WANTED: Captain 3A

As most of you know, we here at the "HIPPIE HOTEL" (as some like to call us) lost our beloved Captain James Firebaugh to a promotion. Yes, he is our new Battalion Chief here on the north side. Even though he's just down the road at Station 2, he left a big hole here at the Greenhouse. We are in search of a new Leader, Mentor and Captain. Please send resumes to 4803 Williamson Road N.W. Roanoke, VA 24012. We do have some criteria you must meet or need to aquire within your first six months. Here are the following:
1. Must have 12 years minimum experience in fire fighting (even though you won't use that experience often)
2.Must have knowledge of the County ie. territory, buildings, systems, hydrants etc.
3.Must have excellent communication skills (You must mark in and out with county on all calls, also switching to county tac channels on city portables is crucial)
4.Must be as diverse as the Engine you will be O.I.C of. (55ft. Fire Stix)
5.Must have knowledge of Fire Alarm Systems. (location of RESET button)
6.Must love all things A.R.F.F.
7.Must be able to demonstrate proper use of Stay Dry.
8.Must be willing to recycle.
9. Must have patience of a saint. (you will be Mulford's officer)
10.Must have good working relationship with Capt. Pope. (you will be Mulford's officer)
11.Must have a love and fondness for cats. Allergies unacceptable. (Fire Cat)
12.Must not be easily offended. (Drew Abel can be a handful at times)
13.Must have compassion for the elderly. (Friendship Manor Express Baby!!!)
14.Must be willing to beat Engine 9 in on all calls, be it a working fire, alarm or whatever.
15.Must watch repeatedly and memorize our Station DVD on being "GREEN".
16.Extra points are given if you drive a hybrid.
17.Must not mind having your own bedroom. (you do, however, have to share a bathroom with the LT.)
18.Must have a pure hatred for Nazi Zombies. Skills with the KAR 98 are welcome.
19.Must not be sensitive to mosquito bites. Bio-retention pond in the summer gets nasty.
20.Must be focused. Hooter's next door with their annual Bikini car Wash and all.
21.Must be able to tolerate frigidly cold showers. The hot water isn't all that hot.
If you feel you meet these criteria, send in your resume' and application immediately, care of Lt. Broadway

Problem Solved

We'll solve this.....here's your pics Willie and Rhett...who's talking now? Take note of the first pic, though it may not look like it it's actually a pic of Rhett and Willie at the new county station.....a couple of tools!

Moving on up!

In January of this year the Fire Department underwent several changes in preparation of placing its newest fire station, the Green House, in service. Included in these changes were personnel assignments due to vacancies left in the department. So, in addition to a new station, new crews were formed.

Talk to any firefighter, visit any fire house, read any blog and it is readily apparent how absolutely necessary it is to have a good relationship with the folks that you work with. Of course there are many references to the Fire Department “family”, which at times may seem cliché, but it is the absolute truth. Like any family, there needs to be someone to give direction, teach their children and guide them to make good decisions and become productive adults. Well in our Fire Department family at #3 A shift, our “Dad” is Captain James Firebaugh. When we received our new assignment in January he had his work cut out for him. As Captain he is responsible for everything that happens at our station, and much like a parent he watches over us to make sure we are productive employees.

With over 26 years of experience in this department under his belt, I would say he was more than qualified for the task. Not unlike any other family it was not without its growing pains. Getting used to new co-workers, equipment, and territory is not something that happens overnight. But with the Captain’s guidance and patience things came together quickly.

I had mentioned earlier that the Captain plays a key role in ensuring we are productive employees. Part of that is preparing us to advance within the ranks of the department, while at the same time taking advantage of any promotional opportunities open to him.

Well, one such opportunity presented itself and starting next A shift work cycle, Captain James Firebaugh will become Battalion Chief James Firebaugh!

We could not be more proud of his accomplishment and feel very fortunate to have been able to work for him. Luckily, we will continue to work for him, only now as our Battalion Chief on the North Side.

So, at 0750 hours the Captain will remove his gear from the big red truck for the last time. From now on it will sit neatly in the back seat of his Chief’s car patiently waiting to be donned at “The Big One.”

Captain, it has been a short 11 months, but a fun 11 months. We have learned a tremendous amount and truly appreciate the time we had together.

Doesn’t be a stranger; feel free to come by any Saturday or Sunday for some Pittsburgh potatoes, or any other night for one of Chef Mulford’s culinary delights.

Additionally, we would also like to congratulate Captain Terry King on his promotion to Battlaion Chief!

A-shift back at the helm. I realize that we haven't posted in quite a while, so some updates are needed. First and foremost, "The Green House" welcomes a new family member, Jensen Ela. She was born a week and half ago to Drew (Paramedic/ FF) and his wife Kim. We wish them all the best and can't wait to see their new addition! In the meantime, with Drew off on baby leave, A-shift has been holding down the fort. Today, is a rainy day, with no a whole lot going on thus far. Capt and Lt are cooking up some firehouse breakfast, while monthly's get accomplished by the rest of the crew. We haven't run too much "good stuff" in the last few cycles....definitely not wishing for it, but if we do have something, we will post some pics later. I guess that is it for now, we will definitely try to keep up with updating this thing throughout the rest of this cycle. Brothers and sisters, be safe...keep in the house! EKM

Brotherhood

As many of Battalion Chief Chris Brown's crew will tell you, Battalion Chief Brown taught as many as he could how important Brotherhood and Sisterhood really is. I know he would have been very proud to see the outpouring of Brotherhood and Sisterhood yesterday at his funeral service. We should be all very proud to be a part of this family we call the Fire Service. A huge thanks goes out to the Roanoke County and Salem firefighters that came out to staff our stations so Roanoke Fire-EMS personnel could attend the service. Honestly we can't thank you enough. I could go on and on to tell you what kind of man Battalion Chief Brown was but I suggest you talk to the men and women, family, and friends that knew him the best. To listen to them remember the life he lived is amazing. Please visit Mike Overacker's site here and Lt. Rhett Fleitz's site here for photo and video coverage of the service. Rest in peace brother and Battalion Chief Chris Brown.

I know I know......

We know we know, we don't blog on a regular basis but hey would you really like to hear about how many times we run into the county every day? Or maybe how we ran 3 EMS calls to Funky Manor? Or how about what we ate for dinner? We didn't think so but here is some of the latest happenings of somewhat interest. Recently we had a "PubEd" at the Chick-fil-A at Valley View with "Cow", what they lovingly refered to him as. Here's some photo op's with "cow", we think he might be Mac's secret twin. We also got a surprise visit from Bocock Sr bringing some special birthday wishes to Capt. Wallace. It was amusing to say the least! But seriously, Chick-fil-A is a great organization that does some really cool things for the community and we thank them for having us over and feeding us :). On another note, A-shift has adopted a vicious feline friend. Visitors beware because "Fire Cat" is on guard. Our new little friend has drawn blood on mulitple occasions. So you ask why do we even bother with the little guy that continues to bite us? Well we hope that maybe he'll develope a taste for someone else someday. Thanks to Drew for keeping Fire Cats belly full. Heres a pic of our blood sucking buddy posing for the camera out front. Middle day of the cycle we took a field trip over to the new William Fleming H.S. before school starts. Wow! It turned out to be a very large and very nice facility. E9, E13, L13, and M3 joined us for the tour. We learned a lot about the new building so that when we respond we will have a much better idea of where everythings at.....even the credit union in the cafeteria. I know what your thinking...a credit union in a school? We thought the same thing but yes there is a small Member One branch located in the cafeteria. Oh and btw the longest hallway is 220 yards long!

I'm sure by now that most of you have heard that our brother from the 9 House "Wheels" lost his father a few days ago. Please keep Wheel's and his family in your thoughts and prayers as we are here at the Green House. Wheel's if you need anything at all please don't hesitate to call your hippee friends. Funeral arrangements are as follows: Viewing at Salem Oakey tonight from 4pm-7pm and Funeral Monday at Salem Baptist Church 11am graveside. Thank you brothers at 9 house for keeping us all informed.

RW

Home Sweet Home

Seems our little friend has traveled far and near, but fear not he's back home in the ghetto. I think I may have seen a little tear in the corner of it's eye, maybe even a little whimper when I dropped him off to it's rightful owners. Suprisingly I made it out of 9 intact, i didn't get 2 steps in the door before I was cornered and threated with fake finger guns and one sneaky captain. Calm down fella's, the little guy is back home.....and I don't mean Capt. Wines(he's a little guy too). The little guy did get a chance to see a little bit of the world beyond the confinds of those crusty old walls. Did yall know he stared in Backdraft(he ate Kurt Russell for breakfast I think). I think even Denis Leary lost his job! Do you know who saved all those lives on the US Airways flight that crashed into the Hudson? It was our little friend, he's a natural born hero! He even went to pay his respects to St. Patrick......Like us on last day, he got to fight a little fire(notice where he's standing, hint hint).

As I mentioned above we did catch a little job yesterday. Not a whole lot to it but a little basement fire, but it was a working fire none the less. L2 was the first to arrive on scene and pulled their line to make the initial knockdown. E3 and M3 were getting our learn on out with Chief Manuel at the airport when the alarm went out and we were the next Engine in after having to jump our own call! We were all deeply saddened to have our ARFF training cut short by this silly fire. E3 brought the water in from a stubborn red-top and then layed an attack line in from side "C" into the basement. The fire was pretty well knocked down so we did a thourough overhaul and hung out til Joe and Becky cleared up. Other units on scene were M3, E2, E5, E9(oh yeah, can't forget the "heros" hehe), BC2, Jimmy on the service truck, Chris Price, and the investigators(sorry if I left anyone out). Also, thanks to Salem firefighter/paramedic student Hunter(ridin M3) for helpin out on scene. Here's a few shots of the aftermath I took with my phone.

Joe Hodgin investigating the fire, I think the cause may have been "mice with matches"....

If you look above the washing machine you'll notice a burnt up pipe hanging from the ceiling. We think this little buggar may have helped reduce the damage done by the fire.

Look in the center of this one, what do you see? Thats right kids, a propane tank!

In the top of this pic you can see the "guts" of a flexible air duct, I think our fire investigators may have got a better pic of this to be used in future training of the hazards of this stuff.

RW

Escapee? Closet hippee? Prisoner of War?

Looks like a mascot from the "Pebble" has run away.....maybe life really is "greener" on the other side of the fence!

First Day of cycle for A Shift

Hello all you blog readers out there....greetings from the GREEN HOUSE. It's been a good day here at #3 today. Nothing too out of the norm. Our fearless leader Capt. Firebaugh is riding Battalion 2 today so the chance of something crazy happening is a good possibility. He always says everytime he rides the car theres a big fire or something strange happens...we can only hope...lol. We did, however, celebrate his birthday today. We had a big meal and his wife came by with some cake and icecream. The cake had his alltime favorite fire truck on it....E-3...the old Combination Utility pumper Non-arial Truck. Man, what a pretty cake.
After a bit of "editing" by our very own F.F. Medic Drew Abel, the Cap liked it ever more.....

Note the absence of the 55 foot "FIRE STICK".....it looks like an actual engine now...lol.

We also had some special guests stop by for cake and ice cream but wish to remain anonymous for reasons only they and we know...lol

The Station 3 Challenge coins are finally in. They turned out pretty good I think. We did the coin in the "shiney nickel" finish and it features our mascot The Hulk on the back. The Raonoke Fire EMS logo is on the front. We decided to put 2nd Battalion on the back as well since the original 3 was on the south side of the city. I'm selling them for $10 so if interested give me a call.

Call wise, we've ran a run of the mill fire alarm, M.V.A. and an E.M.S. call in the county. nothing to interesting to write about.

If you see Drew around anytime soon....ask him about his bio-retention pond adventure.

Well...thats about it for us here. I'll udate the post if anything exciting happens tonight. Stay safe out there and have a quiet night.

Broadway

National EMS Memorial

For those of you who are unaware there is a National EMS Memorial Service held here in Roanoke every year to honor all the EMS LODD's of the past year. Along with the service there is an impressive Memorial Bike Ride that starts in Terrytown, NY(just north of NYC) as well as Painstville, KY both ending here in Roanoke. We received a call from Batt. 2 requesting our presence in the last leg of the ride from County Station #5 Hollins to Hotel Roanoke. There were a bunch of emergency vehicles in the procession. It was nice to see all the participants in the ride, they came from all over the country to our little part of the world to honor a brother/sister who passed. Here's some shots taken of the event. For more info on the service and the ride go here - http://muddyangels.org/ or here - http://nemsms.org/. This will be the last year the service will be held in Roanoke, it's being moved to Colorado Springs, CO due to the closing of the Rescue Museum. This years memorial service will be held at First Baptist Church downtown at 6:00 tonight(Saturday).
Besides that, not much more to report on from the Green House. Your friends on "C" shift are done with "hell" week and are goin on a Memorial Day 4-day!

RW

Miles away from ordinary

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Greeting from the Green House. It's been awhile since my last post and I apologize to all two of our readers ( sorry Mom). We've been pretty busy here lately with several house projects and ARRF training. For all those who don't know, Scott Bailey is finally back from his light doody...I mean duty tour. I know he's glad to be back and I speak from experience, spending a whopping six months on it a couple years back after breaking my ankle. Welcome back Scott!! Now our leftovers have a purpose once more.

Last day we worked, we have a structure fire in the county. The call came out at around 8:45 p.m. which didn't make Capt. Firebaugh all to happy since his favorite show "Deadliest Catch" was about to come on. Upon arrival to the Brookside North townhouse Complex, we had a fully involved structure.....

What you are looking at is a street light with a bird nest fully ablaze...lol. The clever little critter decided to build his home inside the fixture, which indeed protected him from the elements, but putting dried twigs next to a hot light bulb has disastrous effects. After quickly knocking down the flames, we called the Red Cross for a family of displaced birds. A.E.P. came soon after and performed some overhaul for us....thank God or bucket trucks.


Here at #3, being on a major cruise strip in the city, we've found it being nice sitting outside on weekend nights. Some have compared it to being at the beach....the heavy traffic, bright lights and the smell of fresh fried fish(thanks to Long John silvers being right beside us) so sitting outside is nice...just ask the guys from Medic 2. We had one problem...no where to sit. Luckily, the Fast Cash Loan shop beside us (formerly a Ralley's buger joint) donated an old fiberglass picnic table. After a bit of sanding, painting and reinforcing, the table looks good as new and looks awesome on our patio.Love that green color!!!

Another project we are working on is an assignment board. We are trying are best to "Firehouse" up this place and we thought it would be a pretty cool and traditional thing to have. I know Station 1 has one and #7 is working on one as well. We'll post some pics of that as well when we are finished.

That's about it for now. It's been a pretty easy day here so far. Did a little ARRF training this morning and ran a couple alarms. M-3 has done the normal too. And a final note....for all those of you who are collecting Station Challenge Coins, 3's is being minted as I type this. I think it's gonna be pretty cool. It has the same Department logo on the front and our Station logo in a maltese cross on the back. We will be selling them for $10. Plus we have Station decals for $3. Hit me up if you are interested. I hope you all have a good night, stay safe and keep it in the house.

Broadway

Don't drink and drive....

First, we apologize for the lack of posts last cycle, luckily for the citizens we were somewhat slow. Though while being a little slow we made up for it in training. We were able to train with the boys from the "pebble" doing a little pump training. We even let them pump our "aerial", if that's what you want to call it....Now back to today, there was a lesson to be learned - Don't drink and drive(or ride your bicycle). While the engine was sitting idle, the medic truck was out picking up Roanoke's finest. This afternoon we ran with E13 to Cove for a MVC, we arrived to find a small convertable carefully placed up the a$$ of a 4-door sedan.....whooops! No skid marks at all, guess when you blow a .23 things like that sorta happen. One down, cuffed and stuffed. Next one brought us down to BWW for someone who got a little mace in the face.....poor guy was just trying to do some illegal activites when mall security gave him matching black eyes.....yeah you heard that right....MALL SECURITY! Two down, cuffed and soon to be stuffed. Around 10:00pm the medic truck went out again for a possible bike vs. vehicle. Come to find out the poor guy was so innocently riding down the road when he fell off his bike......alcohol may have had something to do with it, but everyones "sober" until proven otherwise. After we hauled him off to RMH we went out again around 1:30am. We meet up with E13 yet again, but this time on the Hershberger Rd off ramp for a rollover. You'll never guess what we found when we got there.....you guessed it, another drunk guy stumbling through the field sobriety test(i think the cuffed and stuffed part indicated that he may have got an "F"). We finally made it to bed to rest up for another day, if this is how a Thursday went I can only imagine what Saturday will bring! Til next day......keep it in the house! Oh I almost forgot, last cycle we had a guest from #5 so we decided to show him how to rock.....with Guitar Hero(Weaver set a fine example). Don't believe it? Check out the pics! A big thanks goes to Gish and Brady for fillin' in at the Hippie Hotel.

RW

Last Day of A Shift's Tour

Hey everyone...it's your old Hippie pal Broadway. Sorry i haven't posted anything in awhile, I guess I've just got a case of the lazys and have enjoyed sitting out front of the Green House at night enjoying some good comeradery here with the other hippies. We had Dewayne "Christmas" Noell here filling in on the first day. He really enjoyed working here and i believe he is gonna put a letter to come here any day now...lol. He compared sitting out front with being at the beach. The neon lights, heavy Williamson Road traffic and the smell of fish from the Long John's Silver next door cooking is as close as it gets. Man...love them buttered lobster bites.

We got a few projects going on here at the Hippie Hyatt. For one, we are making an assignment board. Trying to firehouse up this new station. We are using an old chaulk board we aquired form Historic Station1 and yes....it's green. We think it's gonna turn out nice and we'll post pictures of it in its completion.

We are also refurbing an old fiberglass round picnic table that the nice people from the Quick Auto Loans next door so graciously donated. Remember, it use to be a Ralley's burger joint years ago. A bit of paint, some reinforcing of the benches and it sure be a nice fixture here. We are all about recycling you know. Pictures of it to come too.

The Green House Station 3 challenge coin is close to being minted. We are having 50 made up at first to see how they sell. Let me know if you are interested in buying one for the low low price of $10. It will make a nice addition if you are collected them.

We just got our Station 3 decals in. They feature out Company mascot...The Hulk in front of the station holding a halligan and a 2 1/2" hose. We are selling them for $3. They look very cool on your beer cooler. I'll save one for you Good O.

We've had a few calls today. One being an alarm at the mall. The good old Best Western. 9 Engine did happen to beat us in. Due to HAZMAT training, we were responding from Station 2. I'm sure we'll get some ribbing from the boys at the Slum House, Station 9, for beating us in. Guys, don't eat the paint on the walls no matter how sweet it tastes.

We got us a structure fire earlier today. A split foyer with the back fully envoled. E3 was first in since being at 2 for the HAZMAT drill. We initially went defensive because of the amout of fire there. The guys from Engine 6 said you could see the flames from S.E. It was a good one. I'm not the kind of guy who sits around and hopes for fires, but it's nice to keep your skills up. I'll post pics next day we work.
About an hour ago, we ran a possible suicidal person running down Hershberger Road. Some dude drunk and high threatening to kill himself with a razor knife. Now I know how them 9 guys feel....lol. Of course after spotting the guy who was on foot, he apparently hopped the airport fence and vanished into the night. After waiting around for awhile for PD and Airport Security to try and locate. The search came up a bust and we came back home.

Thats about it for us here. Sorry no pics to go along with the blog. A shifters...have a great break. Keep it in the house and have a good night. B-way

Lobster in a Can

It's that time of year again.....the ARFF simulator. The past two days have been full of ARFF goodness. Tuesday we played with pit fires, for those who aren't familiar the pit fires simulate a fuel fire with "mats" that are fed with propane. They require you to approach it with the truck and extinguish the "blaze" with either the bumper nozzle or the "snozzle". Next lesson was what I like to call the "lobster in a can" drill. They simulate a fire in the passenger compartment of an aircraft, but the simulator is more like a big can(you can assume which part we played in the drill). Today we got our "learn on" with brake fires and engine fires....yay. One added bonus to the day is that we got to check out the big UPS cargo plane.....being sneaky as I am I was able to snap some pics of the top secret stuff we saw. We would also like to thank Brady and Gish(our fill-ins) for being such good sports about our training. For a final thought.......always remember your PPE!

Pit Fires
Captain Wallace and Schrader making "entry" into the can.


Lt. Weaver and Gish fighting the big one.
Future ARFF CaptainGathering outside the UPS plane.Engine FireUPS Cargo Plane


RW