First actual fire!

I've just returned from my first actual live fire. It was a dumpster that was on fire. Let's start at the beginning:

I had just finished cooking breakfast for the family using Challah bread I bought a few minutes earlier. After eating my first piece of this great french-toast, I was about to dig into the plate when I had a serious case of beepilepsy.

Reaching for my pager, I read:
--------------
2705 MARYANNES CT-MONTG
FTR-TRASH/DUMPSTER FIRE
TRUCKS: 18E
XST: 3308 HEMMINGWAY DR-MG
NOTES: IN FRONT OF....
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Challah or fire call. It was an easy decision. I gave the kids and Sarah a kiss and ran out the door. Arriving at the station along with Frankie D, I got suited up while Frankie started up the Squad. In short order, Bernie, Carmen and Michael jumped in the back while Seth rode up front in the officer's position.

En-route, I helped the others get their gear and SCBA on. Upon arrival in the development, I was looking for smoke or fire but couldn't see anything. After rounding the final turn, there it was: A dumpster fully involved with flames licking out the sides and smoke pouring out the top.

This isn't the actual picture but its close:


Other FFs put the fire out using the front-mounted hose off the Squad. I assisted by giving them the tools they needed (eg. pike poles, etc.). After the fire was out, they gave me a walk-through of what they did to knock it out and why they used various tools.

The fire apparently started because someone threw the remnants of their fireplace in the dumpster. I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy so I usually like to think people are smarter than that, but this just proved me wrong.

Afterwards, we cleaned up the hoses, and re-filled the tank. I left with strict orders to update the blog as I've been neglecting this po' baby for a few weeks. Many apologies.

Been a while..

So sorry. Life intrudes and one loses track of time. The only reason I'm writing now is because I'm grabbing a quick bowl of cereal after the most grueling drill session yet.

Today, we did high-rise drills. Since I haven't taken any of the FF1/FF2 courses yet, I did mostly fireground support. Part of this meant dragging the dummy to the upper floors. Its a 300 lb dummy meant to simulate the weight of either a person who's completely out of it OR a typical firefighter completely decked out in FF gear.

The other part of the session was a flashover simulator. A flashover occurs when the temperature intensity in the room is so hot that the gases that have accumulated at the top of the ceiling begin to ignite. Even though this was a "fake" fire, I could feel the heat and really appreciated the protection the turnout gear offers.

More to come. Gotta drink some water.

Changes to this blog

Out of the Closet
You may have noticed that I've started identifying myself and the department I belong to in the header of this blog even though I'd originally said I wouldn't.

After the news articles came out and essentially "outed me", I figured trying to hide was just an exercise in futility.

Open up the bomb bay doors...
Yesterday, we had our open-house for the community to come and check out the station house and the trucks. I got some great pictures and I'm disappointed I can't share them with you on this freebie blogspot site. If I ever do get them uploaded somewhere and get links, then I'll "post" 'em here.

Events and Un-events...

October is Fire Prevention Month. If your local fire department is having an open house, take a moment and pay them a visit. If they're raising money, please donate.

This past week has been busy. On Saturday, we had a ropes drill and practiced rappelling. I hadn't done that since freshman year of college (11 years ago if you're counting) and it was a blast.

Monday was the regular drill night. I had planned to stay a short time but ended up staying for it all.

Wednesday, I went to help out with stuffing the envelopes for the fund raising drive. If you ever want a sample of my DNA, take a swab of the envelope. :-)

Thursday: My Loo (Lt.) and I took a ride down to Swarthmore's Fire Department where they also have a deaf firefighter. We talked with him and the officers to find out how training and fireground activities were done there.

Today: nothing.
Saturday: Nothing.
Sunday: Open house at FDMT from 10am to 5pm. Stop by!

Next friday is our golf tournament. I still need a fourth. Please let me know if you can come! :-)

Not much else is going on. I'll keep blogging when I have a few minutes.

Isabel and More Media Interest:

On Thursday, September 18th, Isabel roared ashore in North Carolina slightly after noon. 12 hours later, her effects were being fully felt in Montgomery Township. High winds and horozintal rain made it fun to watch out the bay door windows.

Fortunately, for us, we didn't have any calls during the height of the storm. I would've HATED having to go out there during that time.

But we did have some false alarms near the end of the overnite shift. Nothing major.

More Media Interest

The Reporter, based in Lansdale, published this article:
The Reporter Article

I've had some people coming up to me and discussing the article. It's gratifying to see the gears turning in their head when they walk away.

Media Interest...

A very well written article about me and what I expect going forward in regards to the department.

I'm glad the author didn't try to make me out to be "more" than just a regular guy who happens to be deaf joining the fire department. Two more stories to come out shortly. I'll post those links soon.

The Intelligencer - Bucks/Montgomery County

Tomorrow night will likely be my first overnight duty assignment at the station. Some of us will be spending the day/night while Isabel pays a visit to ensure the station is fully staffed. I'll keep a journal and post it here later.

(by the way: whose bright idea was it to put the 'd' next to the 'f' on the keyboard.. i keep typing "dead" instead of "deaf". )

9-11-01 Rememberance

Today, we had a memorial service for the men and women who were killed on 9-11-01.

The Chief asked officers to read portions of "Report from Ground Zero", a book that compiles the stories of various firefighters who told their 9/11 stories and the stories of the cleanup work afterwards.

He then asked one of the senior firefighters in the department to read the names of all firefighters who were killed in the attacks. Reading 343 names takes a while and the entire time, I was thinking to myself, "Would I? Would I have gone up when everyone else was going down?" It's hard to answer that question today as a new firefighter and a father of two little boys. Could I leave my boys without a father and Sarah without a husband trying to save the lives of strangers?

I don't know the answer to that question and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I do know that those who died didn't plan on dying that day. I guess not knowing the answer means simply living one day at a time. I know it's trite but that's the only answer I can think of that provides any comfort.

At the end of the name-reading, the senior firefighter presented the department with a heavy steel cross welded together from the remnants of the World Trade Center. In the middle, the number 343 represents all the firefighters who died.

Not much I can say after that.

My purpose, defined.

During the drill last night (phsaw.. drill shrmill.. it was check-the-equipment and clean-the-apparatus-bay day! Very necessary work though), I had a long talk with the president of the Fire Company. In it, I told him what my goals were as far as contributing to the department.

1. I want to become THE expert when it comes to pre-planning for emergencies and training firefighters on how to properly respond to calls that involve disabled people and the elderly.

2. I want to become a resource when it comes to vehicle extrication. I figure this is where I can contribute most in terms of operations. In a vehicle extrication, I have a fairly good view of the entire staging area.

Additionally, vehicle extrications are not fast-paced activities. There's an almost slow motion ballet going one during an extrication, with the portable compressors and the slow movements of the extrication tools. Every firefighter has a buddy and the slower pace means my communication efforts with other firefighters will be clearer and less impeded by the natural adrenaline rush that comes with structural fires.

3. My role at structural fires will be limited to manpower assistance (helping with tools and SCBA packs), running hoses, etc.. These limitations are completely voluntary. I don't want to put myself or any other firefighter in increased danger because of my hearing loss.

In return, the department president asked me to do the following:

1. Develop standard operating guidelines for safely evacuating disabled/elderly people. For example, a paraplegic poses very unique concerns from a rescuer's perspective: carrying them using the outdated "Fireman's Carry" poses a risk of severely damaging lungs or exacerbating the existing injury.

2. Promote the message that deaf/disabled people CAN contribute to their communities by joining their local volunteer fire/EMS/police departments. The roles they play may not be as varied as those available to an able-bodied person but the work is just as honorable. Getting a hose to the right place makes sure the firefighters can do their work. Making sure the computer system is up and running to receive dispatches makes sure the ambulance can get to its destination without delay.

3. Teach the firefighters the gospel truth (my words) on how non-verbal communication is the best way to communicate in a noisy environment. People have a habit of just raising their voice if it's noisy. You can save time by gesturing and getting your point across.

That's it for now. I hav emore later.

First General Meeting

This is going to be a quickie because I have drill night tonite in 20 minutes. Last night, we had our first "drill" night. Since it was my first time, I was going to go in and basically watch and see how the meeting progressed before making any definite changes to how I'll participate.

BUT:

Before the meeting started, we received a call to an automatic fire alarm. I was walking to the soda machine when I heard the tones go off. Since I can't really hear in the high pitches, I didn't realize they were OUR tones. I saw guys running to their lockers and it hit me: a call.

Adrenaline rushing, I got my turnout gear on and got on the ladder truck only to find it was full. The Squad truck, however, had seats and I rode on Squad 18 to the call. It was my first call and I must've looked like a kid in a candy store with a big grin on his face and his eyes wide as dinner plates.

Fortunately for the homeowner and unfortunately for me, it was cancelled enroute and we turned around.

Awesome high.

Tonight is the weekly drill night. It will cover tanker tactics, etc.

I'll post soon regarding our department's 9/11/01 rememberance ceremony on Thursday evening.

I've been in touch with 3 other deaf firefighters. I'll be meeting up with another one in the SE PA area soon and hopefully, we'll use this as a "team blog" to cross-post our experiences and questions on the blog.

It's been a while..

Yours truly is an idjit. I figured the new AOL journals might be a better place to host the journals because I thought they offered more functionality than the freebie blogspot does. While this is true, AOL doesn't really make note of the fact that EVERYONE has to have some type of AOL screenname in order to access it. That is definitely not cool.

I have several posts over there. When I have a chance, I'll be copy/pasting them over here.

Not much has been going on as of late because of summer. Some of my postings in the AOL journal has more information.

First Drill Nite

Today was my first drill night. Typically, drill night is when members of the department get together to reinforce old skills or learn new ones. Unfortunately, tonite was a new-skill lesson for Rapid Intervention Teams and this meant it was a classroom lecture. I didn't have an interpreter because I didn't have enough advance notice.

However, I did a lot of research on the topic of Rapid Intervention Teams beforehand and was able to keep up decently. Basically speaking, RIT's are rescue teams that are ONLY to be used when a firefighter is in distress. They must be kept in reserve and cannot really do any work on the fire except wait for the "May Day" call. I had been thinking about looking into this as a role for me within the organization but during the course of the class, I realized it's not for a deaf person to fulfill. Mainly, the rescuers need to be able to hear a PASS device which is a strobe/alarm that is activated if the firefighter has not moved in XX seconds. To be tasked with rescuing a firefighter that's already down and where precious seconds count, that's a role that requires ALL senses.

My previous post regarding the un-happy FF was a fluke. Apparently, this guy is like this to everyone. No idea what the other fella's story was though.

Later this week, we'll meet again to go over training requirements, etc.. Should be fun.

Hmm...

I had my first taste today that not everyone in the department was thrilled about having me. I had a short day at work today. Wife took the kids to a friends house and I thought I'd stop by and introduce myself to some more folks.

I met up with the Engineering officer (who happens to be a neighbor of mine) and he greeted me warmly and told me to feel free to walk around and check things out. I met up with the Deputy Chief (who I'd met earlier) and he said I'll likely get some turnout gear (hand-me-downs, of course.. I am a probie at this point anyway) this coming Monday and participate in the drills.

After Engineering officer and Dep. Chief left, I went to introduce myself to two other FFs who were talking on one of the engines. After I introduced myself; one guy got up and walked away and the other was looking at his cell phone intently.

I kind of get the feeling that there will likely be an element within the department that needs convincing. The higher-ups have been nothing but supportive of me.

Strangely, I'm not discouraged by this incident. I think once I show them I'm just as capable of jamming a Halligan bar into a car door or running 200 yards to the nearest hydrant and getting it going, they'll warm up.

I added a link to my e-mail account. Feel free to let me know what you think!

Introduction

Hello!

I'm a 30 year old deaf guy who is in the process of becoming a volunteer firefighter. I have a wonderful wife and two young sons. I'm profoundly deaf and was born with a significant hearing loss. I grew up in the oral tradition (meaning I spoke and read lips only). My hometown is in northern New Jersey and I currently live in the Philadelphia region working as a project manager/programmer for a large corporation.

When I was younger, I was always under the impression that deaf people couldn't be firefighters (FF's) because the risks that hearing FF's already face are greatly increased. At least that was my impression. I never really had the guts to find out more.

While I was at Gallaudet University, there was a short-lived attempt to create an on-campus first-responders team of all deaf students but that fell short due to bureaucracy. After that, my "dream" fell to the wayside.

When my older son got a new pair of sandals with little fire trucks on them, he started asking what they were. I took him to the local station a few times and got to meet many of the volunteers there.

Figuring the worst that could happen is "they say no..", I e-mailed the membership director and asked him if I could join. To my surprise, they said not only could I join them, but they would support me in whatever role I chose.

This past week, my application to join was accepted and I observed my first drill night the other day. It was a community drill night (meaning they went to a local park and put on demonstrations for residents in the area) so I was content to just watch.

During the drill, many of the firefighters came up to me and said, "Hey, you're XXXX, aren't you?". This always makes me feel great because people tend to identify others by characteristics. In other words, you're more likely to remember Bob from the sales convention a few years ago because he has a combover that would give Vidal Sasson conniption fits. I was mentally prepared for someone to say, "hey, you're that deaf guy we voted in.." but it didn't happen.

The president of the fire company came to me during the drill and we got to talking about what I'm doing. I thanked him for giving me the opportunity. He made a great point: if a fire company is to be comprised of volunteers from the community, then it has to be welcoming to ALL people. Otherwise, it becomes an ol' boys club or an exclusive fraternity of those guys that ride big red trucks.

At this point, it's summer and many people are away on vacation so progress will be slow. I anticipate things picking up during the fall.

You may notice that I'm not explicitly identifying myself or the department I am joining. This is because there are very strong feelings within the firefighting community about people with any type of physical limitations joining up. See this thread from firehouse.com which basically shows you're either for or against the idea. Fortunately, my experience has been very positive.

I've created this blog as a resource for other deaf people that may want to join the emergency services so they can learn from my mistakes (I'm sure I'll make a few), see that they're not alone and celebrate the succeses. In time, I hope to create an on-line community of deaf emergency responders to get more deaf people involved!