picture from PhillyFireNews.com
We've done quite a bit of work lately with the fire department. It's now 0030 hours on August 14th and I've just showered after a fire. I'm not asleep because I still have that adrenaline rush.
At 9pm, I headed to the firehouse to shoot the bull and try to fix my ailing laptop computer. No sooner had I cracked the laptop's case did the tones drop for a building fire in the next town. Ladder 18 headed to a single family dwelling and found fire from ground to roof on the back of the structure. FF Conicelli had the knob and I was carrying the irons (forcible entry tools). While Conicelli extinguished the fire outside, I tried to force the door and FF Fuchs assisted by breaking the glass on the door.
No one was in the house at the time (only occupant was outside) and we checked for extension.
We also had a good van on fire last week and I opened up the engine compartment so FF Conicelli could get water in it.
Some lessons learned from these two jobs:
1: (from the van fire) ALways bring your tools with you. I'd forgotten the halligan bar and wasted some time before I'd went back to get them.
2: (also from the van) Get that hood on. I'd whacked myself on the ear fumbling with the halligan and gave myself a nice cut on the ear.
3: (from the house fire) Stay hydrated, stay cool, and stay aware of your body. WIth the high temperatures, it gets pretty easy to get knocked out..
UPDATE: In the middle of completing this post, I got called out for a mulch fire.. it never ends. :-)
