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.