nfd2004's LA City/County trip in 1984

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An EXCELLENT thread and series of posts on nfd2004's LA City/County trip in 1984 on EMTBravoWest. Well written and a great read! One of the best threads ever on any EMTBravo website.

Read it here: http://www.emtbravowest.com/index.php?/topic/71-my-la-citycounty-trip-in-84/

[nfd2004 750]

Thank you. I didn't realize until now (Jan., 2016) that this had been reposted here. I'm glad of that.

At the time, there were very significant differences from departments in the Northeast versus the Southwest. Those guys told me things that I was very surprised to hear. Of course, they were very surprised at some of the things they heard about from here.

In comparing notes, I had brought pictures with me of some of the conditions at the time. The burned out blocks of NYC. The large three story - six family burned out, closely packed frames of Bridgeport, Ct.. Or the ice covered rig in Providence, R.I from an all night job. Those were recent pictures at the time (in 1984). The L.A. guys could not believe what they saw.

When it came to brush fires, here in the northeast we didn't come close. We thought 10-20 acres burning was a lot. They dealt with 10-20 square Miles burning. They would camp out there. Fight the fire and then go get some rest in a trailer parked near the site. I don't know of too many northeast firefighters who have done that.

For me that trip was over 30 years ago. I still remember some of the guys and how good they treated me. At one point in my visit, I remember going to their fire academy. When they found out I was a firefighter from a small northeast city, about a half dozen chiefs sat down with me in a conference room to ask me how it is done here in the northeast. I guess I told them something like "we just stay low and let it blow". I don't know if that was the answer they were looking for, but I tried.

Edited January 15, 2016 by nfd2004