Raising Ladders » Fire Academy

Recruit Class 362 on the Fire Boat; a quick photo set.

raisingladders — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:14:09 +0000

This past Friday, I was given the distinct pleasure of accompanying Recruit Class 362 to the Fire Boat for their class picture. They seemed excited and appeared in good spirits, seeing as their graduation is just over two weeks away.

(We all remember how that felt, don’t we?)

Long story short, they seem like a great group of recruits and I’m excited to attend their graduation later this month. Keep it up, guys—you’re almost there!

/RL

As everyone boarded the boat, I heard a voice from somewhere in the crowd: “Huh. I should probably learn how to swim.”

We couldn’t have asked for a more gorgeous day; I wish we could have stayed out longer!

The recruits had an admittedly great idea for their photo, so they all piled onto FB 1 and puttered off into the river.

I, meanwhile, headed out on the water aboard FireBoat 2.

After a little “umm… more to the left… can he back up some? uh… now can you go forward?”, we finally had it. Many apologies to Blake, the (probably) greatly-annoyed pilot on my boat… photographers can be a real pain in the ass, but he stayed patient with me.

The end result.

Many thanks to the instructors for a) letting the recruits out of their cage for a few hours and b) allowing me to come with them.

(Lastly, in true fire department fashion, what would an attempt at a nice portrait be without a shameless prankster?)

Leaving for Ireland today! (plus pictures)

raisingladders — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:15:26 +0000

Be safe, everyone… I’ll see you all in about a week!

—————

I had some film developed recently, and I thought I’d add a few of my (decidedly older) shots, just for kicks. I’ve always liked the grainy look of real film—almost unheard of in this age of digital.

/RL

Recruit Class 360: congratulations, and good luck! (w/pictures)

raisingladders — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:32:55 +0000

Happy New Year! Yes, I haven’t put up a new post since last year, but there were several factors that led to this:

I wanted to leave the Nikon Festival instructions up for a while, so visitors could make sure to see them (be sure to vote if you haven’t already, and tell your friends/coworkers about it!);
I’ve been keeping busy by helping a recently-graduated recruit class with photography;
I wanted to finish processing all the photos before I posted any of them here.

Anyways, most of that is boring stuff you don’t care about. Let’s get to the pictures!

Some context: Recruit Class 360 invited me along on a special tour (i.e. not the one that the general public gets) tour of the Capitol Building, so the first four photos are a few shots from our chilly winter trek to downtown D.C. They also took one of their official class photos there.

They liked my work, so they asked me to come along to their graduation on December 31st, in which public speaker and Pro Football Hall-of-Famer John Riggins was the guest of honor—the remaining photos are some of my favorite frames from the ceremony.

Mayor Adrian Fenty stopped by to deliver his remarks, and then shook the hand of each member of 360.

Mr. Riggins was given a ceremonial helmet, signed by the recruits from 360, as well as a new pair of boots for working around his farm.

This last frame is my personal favorite from the entire day. Mr. Riggins’ daughter was present at the ceremony with him, and I caught her just as she was trying on Dad’s new helmet.

The full sets of both the Capitol Tour and the Graduation are available through my other site, RaisingLaddersPhotography; there, you’ll find all of these pictures and more, plus all the “hold your certificate and grin at the camera” shots that are inevitable at any ceremony. They’re cheesy but necessary—tell your mother to buy a few!

Just a quick note: All of my photos are my exclusive property, and should not be used, printed, or displayed without my express permission… *ahem* Engine 6 / Truck 4, I’m looking at you! (source). I’d be more than happy to agree to the use of my photos, I just want to know if you’re doing it.

All the best to the new Probationers from Recruit Class 360; one of them is coming to E26 on the shift after me, so I’ll be seeing him more than a few times; to the rest of you, thank you for the wonderful opportunities to be a part of your graduation. Take care, and good luck!

/RL

Honoring our brothers in Buffalo.

raisingladders — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:29:03 +0000

The walkway at the National Fallen Firefighter's Memorial. It's paved with inscriptions about our nation's bravest, donated by their loved ones. The post I wrote many months ago still rings true, and I feel a twinge in my heart when I think about how much this memorial site means to so many people.

This weekend, I was at the Academy for a two-day training class. While I was there, I found out that the three recruit classes currently at the school all traveled up to Buffalo, NY to honor the two firefighters who died in a structure fire last Monday. I'm not sure when they arrived back home, but I wanted to offer some recognition for their display of support and brotherhood.

You never know when or where a tragedy like this will strike, but it's good to know that fellow comrades across the nation are willing to help.

A heartfelt thank-you is in order to Recruit Classes 359, 360, and 361; may the two fallen firefighters of the Buffalo Fire Department rest in peace, and may their families be taken care of in their time of need.

Incidentally, the city of Buffalo pushed back their annual Wing Festival in their honor; the festival was now slated to begin today, and donations at the event will go to aiding the families of Lt. Charles "Chip" McCarthy and Firefighter Jonathan Croom.

Please see the Buffalo IAFF 232 website for more information on how you can donate money to the fund by check or by buying a BFD memorial t-shirt.

Favorite posts thus far.

raisingladders — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:30:00 +0000

I was looking through some of my earlier posts today (I was trying to find one specific picture from the Academy), and I found myself having a damned good laugh while doing so. I had forgotten about some of these, but they're definitely keepers. Maybe you'll get a good chuckle out of them, too.

First Due: We're always trying to beat everyone else to the fire.

Flashover: It's just like that one firefighting movie! (Uh… sort of. Not really.)

Searching: I discovered that I cannot fly.

Spaghetti and Murphy's Law, the Engine Operations Clause: Our early attempts to not be morons.

How to stay calm, Lesson 1: Everything's okay, just breathe… relax…

Finally, Trust Your Team: What would a blog called "RaisingLadders" be without a post about a ladder?

Lots of people complain about how terrible the Academy was—"The Nightmare on Shepherd Parkway," if you will. But looking back, I realize that I had a lot of fun when I was there. Where else can you do job training that's anywhere near as cool? (It beats the hell out of a management training seminar.)

Besides, if not for the Academy, what in the *#$@ would I have had to write about in the first place?

/RL

Details.

raisingladders — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:25:38 +0000

A page from The Writer's Block, a cube-shaped book (get it?)

full of random ideas to jump-start the creative half of your brain.

I was flipping through it the other day and found this page.

"Paramedic Engine 15 and Ambulance 15, respond for the cardiac arrest…"

Dammit. I haven't even done the run sheet from the last call, I thought as I rose from my chair.

As we pulled up to the outside of a laundromat, a gathering crowd partially obscured our view. As best we could tell, there was one guy on the ground, and other kneeling next to him performing CPR. Sean hopped out and made his way over to the group while I grabbed the ALS bag and the monitor from the rear compartment.

"Come on, move out of the way… move it!"

As I approached with gear in tow, I could hear a plea for the crowd to give us some space. The bystander who was doing CPR stood up, brushed his pants off, and started fumbling through his pockets for something as Sean did a quick assessment of our patient.

As if in some surreal form of stereo, I suddenly had information coming from both sides that smashed together in my brain hard enough to stun me for a second.

CPR guy, right channel: "See, I did it right! I got my certifications right here, man!" He produced the fruits of his frantic pocket search, shoving a wallet-worn and very out-of-date American Red Cross CPR card in my face.

Sean, left channel: "Uh, this guy's got a pulse. And a good strong one, at that."

Um…

(#296 on my list of Things I Wish I Had Said to Bystanders:

"Well then you, my good sir, did not pay enough attention in class.")

The ambulance was already there, and we scooped the patient up and loaded him into the back. He wasn't breathing enough on his own, so we assisted with ventilations until I could get an IV started. It appeared to be a pretty textbook narcotic overdose, so I grabbed the Narcan* and pushed it into the IV line.

A moment later: [retch] "What the— where the hell am I?"

"You fell out, man. Looks like you took a little too much tonight, and you stopped breathing."

"That's bull, man. Why y'all lying to me? I'm a gangsta, son."

(#297: "You're right, sir. We must have put all these wires and tubes all over you by accident. Our apologies! Please continue with your recreational activities.")

This went on for a while. Ultimately, he refused all further care from us. We talked him down from just ripping all the stuff off himself, but he still wanted to leave the back of the ambulance as soon as possible.

As he stepped out, he was heckled by his friends, who by now had formed into a small social gathering that smelled faintly of malt liquor.

One of his more illustrious acquaintances, upon hearing repeated statements of how "gangsta" our patient thought himself, decided to show that she was considerably more so by pulling a large handful of bright yellow boxer shorts out above the waistline of her pants.

"You ain't nothin', man. I got Spongebob-mothaf***in'-Squarepants. What you got, huh?!"

This may or may not have been the same person who was initially rubbing loose ice cubes on the patient's genitals shortly before we arrived on scene. (Some people think that the cold shock will wake up an overdose patient, but current trends in "D.C. bystander medicine" are best saved for another post. Two words to remember: dairy products.)

—————

The first time I flipped through that Writer's Block book, I must have been in middle or high school. I'm sure I saw the above page, but never ended up using it as a story idea. However, I sincerely believe that if I had followed the instructions at the time, it would have sounded nothing like what I've written in this blog to date.

Imagination and creativity are one thing; documenting reality is entirely another.

Oftentimes, I find the latter to be way more entertaining.

WeLoveDC.com; publicity for RL!

raisingladders — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:08:01 +0000

Tom Bridge, co-founder and author of WeLoveDC.com came across Raising Ladders the other day, and he liked it so much that he posted a brief write-up in the WLDC daily feed.

WeLoveDC.com is a collective blog written by a diverse population of authors who all have one thing in common: they are all enamored with Washington. Whether about politics (of course), food, culture, technology, or any other topic beneath the tip of the Monument, these authors have got it covered.

I honestly didn't expect such kind words, and for that I'm very grateful. Many thanks to Tom and the entire WLDC team!

—————

Last night 15 had a typical "no-sleep-due-to-a-call-every-forty-five-minutes" kinda night. I felt like a zombie this morning, which I've concluded is due to walking throughout a run-down four-building complex for an hour, forcing doors to try and turn off a malfunctioning fire alarm.

Sure, I understand you don't want building occupants messing with the utility closets, which is why you've placed four different damned locks on the two doors that are barricading the one doorway. Okay, fine. We got through 'em anyways.

Yawn. Let's pretend it's a forcible entry drill, reset the alarm, and get back to the firehouse already.

Nope.

3 a.m.: Respond for the "tummyache" (yes, that was actually the complaint).

4 a.m.: "I think there's a bug in my ear." (Actually, it was more like "AHH HOLY MOTHER OF [censored for the children] THERE'S A BUG IN MY EAR GETITOUT GETITOUT GETITOUT!")

Sigh… I don't suppose it'll even be worth it to try and sleep next tour. Friday night in Southeast? Not a chance.

I, however, wouldn't want it any other way.

—————

Who knew a vinyl Halloween costume could mean something after so many years?

(I don't think I'll still be able to fit into it, though. I should probably stick to the gear I was issued. It seems… safer.)

A different view of D.C.

raisingladders — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:31:51 +0000

The John H. Glenn Jr., Washington, D.C.'s 70'-long flagship fireboat.

It was built in 1962 for the FDNY, and was purchased by DCFD in 1977 for one dollar.

All the air inside my drysuit escaped with an audible whoosh as I stretched the rubber neck seal outwards, à la Rodney Dangerfield. I struggled to stay upright in the water as air compressed upward from every limb of the suit, mindful of the multiple warnings to keep District river water out of my mouth ("…you won't leave the bathroom for a few days, kid.")

Once I had finally settled myself, I looked around again to marvel at what I was doing today (and I'm getting paid for this?!)

Rescue 3 and Engine 15 had put the boats in at Anacostia Park, and we had motored our way over to where the DCFD Fireboat is harbored. Shortly thereafter, I joined a few other guys who were repeatedly dragged over the bow as the crew of RS-3 practiced "saving" us.

I had never seen the city from the Potomac or the Anacostia before, so the views from the water were an interesting perspective. Needless to say, just zooming around was relaxing enough; it was a beautiful day to be on the water, and everybody had a great time while we ran our drill.

(Nevermind that my suit had a leak in it; I doffed the outfit to find my clothes completely soaked. Thank God I bring an extra uniform to work with me…)

I took a few neat bridge shots that I thought lent themselves well to black-and-white.

—————

As far as my recent meeting with the Medical Director goes, it was a very well-structured test of our knowledge up to this point. While the Doc ran us through varying scenarios to assess our medical knowledge, the Assistant Chief of EMS asked us operational questions to see if we had picked up on the nuances of being an engine company paramedic. Apparently we're all satisfactory, because we were released a few hours later with word that we'd have permanent assignments within the next few weeks. For now, we all stay with our current preceptors.

The next hoop.

raisingladders — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:23:34 +0000

Some good news is being passed around today. I've received word that a handful of us paramedics are being pushed along into the next stage of the DCFD pipeline, starting Monday. There's some meetings, some more paperwork (I'm sure), but it at least it means that we're moving forward.

Sadly, it means that I may be leaving Engine 15 rather soon. I knew it would happen, but it's just been way too much fun for it to be over this fast.

—————

Besides, I got to run at least a couple fires, this one most recently. (For posterity, please note the second sentence in the article. I may not be assigned there, but I can still have pride in my temporary home.)

I mean, it was only a car and a detached garage on fire, but what can I say; it's better than running a medical local. And after all the "food on the stove" and "report of smoke in the area" calls that turn out to be nothing, I remember looking up while running the 400' and being surprised that something was actually on fire.

—————

I've learned a lot thus far from the guys at E15 and RS3; I think I've still got a few more tours there before I go somewhere else, so I'll try and get the most out of it that I can.

History.

raisingladders — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:43:49 +0000

"Y'all better be alert! Best pay attention over here!"

The members of Engine 15 and a truck company were standing around the scene of a gas leak; we had just shut the supply off when our attention was drawn to the shirtless man quickly walking up to us.

"You know why? You know why? Because I'm about to go smoke this rock right here."

He thrust his clenched left hand proudly in the air, pumping his fist like he had just won the lottery.

"…and if I smoke too much, and I need y'all… Imm'a call you on my phone right here."

In mirror image, he reached deep into his pocket and switched his dramatic pose; now wildly brandishing a cell phone with his right arm, he stared and waited for some reaction.

Indifferent to the man's statements (and probably growing bored), one of the guys from the truck company turned to our newfound friend and extended a pudgy finger in my direction.

"Well, I'll tell you what. The man you need to talk to… is right there."

Dammit.

("Probationary Manual, Chapter Eight: Talking to Excited Crack Heads for the Laughter and Enjoyment of Older Firefighters.")

Mr. Rock Addict began sauntering over to me, when he stopped short. His eyes looked me up and down for only a second, but it was enough to make him spin in place and hightail it back the way he came.

"Naw, f*** that guy. He a rookie… I ain't talkin' to no rookie."

Great. Even the southeast crackheads know I'm the new guy. (Damned red tag…)

—————

This, of course, is nothing new for the area. Highly entertaining stuff has been happening down here for years. A few tours back, another firefighter and I went looking through the archived logbooks for Engine 15 and Rescue 3, and we were browsing through a book from 1987. They ran a hell of a lot more fires than the department does today… some of the logbook pages were just unreal. A big house fire in the morning, followed by a nasty car wreck, then another working fire, then seeing smoke showing from an apartment and filling out the box on the way back from the previous fire! I suppose the only comfort that today's crews can take is that they ran a whole bunch of medical local calls back then, too; I've included a few of the more interesting excerpts I found.

Medical Local, 1635 hrs / E-15 stood by for medic unit with 1 male who broke his shoot-up needle in his neck, E-15 performed miscellaneous acts.

Medical Local, 2306 hrs / RS-3 obtained a signed release for who knows?

Medical Local, 1258 hrs / E-15 for a man wanting to go to the hospital to get away from the little green people!!!

Seeing as we had access to the entire collection, I had to read about what this house did on my birthday (not that I was anywhere near Anacostia, much less the east coast in general.) So, digging up the proper book, I found:

We were even able to go all the way back to 1948. Seeing the old script, and the ink bleeding through the fragile pages was like staring back through decades of history. Call it cliche, but there's something slightly poetic and awe-inspiring about having access to a written account of everything that occurred in this firehouse since the Cleveland Indians last won the World Series (yes, that was 1948. They're really just awful.)

Every call, every announcement, every single thing that happened on that shift, was recorded on paper in the once-prized scrawl of proper penmanship that has fallen into nonexistence today.

(It made me wonder about the oldest book in the Department; where is it kept, and whose logbook is it? I'd imagine it's up above Engine 3.)

Either way, the books haven't changed much. It did, however, serve as a fascinating way to pass the time at the watch desk until the modern-day E-15 had to go run our own medical locals… little green men and all.