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Firefighter innovation … homemade tools and the 1st road trip of 2012

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You know what they say about firefighters…. we will figure it out someway or another AND … if we can’t fix it, we will fix it (break) so nobody else can !  LOL

Don’t forget to follow me on Face Book…click HERE then “Like”

Those of you who follow me know that I am in Wyoming, Ohio with the MN8 Fox Fire  Team.  I drove up yesterday (Wednesday) after getting off duty and running home long enough to feed the cows etc.  Like all of our trips (although Rhett was unable to attend this one) we pack as much as possible into the days we are away from our families. This trip is no exception.

As soon as I got in, I met Zach and Mariah at the Fox Fire World Headquarters. We soon headed out for dinner and then stopped to get a car load of Greaters ice cream before visiting one of the local firehouses.

We dropped by Woodlawn Ohio’s Station #96. Captain Pete Hauser was on duty.

Rhett and I met Pete at Zach’s house on our last trip up to Ohio

View that post by clicking HERE

Captain Hauser is a BLAST to hang out with but above that … he “gets it”.

We had some great conversations around the camp fire during our last trip… it was good to see him again.

Pete gave me a tour of the house and was excited to show me how inovative his members are. He said that he would bet that they had a tool on their rig that I had never seen.  He was right!

If something needs to be done, to be made or improved on, Firefighters will figure out how. This is exactly what these Brothers did. Up here (in Ohio) these Brothers are fortunate enough to have reserve supplies of hose in the stations. After a job, if their hose is dirty, they simply roll it up, go back to the house and switch it out.

Rolling hose is not “that difficult” but depending on how many sections you have, it can be hard on ya (bending over etc). These guys invented a tool to allow them to roll the hose, quickly and efficiently while standing. Check out the video …

Pretty cool huh? Special thanks to Pete and the members of Station #96 for allowing us to interrupt their evening.

What special tools have you or your members made? I WANT to see them..use “comment” or e-mail!

So, we rounded out the evening with a few totties in the hot tub…. VERY relaxing! I needed it. We ended up our Tuesday tour with a small job where I received quite a “jolt” and then drove 7 hours to Ohio.

The fire was in an attached laundry room. It was attached to a 3 story brick apartment complex.

Lucky #13 arrived with a lot of smoke showing but found it difficult to locate the source from the rig .

After we (along with E3) found it, we made the stretch and went to work. Looked like an easy one… “bread and butter”

The fire looked relatively small and was in the “Charlie side” wall. It was behind and around the breaker box and when the meter entered the structure. It had also started to extend up into the attic space .. no problem.

I carry a New York hook and was going to open up the ceiling so Randy could hit the fire. Captain Martin ( E3-C) had come in to assist and was behind Randy on the nozzle. On about my 2nd pull, I found the wiring running across the roof trusses. It looked like the 4th of July and gave me the hardest “hit” I’ve taken in my career.

See a recent post where a local Chief was hospitalized after being shocked by a down power line 

I think it scared Captain Martin as much or more than it hurt me … and it HURT..LOL. The Chief had already called for our power company to respond and had just gotten the word that they were on their way … ETA of 45 minutes. 45 minutes!! We backed out and decided to let it burn until we could control the utilities.

Luckily, it burned enough that it eventually blew the transformer killing the power to the entire complex. After that, it took only a few minutes to bring the fire under control. The Truck Company (Ladder 5) threw some covers over the washers and dryers and opened her up good. Randy and Boots washed her down and we were home in time to do the reports and make shift change!

Needless to say, the drive to Ohio was long! A solid 7 hours, tired and hurting so like I said, the hot tub and totties were VERY welcomed!

Today, it was all business. We spent all day in a meeting at Fox Fire Headquarters working planning the strategy for 2012. It was VERY exciting! I can’t wait until we roll out the new plans.

As great of an asset the Fox Fire products are to us (firefighters), it’s only going to get better.

Don’t forget to follow them on Face Book as well … click HERE

So now it’s snowing and our day is winding down. Gonna relax by the fire for a few, grab a bite to eat and get back at it in the morning.

I should be home sometime late tomorrow (Friday) evening / night.

The two pics here ( left and just above right) are of Randy’s helmet with Fox Fire’s newest product .. Illuminatin Tetrahedrons.

Pretty cool huh! You can shop for Fox Fire products by clicking  HERE or simply contact me and I’ll get you in touch with who you need to be.

OK, so I’m gonna wrap up for now. Don’t know if I’ll get back for a post before heading home or not. I will update Face Book so be sure to hit the link at the top of the page and follow me there as well.

Until I do get back, Stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

 


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