Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner!

Well folks, here we are. Thanks to all who submitted an entry, I really enjoyed reading them all. Let me say that I am surprised on several counts. First of all, I am surprised that I was able to keep my agency a secret for the 28 months that I have been writing this blog. Second, I am really surprised how close most of your entries were to my agency.

When I announced the contest, I was surprised at the number of people who took some time and went through the archives, researching and trying to figure it out. Maybe that research helped to come up with the closer guesses.

Of the entries received, San Bernardino County Fire was the number one guess, with it accounting for 25% of the entries. Riverside County Fire was the #2 guess with 15% and Contra Costa County came in third with 10%. None of the above were the winning entry.

The remainder of the entries were guesses from around the state, with most of them being in the south. A couple of the entries were really really close, I'll write more on those in a bit.

One entry correctly guessed my agency.

Rambling Chief, a fellow blogger, submitted the winning entry on August 31st. He correctly identified the City of Riverside Fire Dept. (RIV) as my employer, where I worked for the past 28 years. Congratulations to him, I hope he enjoys his "new to him" flashlight.

For the past 7 years or so, I have been assigned to Sta. #13, the best designed station that I have ever worked in.  I was lucky to get that assignment and I know it.

One entry, posted by Thomas guessed Riverside County Fire, probably Sta. #6. That is a remarkable guess as we once shared that station with them, back in the day before The Healing Place was built.  County Sta. #6 serves the City of Moreno Valley, which shares our eastern border. They are literally a two minute code- three drive from my station.

FireLady was just a little less specific, guessing Moreno Valley Fire. Again just next door and a very good guess.

Another interesting entry was from Brenton H, who guessed Riverside County Fire, Sycamore Creek Station. Although that station (RVC sta. #64) is about thirty miles from us, it is remarkable as we have a station known as the Sycamore Canyon Station. Pretty close to the pin if you ask me.

I must admit that a part of me will miss blogging anonymously, though I won't miss editing and cropping photos in order to hide their origin.

 It would have taken me 30 minutes or more to "sanitize" this shot!

I will be writing about more about my agency in the future. It was a pretty good place to work.

Thanks to all who entered the "Closest to the Pin" contest and congrats to Rambling Chief for getting the ball into the cup. Thanks to you for reading,

A grateful Schmoe