Miscellany

Unfinished Business - I received an e-mail this morning, I think from Jim in Albany Co. NY. The problem is that the delete button on my new phone is awfully close to the "home" button and I inadvertently deleted it. After realizing what I had done, I tried to get to the recycle bin and recover it. Mission Fail - it is gone for good. Jim, if it was in fact from you, I apologize for not replying. It's what happens when someone is not as smart as their phone. Thanks for the kind words.

My Little Rice Burner - I finished cleaning it up  just in time for the December Vintage Motorcycle meet-up. I didn't get it running, as I was waiting for a carb-kit to arrive. I didn't get it until the night before the meet up and I didn't feel like tearing into it on the day of the meet so it was all show and no go.

It's a 1979 Honda CT-90 Trail 90 and it is in original unrestored condition. The only parts on it that are not original are the tires, battery and an exhaust bushing. It has 1400 orig. miles and is complete.

It's funny, but I wouldn't have been caught dead on it when I was in high school - it wasn't fast nor cool enough. Now, I wouldn't part with it. It is the only vehicle I have ever owned which is worth more than I paid for it.

Why Billy's Helmet is Crispy - In my last post, I posted a picture of my friend Billy. A reader BG Miller commented that Billy had a seriously crispy helmet. Billy teaches a lot of structure fire control classes, I caught up with him again this morning.

In this sequence, Billy is holding the fire to a bedroom, while the "attack crew" manipulates a forcible entry prop before entering the structure and attacking the fire. Billy needs to keep it to that bedroom without reducing the heat or flame. He is applying water to the ceiling, cooling the gasses and hindering spread.

If you look close enough, you can see Billy laying on the floor, looking into the room of origin. He applied some water to the seat of the fire as working the ceiling wasn't effective.

 After knocking a little heat out of it, Billy goes back to the living room and awaits the fre attack crews, who he could hear finally making access. He was, I am sure, quite warm. The above process makes for quite crispy helmets when performed on a regular basis. Notice all of that and the thermal balance is still intact. I was less than 20 feet away, on room air and quite comfortable.

Funk Therapy - The Saint and I are headed up to Beatty NV early tomorrow. We are taking El Cheepo Jeepo and are meeting five other couples for five days of jeeping around the Death Valley area. It should make for some interesting photos and these people are really fun - they are the same group that we went to Darwin with in November. I don't know about internet access so it may be a while before I can post again. We should be back on the 2nd, looks like it's New Years in Beatty.

We are leaving the boys, I hope we still have a house when we get back.

Happy New Years to you all and Thanks for reading.

Schmoe

Schmotographs

Sorry for not posting recently, I have been in a bit of a funk. Nothing serious, but I just have not been inspired to write or blog. I have been taking pictures like crazy though.

Click to enlarge.

My friend BIlly.

Crawl low under the smoke

Or not

One on one

Saw

ABC (not real)

Overhaul

Gratuitous "Huddle" shot

The above photos were taken over a couple of days at a training burn in our city. A large public works project requires that a dozen or so houses be torn down, the RFD has been able to conduct training burns in several of them. The days of taking them to the ground are long gone, so they have to be intact, overhauled and secure when we are done with them. Just like real life.

Thanks for reading,

Schmoe

New Truck 2's First Job

Ok, it wasn't a big job. Maybe we should call it a task or perhaps a chore. Regardless, smoke, heat and flame were involved, just not in the quantity and volume that photographers and young firefighters like to do battle with.

The guys sawed up and went to the roof (that happened before I worked my way around to the charlie side of the building) but the order was rescinded before the holing commenced. As you can see, the stick did make it up and by all accounts the unit is working very well.

Sometimes, positive pressure produces the desired effect without all of the joy destruction that a hole provides. They don't call the truckies "fan bitches" for nothing.

Tiller trucks were made for this environment. Back in the day, our rear mounts would have made it in here, but it would have taken some work. I doubt that the crew from 2's had to think twice about working their way back into the complex and getting set up.

It's funny, but tiller trucks fell out of favor around this area in the late '70s and '80s. They never really went away, but the trend seemed to indicate that elevated platforms were going to be the truck of choice. Some thought they were going the way of the dinosaur. While the popularity of various types of units well ebb and flow, I think tillers will be around this department for a long time to come.

Even though this wasn't much of a job, the layout of the complex called for a bit of a hose lay to get into the unit and upstairs. From what I heard, a neighbor had done some decent work with a portable extinguisher, keeping things from getting out of hand and confined to an area within a room. While disappointing from a photography standpoint, it was a good thing for the occupant and for the crews.
I guess in this instance, size didn't matter. The hose still needed to be cleaned and loaded.

I'm quite sure that new Truck 2 will be confronted with lots of fire in the future. Some of it will challenge it and it's crews. When it does happen, I hope no one gets hurt, the loss is kept to a minimum and that I am there to capture it through the lens.

Thanks for reading,

Schmoe