We were at the firehouse about to go out on our Boot Drive fundraiser when we got called out to an "oven fire." Upon arrival, I took 3 guys with me and told the rest to stay on the engine since there wasn't any smoke / flame visible from the outside of the house. On the first floor we were met with pretty heavy smoke, a ton of furniture and what will be referred to as the "drug lady." It was the homeowner, a 60-something little old lady, no teeth, nervous as hell.She guided us around the cor... Read Full Story

I work at home on Fridays, which sometimes offers me work I'd otherwise miss while at work. This Friday, we got called to the scene of an MVA (motor vehicle accident) with reports of entrapment. My Captain and I jumped on the Rescue truck while our other, less-experienced guys jumped on the Engine. While on the way to the scene, we discussed our job roles and figured that I'd stabilize the car with cribbing and cut the battery while my Captain gets some of the hydraulic tools out. Of course, ... Read Full Story

On Friday afternoon, about 30 mins before I was supposed to take Kate to the movies, we got paged out to a reported car fire behind a building. While driving down the firehouse, I passed the area and saw a 100ft dark tower of smoke, thick enough that I was skeptical if it was a car or if the building had caught fire. When we got on scene, my captain had me grab the nozzle and walk down the dark alley way as he and the new guy stretched the hoselines. Walking to the back of the building I foun... Read Full Story

The local Bennigan's has been shut down for over a year, but recently our Chief got permission to drill in it. 3 of my guys came with me and another company last night with a bunch of Scott packs, some search rope, a smoke machine and a gameplan.After smoking the place up pretty thick, we divided the guys into 2 hose teams and a search team. I was the officer to stay with both hose teams. From the get-go, after entry was forced by the search team and they entered, we had troubles with the fir... Read Full Story

The former Lieutenant, John, couldn't wait to give up his red helmet and LT shield. The position caused him a tremendous amount of stress this year, along with his financial problems and love-issues. To be honest, I don't think he fully thought the position through. I think he was more intent on wearing a red helmet than he was in managing a fire company.Last night, he finally took the helmet and handed it over to me, making my officer status official. Within 6 hours of receiving the helmet w... Read Full Story

After working the chemical plant fire all night, I took off work and went to sleep at about 7:30 AM. About noon I woke up for some food and to make a few phonecalls. About 3 PM, the pager goes off for smoke coming from the 2nd floor of a house on Avenue B. While driving down to the firehouse, dispatch comes again and says as per the Chief on scene, it's a confirmed working house fire.I took the officer's seat and upon approach of the fire, the Chief routed us to the block behind to try an att... Read Full Story

Out of all the days to stay late at work, my boss asked me Tuesday to stay until 8PM for a late meeting. Around 4:30 PM my phone starts ringing off the hook with my guys calling me to tell me there's a huge factory fire on Garibaldi Ave. I checked with a few sources to make sure it would still be burning when I got home (being that my commute is over an hour) and they reassured me it would be burning for a long time. I left work with apologies to my boss and let's just say that was the longes... Read Full Story

While on vacation, my company held elections and, although most of the guys said they'd nominate me for LT., I wasn't so sure. Although the old timers don't have much input on the fireground anymore, they still make a lot of the decisions around the firehouse and especially if the person involved isn't there to defend himself. Anyway, I got a text message while I was rushing back from the aiport that they unanimously voted me in as their next LT. I found out afterwards that the town also chan... Read Full Story

My company was at a wetdown in another town, but I stayed back since I had a mother's day dinner that night. While under the apron getting a haircut, my pager went off for a house fire on Union Street. I jumped up, threw a 20 on the table and ran out. Another engine was already flying down the hill, they were apparently all in the firehouse waiting for their turn to go to the wetdown so they got out fast.I ran to the firehouse, grabbed my gear and jumped in a buddy's car. As we got on... Read Full Story

It was about 3:40 AM on a work night when dispatch said there was a trash fire behind Shop Rite. I almost rolled over on the call, but I'm currently running for Lieutenant so I figured it'd be good to show my face for a B.S. call so close to the time I'd have to wake for work. Sleep's overrated anyway right?Anyway, as I'm driving down, dispatch came through and changed the story 3 times, finally saying it was a trailer fire in the local Junk Yard. No drivers showed for our... Read Full Story