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High spirits and well wishes.

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It's been a busy several weeks, both personally and for the guys at work; Firefighter Ryan remains in the ICU at the Washington Hospital Center's Burn Unit, continuing his rehab and treatment for injuries sustained on April 8th in a fire in Northeast D.C. Not only have members of the DC Firefighters' Burn Foundation been sitting "watch" in the hospital with Chuckie 24/7 (to assist him with anything he or his family needs), but the guys from Engine 15 and Rescue 3 have been doing the same thing to share the load and show our support for a brother from our own house; so as it stands now, there's two firefighters at the Hospital Center at all times.

I've only been on the job for two years, and this is the unfortunate first instance that I've witnessed of a firefighter becoming seriously injured on the job; however, after pulling my own share of several watches by his bedside, I've found the unrelenting and heartfelt outpouring of support from my fellow firefighters very touching and encouraging. These back-step guys might be some ridiculous characters, but nobody ever accused them of not taking care of their brothers when they really needed it.

His spirits are amazingly high; we always knew Chuckie had heart and a great demeanor, but it really shines through now—he hasn't let his injuries faze him one bit. Good on ya, brother…

The hospital room is decorated with all manner of cards and photographs, as you can see above; but one in particular caught my eye. A letter written from an elementary school student, addressed to the five members who were injured in that fire on 48th St:

"Dear firefighters,

I heard what happened to you guys during that fire. I pray that you guys will get better soon. The 2 gifts in this bag represent something. The dog represents the rescue you did to those people. The angle [sic] respresents the angles [sic] above watching over you. I hope you guys like my presents.

Love,

Kaitlyn

—————

In what seems like an oft-thankless job; when the administration is concerned about t-shirts and how new the paint is on the firehouse; when guys are willing to move their entire schedules around just to sit by someone's side…

It's nice to know there are other people who care.
 

Thanks, Kaitlyn. I bet you've never even met us. But thank you anyways.

 

Posted by on April 29, 2011 • Filed under: DCFD burn foundation

A consulting gig on 15th and East Capitol, NE.

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4:06 a.m. – Engine 8 is dispatched on a single-engine local alarm for smoke in the area.

4:15 a.m. – Everyone else is dispatched to deal with what they found.

A great video clip can be found at this link; credit to Vernard Green on Medic 8 at the time.

(As usual, click for full-size images.)

Motir Services, Inc. is (was) a consulting firm serving the DC area; clients include The Library of Congress, Arlington National Cemetery, The U.S. Department of Agriculture, and a whole slew of DC government organizations. Their self-description reads:

"A MULTI-SERVICES FIRM WHOSE PRINCIPAL STRENGTH IS THE ABILITY TO TAKE THE WORLD’S MOST SOPHISTICATED MANAGEMENT SKILLS AND APPLY THEM IN ORDER TO YIELD ONE CONSISTENT PRODUCT – WORLD-CLASS SERVICES."

Perhaps the folks at Motir could offer some upper-management-level advice regarding the best placement of this ladder (not that Truck 7 needed it).

The fire eventually went to two alarms, and took approximately thirty minutes to control. At one point, there was fire to be found on every one of the four story building, including a large wooden lean-to structure on the roof.

—————

Do you know what the best part was? Nobody cared what we were wearing.

Alright, that's it. I'm finally going to bed.

/RL

Posted by on April 9, 2011 • Filed under: DC Fire, DCFD, DCFEMS, Fire Photography, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Major Incidents, News, Raising Ladders Photography

Spring cleaning… in more ways than one.

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Painting, scrubbing, polishing, mopping, organizing…

Yes, it's time for spring cleaning and firehouse inspections (and, ostensibly, the company pride that's held within).

 

Good thing we now have lots of extra cleaning rags. (Fox5, via Statter911's original summary)

 

 

Posted by on April 4, 2011 • Filed under: DCFEMS, Not DCFD