Smash cut: about two hours, three pieces of cake, four episodes of South Park, and five glasses of sweet tea later: it’s almost 2am, and I want nothing more than to wake up the next watchman. My focus at that point lies solely with entering hibernation mode: stealthily entering the bunkroom and quietly crawling into bed, in the hopes that I won’t make enough noise to anger whatever temperamental deity controls the bells. Staring in the flickering candlelight at that round metal bastard mounted oh-so-innocently on the wall, I drift off with one eye firmly planted on it as if to bully it into staying silent all night.

“Where the hell did the time go?!” I always ask. Well, I think it disappears because I’m far too torn on what to write about, and procrastination is always the easier option. On days off, it’s far too easy to go out and rack up miles on my bike than stay shut inside. There’s always a better option, it seems.

But not today, dammit! I shall turn my procrastination from the ugly obstacle that it is into the subject, nay, the very inspiration of this writing. I shall tackle it head on, killing it with explanations of creativity and process. My hope is that by delineating these (more for my benefit than yours), I can find my way back onto the track that led me to where RaisingLadders is today.

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The first thought is always: who or what can I write about? (Actually, the first real, visceral reaction is “Aw come on, what the f#@%. You lazy hump, you haven’t written a damned thing in forever!” After that subsides, however, my inner monologue becomes less crass and more rational.)

I could certainly report on firefighter-related news, but I feel I’m vastly out-classed by several of the veteran news behemoths on fireemsblogs.com. I’m just not a newshound, and I find it hard enough to browse the steady stream of information from various sources without having to compile it and write it up—it’s a hell of a task, and I give a lot of credit to those who do it with ease.

I could write about firefighting tips, techniques, drills & skills… but alas, with barely two years on the job, I haven’t amassed anywhere near enough knowledge to presume to pass it along. At this point in time, I’m better served absorbing the teachings of those around me to improve my own abilities. I learn a new way to do something almost every shift, but I’m in no position to be educating others, as I still have much to learn myself.

Ooh, I could tell great stories! I’ve a bit of a knack for making that which is benign or routine somewhat interesting, but the difficulty inherent in telling stories from work (be they happy, sad, confusing, disturbing, or any combination thereof) brings me to my next point: when.

The ebb and flow of interesting (or at least post-worthy) occurrences at work never fails to give me at least a little chuckle. Ever since I began writing down some of my more interesting incidents from my days as an EMT in high school, I’ve always marveled at how the universe seems to know when you’re just about to give up.

Case in point: I was working in an Emergency Room in college as a Tech (read: gopher). It was a lot of stocking, cleaning, and dealing with nasty staff and patients; but it never failed that just when the job was getting on my last nerve and I was ready to storm into the boss’s office to throw my stupid purple scrubs at him and strut out defiantly in my underwear, something awesome would happen. An attending would let me hold a squirming, fibrillating heart, between the ribs splayed wide open from a last-ditch attempt to save a gunshot wound victim. STATMedEvac would bring in patients all day long, but the one flight medic who I always talked to brought me on a ride-along with him. A woman would stun me speechless by abandoning her baby in my (not-so-capable at eighteen) hands out of the blue, a story I related long ago on this very blog.

It’s a strange pattern, the irregular irregularity of things my brain deems worthy of writing about. Day in and day out, the BS calls and the minor car accidents with no injuries; the food on the stove; the 2am alarm bells that we reset and go home. Many shifts are like that: reset, go home. Repeat. It’s all too easy to find yourself two or three weeks later, realizing that you haven’t written a single word from the past hundred-and-forty-four hours of one of the most exciting and satisfying jobs in the world.Am I slacking? Perhaps. Is it bred from laziness? Sometimes, sure.

As a writer, are these moments upsetting? Definitely.

The where is pretty easy. I long ago gave up on seriously writing posts at work; while I’d love the “as-it-happens” feel, I prefer to sit at home in front of a nice spacious monitor and craft a post several times over. Besides, there’s just too many distractions, and entries completed in pieces end up sounding very schizophrenic. Photos are another issue; I love photo editing, and that takes another good chunk of time. I’ll keep it at home, thanks. (I also suck miserably at putting out Twitter updates while at work; I’m trying to fix that, but it’s a topic for another post.)

Why is simultaneously easy and complex. The simple answer is because I love it. A more in-depth approach uncovers the subtle, nuanced thing that writing is; it’s like black and white putty, just waiting to be turned into exactly what I want. It might take forever, but getting there is half the fun, like a jigsaw puzzle into which you keep swapping pieces until one fits just right. And writing about something I hold a dear passion for is beautiful; with the right combination of flowing prose, the experience becomes almost ethereal (when it all turns out right). It’s what kept this blog going when I was absolutely certain nobody was reading it (yes, Google confirmed this several times)—and that thought stays with me every time I click “Add New Post.”

—————

The Five W’s were taught to me long ago by a wonderful teacher, writing partner, and friend. Much of my early inspiration comes from constantly asking these questions, day in and day out. It’s surprising I don’t have either more blog posts, or more black eyes from annoyed coworkers—luckily, most of ‘em are more than happy to talk endlessly about the job. Another bit of wisdom from the aforementioned source: do what you love, and the money will come later.

Well, I grew up to be a firefighter after many Halloweens spent playing in a plastic costume. I live in a vibrant, exciting city, and I work in one of the most interesting parts of it. I have complete creative control over a writing endeavor that I basically fell ass-backwards into after a bit of good fortune. I’m in a perfect spot, and I couldn’t love it more.

There’s plenty of exciting stuff coming up after a much-too-long hiatus, so I look forward to sharing it and photographing it and presenting it to you with a big RaisingLadders bow on it. No matter what, a writer writes. And write I shall, good readers.

So when’s all this damn money supposed to start showing up??

/RL

I’ve finally put together a Facebook page for the photography business; with the increasing functionality of FB’s pages for services/businesses, it’s almost like you don’t need a home website anymore (don’t worry, I won’t be discarding RLP.com—I’m always wary of FB crashing and burning as it becomes too Big-Brother-esque for its own good).

Become a Fan/Like It here, and browse around a bit if you haven’t already seen the photos from the main RLP site. The NikonFest video I made is also up there—damn you, Facebook, for being so versatile.

I’ve created an ad, as well, so keep an eye out for that in your sidebars while you mercilessly stalk your friends and coworkers.

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FDIC 2010 is just wrapping up in Indianapolis; Saturday is the last day, and I regret that I was unable to attend. I will, however, be looking to head out to wherever they hold it next year with my fellow FireEMS bloggers; sorry I couldn’t meet up with you guys! A quick search reveals a whole menagerie of posts on FireEMSBlogs about Indy and FDIC; a few of note come from Backstep Firefighter, FireCritic, and Tiger Schmittendorf (with my vote for the most clever “I’m at FDIC!” title I’ve found yet). He was also the one who was kind enough to use my photos in his presentation—more on that later.

Edit: Damn, I knew I’d miss some cool stuff! Not the least of which is this sweet podium designed to look like the tip of an aerial ladder, captured nicely by FireGeezer (original page):

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Last but not least, Gizmodo had a neat tidbit on a new firefighter’s mask that they found; did anyone see this at FDIC?

Designed by Jason Swartzentruber (and featured on the concept technology website Tuvie.com), all these features like GPS trackers, a rotating cylinder harness, and a voice amplifier are supposed to make us safer and more effective as firefighters.

Any thoughts? To check it out even further, you can find more pictures on the Tuvie site (also accessible by clicking the photo above).

From www.tampabay.com’s All Eyes feature: Christopher Holmes from the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue searches for survivors in the rubble of a building after a massive earthquake on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Planeloads of rescuers and relief supplies headed to Haiti as governments and aid agencies launched a massive relief operation after a powerful earthquake killing possibly thousands. Numerous buildings were reduced to rubble by the 7.0-strong quake on January 12. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Sergeant Holmes and his dog before, and they do make quite the team together. Great work, Sarge—be safe out there.

Dave Statter of Statter911 has been doing an excellent job chronicling the efforts Virginia’s Task Forces One and Two; more information (video interviews, news updates, pictures, etc.) is available here.

Alan Taylor, the brains behind Boston.com’s The Big Picture, has kept up an excellent feed of images from various stages of collapse, rescue, and recovery; Earthquake in Haiti; Haiti 48 Hours Later; Haiti Six Days Later.

(As he writes on the Big Picture “About” page, these photos are the best selections from various wire services that flow into the Boston Globe; he’s got a hell of an eye, and I eagerly await the Mon/Wed/Fri updates.)

Lastly, I’d like to include this image: from the UK’s Evening Star comes a photograph from Port au Prince (© Matthew McDermott) that shows a much greater side than most of the typical pictures of death and destruction so rampant in the news today.

This is Kiki, an eight-year-old boy who was rescued in the Nazan district after being trapped for over a week underneath the rubble. I’d be pretty ecstatic, too!

A great job and best wishes to every rescue worker who is down in Haiti doing something to help—and here’s to hoping everyone makes it home safely.

An open letter to the members of the Washington, D.C. Fire and EMS Department, as well as all readers/fans of RaisingLadders:

Every single
day, I’m damn proud to polish my boots and walk into the Academy with our patch
on my sleeve. Some don’t understand why it’s so important—all the lint-rolling,
the posture adjustments, and shoe-shining can become annoying, for sure—but
it’s necessary. It’s necessary because these actions are the outward
representations of my place within something so much larger than myself. This
fire department has garnered so much respect from those who have walked through
these halls before me, and will inevitably continue to do so for years after
I’ve been forgotten.

This is it,
friends. This is the show. It’s where we all strive to be; nay, it’s the very reason
we’ve trained and waited for countless years—and I’m here now. That’s a pretty
monumental achievement, and I think it would behoove every recruit (as well as
all potential recruits) to keep that in mind.

That being
said, there are a few things I’d like to state for the record regarding RaisingLadders.
Call it a disclaimer if you wish, but I feel that it’s time to clarify a few
items before they become larger issues.

RaisingLadders.com
was created out of a desire to chronicle my adventures through the D.C. Fire
Department. Being accepted into the Training Academy was one of the most
pivotal moments of my life thus far, and it will forever affect me regardless
of where I end up. I had always planned to write about my time with DCFD (as I
greatly enjoy writing whether I have a readership or not), but it wasn’t until
about a month before I started that I began toying with the idea of publishing
a blog.

Perhaps it was
set in motion because I wanted to let my friends/family know why I was getting
up at 4 a.m. every day; perhaps I just wanted a way to write stories and not
have an editor breathing down my neck (“…besides,
who would really read it anyways?”).

I’ve received
emails from people all over the country who have asked me about my experiences
as a recruit. Most are DCFD applicants themselves; others have asked if I
wanted to be featured as a guest writer in their own blogs. I’ve shared with
them as much as I know, with no opinions or negative influences. Again, I’m
extremely proud to be a part of D.C.’s bravest, and I expressed as such to
them.

I do not write
this blog with any slanderous motives; nor do I write with an intention to
“blow this whole thing wide open”—RL is by
no means a journalistic expose.

I’m simply
writing about some of the best years of my life, spent performing one of the
most exciting jobs in the world. I love to write, and I love my career—the two
couldn’t be paired more perfectly.

I write to
share the new emotions I experience, as well as to discuss my excitement at
becoming a firefighter (something I’ve wanted to do since I was fifteen years
old). I write to share what I’ve learned each day, in the hopes that maybe
someone else will be inspired to do the same. At the very least, I hope a few
armchair adventurers out there can live vicariously through me.

If any
person(s) involved with DCFD (which includes, but is not limited to: IAFF 36,
administrative members, firefighters, instructors, recruits) has any problems
or questions regarding my writings, I
invite you to contact me directly (raisingladders@gmail.com) and/or leave
comments on the blog. I welcome your ideas, and would love to know what you
think.

I will continue
to uphold my anonymity, despite the fact that it’s really not that hard to figure out who I am; I feel that I should
respect those around me by keeping their personal information private (I, on
the other hand, have pretty much passed the point of plausible deniability).

I will do my
best to properly present the Department in an honest light; so far, it has been
an exceptional experience and I simply cannot wait to see what the next day
brings.

I thank all of
you for taking the time to read RaisingLadders.com; I pen it with sheer pride,
and I can only hope you have as much fun reading it as I do writing it.

Sincerely,

/RL

P.S. – In case
anyone was wondering, the name “Raising Ladders” came to me in a bolt of
inspiration one day. Yes, I know that if I’m assigned to an engine, it won’t
make much sense (seeing as the truck companies are the ones throwing ladders);
however, it struck me as a very apropos phrase. Ostensibly, it refers to
firefighting operations; but I found it well-suited to describe the many steps
I’ll have to take in order to become a working member of the D.C. Fire
Department.

Where I am now
in life is like climbing a ladder; I take it one day at a time, and I try and
learn something every step of the way.