did not realize that he was ghostly white. It was not until he was in the responding apparatus that he saw himself in the mirror and got a little hot under the collar. It was definitely the quietest MVA we were ever at.....

And MUCH more expensive!

We took delivery of one of the first off the production line earlier this year and we love it so far. The only complaint I've heard so far is that the air horns, mounted on the fenders, were too loud where they are mounted. The main reason(s) we went with this instead of the traditional Fords were we are having serious issues with engine / drivetrain on two of our 4 total ambulances. The other biggie is that here in Virginia, the ambulance has to be weighed fully stocked, with two attendants and a "simulated" patient. The total weight of all that was getting really close to the max allowable so we decided to step up to the next feasible size unit without going to an International unit. (which is gaining popularity like wildfire here in southeast VA)

Once again, fantastic shots Bill!

Courtesy of VAFireNews

That must have been some force to have flipped the "short bus" on flat and level pavement!

Great Shots!

Date: 3 Jan 09 Time: 2259 Location: Rt 199 & Rock City Rd Frequency: 453.9 Units Operating: Milan, NDP, Pine Plains Description Of Incident: Reported vehicle accident with possible vehicle fire Writer: PoqFFEMT 2259 - Milan & NDP respond for a MVA with entrapment / Vehicle fire 2300 - NDP responding, DC 911 reports a witness on scene reporting unconscious pt that was unrestrained... 2305 - 4812 responding. DC 911 is calling to put a helo on standby per NDP 2306 - Milan 2nd dispatch, Pine Plains respond an engine to Town Hall to set up a LZ 2309 - Milan 4871 responding driver alone 2312 - Pine Plains responding 2313 - 4871 on scene 2319 - Milan asking for helicopter ETA 2337 - Milan command reporting extrication complete

This is a good one...... Information from: Deseret News, http://www.deseretnews.com