First Day on the job with Fire

[Divinus Arma]

I started my new job on Tuesday. From the information I was given by Human Resources, I was expecting only an orientation and to receive my uniforms. I was immediately assigned to a Station and ordered to work the full 24 hours. I was thrilled.

At around 7pm I arrived at my station to meet the captain and crew, and was warmly welcomed. Great people. As dusk turned to night, we started going over my equipment and gear to ensure I had everything. As we were doing so, we received a call of a wildland fire on a mountain in our area. To my surprise, the captain had me get into gear and join the crew to the fire. He explained that because I had no training yet, I would be sitting back with the division chief while the rest of the crew went up.

As we approached the mountain, I could clearly see the fire in the distance far up the side on a steep slope. It lit the area with a red glow while smoke, flames, and embers lifted into the sky. The captain and I drove up the mountain on some dirt training roads in the fire attacker (a Humvee), and reached the staging area/safety zone in a large clearing 1/2 mile below the fire. There was already one engine company at the incident with a brush truck and our brush truck was following behind us.

As the captain approached the chief for a brief with me following behind him, I could hear the crew far up the hill cutting their way to the fire with a chainsaw. Smoke and embers continued to lift into the now-dark night sky. The chief then ordered my captain up the hill, and me with him. We eached grabbed a tool; Him a shovel, myself a McCloud (a type of tool with a rake and horizontal blade on one end), and started the hike up. The hill was extremely steep and the foliage was thick with trees and high shrubs. We slowly followed the cut path up towards the sound of the chainsaw until we emerged at the anchor point of the fire line (a small clearing). Now I could see the fire on the ground. It had burnt out a large clearing, but a canopy of small tress was above both us and the fire. The flames licked at the branches, crawled up trees trunks, and stalked through the thick layer of leaves on the ground. Behind the fire, embers and coals glowed in black ash. Eight firefighters were working next to the flames, building a fireline by sweeping the fuel (brush and leaves) away from the fire. Meanwhile, the chainsaw continued to cut a path around one side of the fire.

The flames began to climb higher up and one of the firefighters yelled for a shovel. The captain handed me his and ordered me to run up and pass it along to them and come back. When I arrived on the line, the crew told me to start throwing dirt. My captain called up "He has no training yet", and a crew member responded "we'll watch him". The heat was intense and my blood rushed with adrenaline. I immediately started shoveling dirt onto the fire, and as I did so the other crew members explained what to do. As I began to dig in, other crews arrived until there were five or six engine companies cutting a line.

We worked our way completely around the fire, digging and cutting a path for a few hours until we had the entire fire area surrounded with the line . The fire then began to burn itself out, and we assisted this process by throwing dirt whenever flames began to reemerge and gain strength. Everyone was exhausted with the labor and low on water. We turned off our lights to conserve batteries and sat down for a break. Underneath the night sky, the embers glowed within the ash with an eerie warmth.

Finally, a crew brought up two lengths of hose, one for each side. We worked the hoses along the line until both nozzles met up at the top. I noticed my fellow firefighter from my company at the nozzle end and I stood behind her with the hose to back her up. To my surprise, she handed me the hose and told me to start spraying. We worked our way around to the bottom, stirring up the embers with a stream and cooling 'em down with a wide spray. Once at the bottom, myself and the other hoseman climbed our way up into the burnt area, attacking the remaining hot spots from below.

This is the best job I've ever had. I must be one of the luckiest bastards I know. And it is only going to get better.

Here's a pic after we got back to the station.



Cheers.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Sounds like a sweet job, DA. Keep up the good work and stay safe!

Crazed Rabbit

[Pindar]

So, you're a bus driver?

[Banquo's Ghost]

Well done, and I'm pleased to hear that you are enjoying the job so much!

I'm a bit concerned that your superiors would put you in such situations without appropriate training, so make sure you don't overstretch yourself through enthusiasm. But that's probably me being Euro-cautious.

Be careful. Have fun. Long may it continue.

[Reverend Joe]

You have lights on your feet.

I thought only dorky byciclists did that. (Actually, that's not entirely fair... they usually just strap flashers on their ass.)

[doc_bean]

Something I've always wondered about firemen: what's with the 24h shifts ? Is there a reason they can't work in 12h or even 8h shifts ? 'cause I ain't seeing the point...

[The Spartan (Returns)]

Sounds like a sweet job, DA. Keep up the good work and stay safe!

Crazed Rabbit

seconded.

[ajaxfetish]

IMO among the noblest professions on Earth. My dad's been a volunteer firefighter for years and occasionally semi-professional. Hats off to you for the risks you take for others, good luck, and God bless. I'm glad it seems a good fit for you, too.

Ajax

[LeftEyeNine]

I think your choice is one of the best for a retired soldier, pumping enough action altered according to your profession and age.

Do well be well

[yesdachi]

DA, you do have a flair for telling a story, seriously, I was captivated, thanks for sharing!
Good luck tomorrow.


Throw in a little drama, maybe a gangster on the run from his boss and the fed’s or a trapped group of kids and their hot scout leader that need a rescue and you have a “Best Seller” maybe even a movie deal.

[Xiahou]

Reminds of of the Discovery Channel show Into the Firestorm.... I think it's been cancelled though.

[Reenk Roink]

Very noble occupation...

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

You lucky bastard.

They take one look at you, throw the manual out the window and you end up a hoseman.



You must have looked confident, great story btw.

[discovery1]

Congradulations DA! Great to see that you love your new job. How long will training take?

[Jarardo]

Sounds pretty awesome, I wish I thought of police the same way I do firemen.

[Divico]

Keep posting. As a volunteer fireman I'm always interested what the pros are doing

[Vladimir]

FIRE!!!



Well then, go on now. How 'bout a bit 'o OJT?

[Divinus Arma]

Had a fatal Traffic Accident the other night. Luckily I have seen many of these with my previous job, so I don't get too bothered when I see the dead and injured. A Ford Explorer went off the Interstate, rolled, and slammed into a large dirt wall. All four passengers were ejected due to no seatbelts. The young lady I was working on had a neck like a zig-zag and was clearly broken as well as a deformed shattered left tibula & fibula, broken right clavicle, and broken right forearm. She was screaming as best she could as we got her on the spine board and immobilized her neck. She would start to fall asleep, and I, while holding her head in place, would yell down to her: "Honey, Stay with me! Wake up!" Her response would be to wake up, frantically look around, and then start screaming again. She was about 15 feet from the car. The other three were thrown over 100 feet over the dirt wall and down into a rocky ravine. The 18 year old girl who died sustained massive head trauma. Her 19 yr old boyfriend, who's face resembled ground beef (smashed jaw- no teeth, blood pouring from his mouth all over the place, etc.), was found weeping over her body and had to be pried away. He was actually the lucky one. The last person, a 30 yr old parolee, was critical with various internal injuries and broken bones. It is a wonder that those two men lived, considering the distance they were thrown.

Normally, when one is involved in a rollover with no seatbelt, they are thrown halfway out and the car rolls over them, cutting them in half or squishing out their insides like a beetle that got stepped on.

Almost every traffic accident death I have ever seen came from one or more of the following factors:

(1) No seatbelt- This last accident, plus a guy who slammed into another car head on and planted the rearview mirror into the back of his skull. Also, three Marines were involved in a rollover and were all squished together under the vehicle. We couldn't tell how many there were in the bloody mess until we observed an extra foot.

(2) Speed- A young Marine picked up his girlfriend who snuck out of her parents house. 15 Minutes later, he spun the car out on a curvem where the back end then struck a tree. That car exploded and caught fire, and witnesses heard the girl screaming as she burnt alive in the vehicle.

(3) Alcohol- Too numerous to list. The driver was drunk and did some stupid passing manuever. The truck was going so fast that it rolled seven or eight times, with the force so great that it exceeded the load capacity of a passenger seatblet causing it to break and launching the guy out of the vehicle where his head struck a railroad tie. Brains everywhere. We tried to hide his body from the slowly passing amtrak train full of wide-eyed shocked passengers.

(4) Falling Asleep at the wheel- An illegal immigrant fell asleep and crossed into oncoming traffic, he woke up, jammed the wheel to the right, spun around and was slammed by an SUV into the driver's side door. We found him in the backseat.

(5) Motorcycles- A guy was cruising along on his cycle on the freeway when He was struck from behind. He was launched from the bike and was struck and dragged by multiple vehicles. We found his remains spread out over 1/2 mile.

Any one of these is bad enough, but the more you mix the better your chances of death. Speed increases severity, Alcohol guarantees driver error, and no seatbelts are almost always a free ticket to a dirt nap. Motorcycles are just inherently dangerous due to their limited protection.

Anyway. The job is going great. Hard work of course- I am guaranteed to sweat my balls off every day, but I love it.

EDIT: Photos.

[Crazed Rabbit]

That's horrific, DA. I hope the rest of the people turn out okay.

As a side not, I filed traffic accident reports over the summer part of the time, and the most common cause of an accident in the reports was someone pulling out from a stop sign onto a road and striking a car or getting struck.

Crazed Rabbit

[Quid]

That's horrific, DA. I hope the rest of the people turn out okay.

As a side not, I filed traffic accident reports over the summer part of the time, and the most common cause of an accident in the reports was someone pulling out from a stop sign onto a road and striking a car or getting struck.

Crazed Rabbit

Ok, that was the cause of the actual accident but what was it that made them disregard stop signs? Unattentiveness because of drunkeness? Tiredness? Drugs? Etc.

I gather that was what DA was talking about.

Quid

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Probably just plain unattentiveness/poor line of sight. There's a reason rotaries are way safer than intersections.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Ok, that was the cause of the actual accident but what was it that made them disregard stop signs? Unattentiveness because of drunkeness? Tiredness? Drugs? Etc.

I gather that was what DA was talking about.

Quid

Sasaki's got it; not paying attention, mostly.

Also, DA's reasons were associated with traffic accident deaths. It sounds as though CR's reports were for accidents in general. Bad timing pulling out may cause more accidents, but how many of those are fatal?

Good point.

Crazed Rabbit