Dec
8
Merging to save money
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Today I came across an article that was talking about all the money that would possibly be saved if companies were able to merge together. With all the economic crisis that’s going on, departments and authorities have been trying to make decisions on how to make up for all the money that has been lost over the past few years. They would like to join deportment’s but they have to prove that it would be helpful to the board. They said ” departments operating side by side often provide a duplicate of services”. They would have a bigger communications team, and more people for Hazmat. The only thing that they are worried about is that taxpayers wont want to approve of their clames.
I personally think that this would be a wonderful idea. Right now you have two people on rescue and maybe three at the most on the engine.. If you have something extremely serious and they have the men and women from two departments show up, it would mean the world… You wouldn’t have to sit and wait for dispatch to call for back up. You would already have everyone there that you would need.
Dec
8
Everyone in the Police or Firefighting field has to take an EVOC test. EVOC stand for Emergency Vehicle Operator Course. Any individual seeking a career in this field has to take and pass this test to proceed with the hiring process. EVOC is a one hundred hour training program that teaches people the advanced driving skills they my need. It shows how people crack under stress or pressure and teaches them to keep it cool in dangerous conditions. They are tested for reaction time, visual acuity, glare recovery and do hands on driving in a few different phases.
Phase I
Everything that the student does is held in a safe and controlled environment. Schooling is done with controlled speeds, breaking , backing up, three point turns, serpentine, turns and parallel parking. Students must drive a course that was already planned and laid out for them before training started taking place. The students will have all day to practice speeding up and breaking. Code three ( lights and sirens) and curving and turning in and out of cones reaching top speeds. By the end of the day, the instructor will hop into the passenger seat and tell you what he expects and you go out and do it. Each person was aloud to hit up to three cones. if you exceeded your three, you would be coming back another day for school.
Phase II
All what you do for phase II is drive back to the station. You’Ll take a ride down 95 or the turnpike and just get a feel for the rescue. just to build your confidence up a bit. If you pass all of that, you will get a certificate in the mail saying that you passed and you can move on to the next hiring process.
Dec
1
Wildland Firefighting
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When you hear about Wildland firefighting, it is talking about the fires that we have out West each year. It is totally different from just going to a house call. These women and men are out in the forest for days at a time lugging around heavy equipment in conditions that are pretty much unbearable at some points. Wildland fire fighting is physically demanding, dealing with working in non-visible environments and scorching heat. Working with little rest and having to climb steep hills or mountain sides. Sadly away from their families for weeks. Wildland firefighters are regular firefighters. They are on a shift and work for a station. They are always on call though. When they receive the call saying that they are being recruited to a location, they must leave within two hours.
These men and women have to be in some sort of shape, not only physically but also mentally. From day one they have to pass the WCT- administered by the Forest Service or another Federal Agency which is a physical agility test. on a daily bases, these men and women would be carrying around saws, shovels and many other huge and heavy equipment. not only do they carry their equipment, but they also have to have their air supply and safety packs. I have only giving a little information on the wildland firefighting, but it really is interesting!
Nov
10
When Firemen get caught for speeding
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I was reading When Firemen get caught for speeding. It talks about a volunteer Fire fighter up in a small town, south east of Regina. Travis Oliver, a 27 year old young man was responding to a car fire call and was running red lights and going around traffic. Volunteer fire fighters have to use their own vehicles though. Since Regina was a small town, Travis new a bunch of the local cops. He passed two of them on the way to the car fire. Later on that night Travis had a knock on his front door. To his surprise it was the two cops he had passed while going to his call. They issued him a $220 ticket for violating the law. He thought that they were crazy and took it to Cort. After he fought his citation in Cort, his ticket was dropped to $70.
The government took his fight into account saying that volunteers can run lights and disobey traffic laws only if they have the proper flashing lights and sirens in their vehicles. Oliver’s excuse was that they get some pretty terrifying calls and just want to get to them as quickly as possible… sometimes seconds is all what can save a life or take one.
I agree with the cops and Oliver. I know in the State of Florida that, all the volunteers are issued one truck to run calls in. Usually one truck per station. They use these trucks that are issued to them because they are properly labeled and have all the legal lights and sirens needed to get peoples attention. They cannot drive their own recreational vehicles due to insurance and liability reasons. If a volunteer does decide to use his or her own transportation, they cannot exceed the law. They must fallow every law. I understand how Oliver could be ticked off. Since they do use their own personal vehicles up there, he should have some Le-way… but at the same time he should of had been issued some sort of safety or approved lights to put on his truck… Thanks to his ticket , now they can go to Cort and figure out the safest way for both the volunteers and bystanders.
Nov
9
Loyal Companions.
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Everyone knows that the Dalmatian is associated with Fire fighters, sort of like their mascot. The Dalmatian comes from the homeland of Dalmatia and Croatia. They were used in wars, hunting and as performing dogs. These dogs have superb memories which made them easy to train. Years back though they did have a special ability. Back when there were still horses drawing the carriages full of water to the fires, Dalmatians were trained to run in front or along side of through the streets. Their agility and lack of fear made them outstanding coach dogs for the engines and horses.
They ran mostly in front of the horses to get peoples attention to clear a path. Fire fighters relied on the dogs not only to clear these paths and to attract peoples attention, but also to locate the fires.
Now days, these dogs ; the Dalmatian are chosen by many Fire fighters to keep the tradition going.
These dogs “ Coach Dogs” where first used in Wales, England and Scotland in the early 17, 18 and 19th centuries. They were known as the wealthy persons dog because of their built and beauty. That’s how they were able to get the peoples attention as something was going on. Not only were they good for that, while not working and in the stables, the dogs seemed to have calming effects on the horses. Theses horses were engine pulling teams of very hot blooded horses. When the dogs were there though, it kept them inline.
Horses are pack animals and felt the need for the dogs company.
These dogs at most could run up to 20-30 miles each day along side their companions.
Dalmatians also guarded the horses and engines while the firefighters were out doing their jobs putting the fires out. Back in the day there were many people who would think nothing of it to steal a horse and carriage or the luggage on the coach.
Early fire fighter worked in companies. The Dalmatians worked with private coaches, they worked fire companies. Fire stations started to quit using these dogs when we started coming out with motorized vehicles and fire engines. However till this day, many stations still have their Fire dogs and conceder them the be on duty workers or part of the brother hood.
Oct
12
How the Maltese cross came to be
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Many Fire departments share or come up with their own logos, but one symbol known to go along with them is the Maltese cross. Nearly all the patches and symbols today resemble this Maltese cross. The fallowing history tells why.
A band of courageous crusaders from St. John, known as the Knights fought the Saracens for ownership of the holy land. As they were fighting, they came across a weapon unknown to their solders. It was a horrible device of war but simple at the same time. It gave an agonizing death and brought excruciating pain apon those brave fighters of the cross.
As the crusaders fought they were hit with burning bottles filled with naphtha. The closer they were able to get to the wall, the more likely they were going to get hit by these blazing balls of fire. thousands were burned alive! Others risking their own lives would go out and save their hurt or dying brothers and get them out of MORE harms way. these men became our fire men. They rose the bar that firemen today now have to stand by. Courage. The heroic efforts were recognized by the Crusaders. All the men left standing were then awarded with a badge of honor- a cross similar to the ones firemen wear proudly today. Since the Knights lived on a little island in the Mediterranean sea named Malta, the cross came to be known as the Maltese cross in honor of them.
The cross is a symble of courage and protection meaning the the human being wearing this cross is willing to risk his or her life for you.
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Sep
29
A day as a Fire Fighter
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I love this Blog. It completely describes all the emotions that go through Firefighters heads and the victoms that they are there to save.. At the same time, we dont have the time to sit there and get emotional or think about things. We have to know what we are going to do right as we pull up. If we were to let emotions get in our way, the victoms would be in even more trouble. As in the blog I read, A day as a Fire Fighter it tells about how rewarding his job is.
Being a firefighter takes great courage. One minuet you can see everything around you, check a door for heat , get it cleared, and have your hose men ready. As soon as you open that door it goes from zero to sixty. Black smoke with zero visability. Noisy as hell because of the fire cracking up around you and you with your air pack on your back breathing in and out heavily. When it comes down to it , and your in there saving a life, it means everything to you. Knowing that you put your life on the line for people that you dont even know and youll probably never see again. It is such an awarding job.
Sep
8
Fire Service
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Fire Fighting has been a service for almost a million years that went on around the world. From Egyptians to Americans it was taught. In 23 BC, Cesar Augustus came up with the first handful of fire fighters. They were made up of slaves or servants to the rich. Though they were firemen, they were not that effective. As you can see, Fire Fighting since the beginning has been though of as a mans work. Men were very racist about allowing women to accompany them at the sites. I will get into this later on. How about some more History?
In 1066, A Conqueror by the name William lead the Normans to Conquer England. William came up with the curfew, which meant all the fire that broke out had to be out by nightfall. Laws and ordinances were then passed later in 1100 in London. these laws told the people that they were no aloud to have thatched roofs( roofs made of hay or straw.) To try to lower the amount of fire that have been breaking out, they encouraged the people to build with stone also making the storage of fuel a huge issue. Later New York came up with the first building codes for structures. On the morning of September 2nd, the Great Fire of London broke out. this fire left 2oo,ooo homeless and burned for 5 days. The Fire Insurance Company was then thought of. This made inventors really start thinking about how to make more effective fire equipment , but that would only protect insured properties. ( see there’s always someone looking for money!)That’s when all buildings started getting fire marks put on them, to show if the owners had paid or not.
The first paid firefighters (men) who were paid, came out of the first fire department in America which was located in Boston MA. Later in 1752, the first American fire insurance company was established by Benjamin Franklen- and you thought he just invented electricity. On December 16,1835 The Great New York Fire broke out. Many lost their homes and jobs. Many still believe that this fire was responsible for the national economic depression which happend 2 years later. Still with all these huge fires breaking out, women were still fround upon.
to be continued……..