Tuesday, October 11, 2005

I monitored the Louisville area frequencies overnight and did not hear any fires in the area. When I got up this morning around 0700 hours and it was very overcast, I went back to bed. I awoke around 0830 hours when Louisville FD dispatchers sent a full assignment to 3117 Hale Avenue. While companies were still responding, dispatch told companies that a second call reported the house to be vacant. Quint 5 arrived and reported smoke showing. Soon after they reported a basement fire with extension to the first floor.

I looked outside and it was still very overcast. I hadn’t cleaned up yet, but I decided to take it in, as I was staying a block from the freeway ramp and it was only about 15 minutes away. I figured I could catch a bunch of companies from the west side (where I had not been before and where I had intended to go today anyways). By the time I got dressed, packed the computer and cameras in the car, took off, and drove to the fire, there were only three rigs left on the scene. I got photos of Truck 4 and Squirt 17, but missed the company on the far end of the block (they left before I could get down there). Oh well. Louisville still operates with four person crews on their ladders and four on the engines (very rarely with three).

I headed back to the motel to clean up. By the time I was ready to go, the sun was shining brightly. It was the first sun I’ve seen since I left Wisconsin on Friday. I got in the car and took the freeway up through downtown and out to the NW corner of the city. Engine 6 was gone when I arrived at Station 6. I headed to Station 22, quarters of Engine 22, Truck 4, and to my surprise, the LFD Museum. I met an awesome firefighter who first pulled out the engine for me and then picked up a key and took me next door to the attached LFD Museum. I was very impressed with very good quality display of photos and artifact. It was set up very nicely. The Museum only has a small apparatus display area. The apparatus display area did include a 1942 Chevrolet/1892 65-foot Water Tower, a hand hose cart, a hand ladder cart (only two wheels) and the front end of a 70s Pirsch canopy cab.

As we were returning around back to the station, Quint 5 pulled up with six firefighters and I got photos of it. A middle-aged female driver asked me if I’d take photos of her in front of the Quint as she said she was near retirement from the department. I got the e-mail address from her and told her I’d send the photos tonight. I headed to Quint 5’s house. I drove through a very nice area with many large older homes. At one point I saw three fire trucks turn left a block in front of me. I turned to follow them as they drove down a narrow road past a British Petroleum refinery. The gatekeeper, of course, would not allow me to follow the rigs inside the fenced area. The fire trucks were there for some kind of drill she told me.

I went on to Quint 5’s house. It was a fairly new quarters in an area with many beautiful new homes, many of them large and expensive looking. I wondered how there came to be so many new homes like that in this area of the city. I would later find out that there had been a housing project there that had been bulldozed.

When I got to Station 16 they were eating. I walked out into the shop area behind there quarters and noticed a commercial building across the street that looked like an old fire station. I got the info on Engine 16, took photos of an ambulance, a air-utility truck and the old Station 16 while I waited for the firefighters to finish their meal. Truck 4 was one of only four remaining tractor-trailer aerial ladder trucks left in the city. I sure wanted to get a photo of it- if I could.

Just as the firefighters were finishing their meal, I heard tones on my scanner and a few seconds later the bells going off in the station. Engine 16 and Truck 4 were dispatched to an activated alarm call. As the firefighters came running onto the apparatus floor they said they’d be right back. I took a couple fair photos of them responding, but decided to wait until they returned to get better photos. They were back in ten minutes and I got the photos I wanted.

I got lost trying to get to Station 15 (built in 1895), as the roads are all messed up by railroad tracks and Interstate Highway 65. I couldn’t find anybody around the station and left without getting a rig photo. I headed to Station 18, another oldie- but goodie. Engine 18 was not in quarters. I headed to nearby Engine 10 and Truck 8. I met a nice bunch of talkative firefighters who explained that they were operating old Engine 10 and Truck 8 as a Quint company as the station could not hold a newer quint.

The Quints here are supposed to operate with a crew of six, but on some days have only four. They were all created when an Engine and Truck company were combined and manpower reduced from eight firefighters to six. Quint 8 responds with both rigs on every call. I got a lot of info from the crew on the history and politics of Louisville government. It was interesting. On many occasions “Quint 8” will run with two on the old engine and two on the old truck.

I headed t Station 12 to get a photo of the department’s newest engine, a 2004 Seagrave. Everything here is Seagrave by the way. The department used to have a lot of Mack and Pirsch fire apparatus, but since the late 80s have been all Seagrave. I met a couple great guys there and they told me of a class that would bring all District 3 rigs to Station 10 at 1500 hours.

I headed to TeleSqurt 23’s quarters on the far SW side. The station was empty so I got a station photo. As it was nearing 1500 hours, I headed to Station 10. Engine 12 showed up, but nobody else. The crew from 12’s came out and told me that it turned out that someone went to the other stations during the day and gave them the class info. I headed to nearby Station 1, the newest station in the department. The station is adjacent to the airport and really does not have a significant first-in area. It does respond to the airport with the Airport FD and responds to the unincorporated area near where I am staying. The Haz Mat unit is stationed with them and the crew is trained in Haz Mat duties. A really nice firefighter pulled out the engine and dug out info on the two reserve (“Auxilliary”) engines kept in the station. The firefighter also told me that the old Edgemont FPD (four blocks away from the motel) is now part of the Okolona Fire Protection District. I drove by there on the way back to the motel, but there were no cars around. I was surprised to see that 90% of the houses in that area are gone (probably due to the close proximity to the airport, I would guess).

I got back to the motel around 1630 hours, just as the overcast haze returned to the area. It had turned out to be a very nice day here, mostly sunny, with a high of 73 degrees. Tomorrow I will visit the four stations I have not visited in the last few trips here and then head to Nashville (about 175 miles from here) to meet pick up Karyle at the airport. Thursday we head to Chattanooga to see Lookout Mountain and hopefully a few fire stations. Friday we return to Nashville to check into the timeshare week that Karyle traded for there.

That’s all for now.