Hey all. Sorry I haven't been posting as much. It has been pretty busy down here. The winter-over crew down here has been itching for a little down time, they have been doing most of the station operations since Feb. Usually the Win-fly group comes and takes over, but since we have been doing this "mini academy", our shifts haven't been working at a full operations level. The other day though, they informed our captain down here that they wanted a break. So for two full days our group took over general station operations. It was fun to be back on the 24 on, 24 off schedule. Our Win-Fly group has been in training mode since we all met about a month ago. For two days following us being on the 24 schedule, we also did a small shift from 8am-10am. During this time the winter-over crews had meetings. Next week, rumor has it, our win-fly crews will start working in shifts and begin the transition process to main body, which should be in less than a month. Not that I'm counting...
So today down on the ice was an important day in the firehouse, since it was 9-11. We did a small ceremony in the engine bay. We read the "5-5-5-5" plaque that is on our wall in the training room. The FDNY telegram system marks "5-5-5-5" as a line of duty death, this signal is still used in the radio and computer systems of the FDNY. The plaque was read describing the 343 firefighter and many others who gave their lives on 9-11. Then we rang the 9-11 memorial bell we have hung in our firehouse. This is the only day in which that bell is rung, all other days there is a penalty if it is heard in the firehouse. The ceremony was brief but a constant reminder of the importance of the job we do.
Training has been wrapping up down here. We used the Renegades the other day. For those who are not familiar with the truck I am referring to; picture a Ford F-550...on tracked wheels with a nozzle on the front and a rear fire package. There will be many many pictures of them up on this blog to come, and if you spend time searching around here, you will find them on here in other entries from last year. So the other day we spent learning about the systems on these ARFF trucks (we have 4 total down here). We shot foam out of the back of them into a garbage can, to see how powerful it was coming off the hose.
To be honest this is the first time I used the foam hand-line down here. Due to the potential environmental hazards, the Fire Dept hardly ever uses foam for training. But such is life, when you live in a protected environment.
So, as I have been saying...for the next couple of days we will be wrapping this whole deal up and starting shifts next week. Be prepared...there could be some good blog entries coming up. Just to give you a little tease: I was able to secure a side job down here, my training for that starts Monday night! Monday I'll let you all know what it is and how it goes. Anyway take care everyone! And stay safe.
Hey all. Sorry I haven't been posting as much. It has been pretty busy down here. The winter-over crew down here has been itching for a little down time, they have been doing most of the station operations since Feb. Usually the Win-fly group comes and takes over, but since we have been doing this "mini academy", our shifts haven't been working at a full operations level. The other day though, they informed our captain down here that they wanted a break. So for two full days our group took over general station operations. It was fun to be back on the 24 on, 24 off schedule. Our Win-Fly group has been in training mode since we all met about a month ago. For two days following us being on the 24 schedule, we also did a small shift from 8am-10am. During this time the winter-over crews had meetings. Next week, rumor has it, our win-fly crews will start working in shifts and begin the transition process to main body, which should be in less than a month. Not that I'm counting...
So today down on the ice was an important day in the firehouse, since it was 9-11. We did a small ceremony in the engine bay. We read the "5-5-5-5" plaque that is on our wall in the training room. The FDNY telegram system marks "5-5-5-5" as a line of duty death, this signal is still used in the radio and computer systems of the FDNY. The plaque was read describing the 343 firefighter and many others who gave their lives on 9-11. Then we rang the 9-11 memorial bell we have hung in our firehouse. This is the only day in which that bell is rung, all other days there is a penalty if it is heard in the firehouse. The ceremony was brief but a constant reminder of the importance of the job we do.
Training has been wrapping up down here. We used the Renegades the other day. For those who are not familiar with the truck I am referring to; picture a Ford F-550...on tracked wheels with a nozzle on the front and a rear fire package. There will be many many pictures of them up on this blog to come, and if you spend time searching around here, you will find them on here in other entries from last year. So the other day we spent learning about the systems on these ARFF trucks (we have 4 total down here). We shot foam out of the back of them into a garbage can, to see how powerful it was coming off the hose. 
To be honest this is the first time I used the foam hand-line down here. Due to the potential environmental hazards, the Fire Dept hardly ever uses foam for training. But such is life, when you live in a protected environment.
So, as I have been saying...for the next couple of days we will be wrapping this whole deal up and starting shifts next week. Be prepared...there could be some good blog entries coming up. Just to give you a little tease: I was able to secure a side job down here, my training for that starts Monday night! Monday I'll let you all know what it is and how it goes. Anyway take care everyone! And stay safe.
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