Thursday, October 20, 2005

We left the timeshare for downtown Nashville after eating breakfast. Karyle wanted to see the Country-Western Hall of Fame there. We headed in the Lebanon Pike and drove by Station 9 on the way in. Engine 3 was there and Ladder 9 was out. I got some much better photos of Ladder 9 in the sun. I dropped her off around 1030 hours and headed out southeast to Station 4.

I got a photo of Engine 4 and Station 4 and found out how to get to Station 6 from firefighters. I headed there and got photos of Engine 6 and Station 6. They have a super view from atop the hill they are on.

I headed to Station 10. They have one of the few Freightliners in the department. I got a photo of it and the 1953 Oren classic they use for parades and funerals. It is actually an old Nashville 750 gpm pumper. There is usually a 1966 Seagrave stored there, but it was gone today. A couple real nice firefighters gave me a patch and told me I should go to the nearby Brentwood FD to see some “nice” apparatus.

I headed to Brentwood Station 1, about three miles away. Brentwood is the really rich area, home to many of Nashville’s celebrities. I got a photo of Engine 1 (Sutphen)when they pulled it out for me and Ladder 1 (one man company) inside of the station. They asked me if I’d ever heard of a KME before (Keep Mechanics Employed). I told them, yes I’ve heard that before. The department operates four engines (one a quint) and has the one 75-foot International/KME 75-foot ladder.

I had two stations left to visit on the north side. Karyle had called and said it probably would be some time before she finished touring the CW Hall of Fame. I headed up the freeway to Station 23. Just as I was shooting the station, I heard them dispatch companies to a fire in Station 28’s area. It was Engines 28-15-4, Ladders 28-9, Rescue 2 and a District Chief. I heard Engine 28 report they could see smoke from some distance. Then I heard them say they had flames visible and I heard some companies asking directions on how to get in there.

I headed to Station 24. The firefighters at 24’s were very accommodating and pulled out the engine for me. I then decided to head across town (I was in NW Nashville) and to the fire in SE Nashville. I heard the fire address was on Stewarts Ferry Road. I checked the map and headed to that area (approximately 18 miles away). I drove right through town and made it in pretty good time. They had moved Engine 35 and Ladder 19 into Station 28 to cover.

I was Engine 35 coming in to fill in at 28s as I was going to the fire. I drove the full length on Stewarts Ferry Road and never saw anything. I gave up and decided to go to Station 15 (the last one I had not seen here). I found Station 15, but the fill-in company there must have made a run. I got a station photo anyway.

I kept hearing reports from the fire scene and decided there must still be fire there. So I drove to nearby Station 28 and asked the fill in companies how to get to the fire. They said the fire was on the left side, about a mile down Stewarts Ferry from Lebanon Pike. I drove the two miles to the area, turned left about a mile down the road and ended up in a huge housing development that wound its way through the hilly countryside there. After looking around for about another 10 minutes there, I got back on Stewarts Ferry and headed back towards Lebanon Pike. I had seen another turn off a ways back and thought I’d check that out.

When I turned off that road, I wound around a huge windy street that was not even on my map. I eventually came across a Community College with an old Nashville Engine filling its tank from a hydrant. It was Tanker 32, a 1989 Mack/FMC 1500/750. The firefighter told me how to get to the fire. It was a vacant storage facility out in the woods, where there we no hydrants.

I drove out the narrow road under a very narrow railroad bridge and then saw companies up on the hill to the right. I pulled up the narrow road and parked up where the apparatus was. Engines 4 and 15, and a district chief were still there. Engine 28 and Truck 28 must have been another side road as I didn’t see them. I quickly got a photo of what was left of the fire building and Engine 15 and then headed back down the narrow roadway as Tanker 32 was coming back up with more water.

I get a kick out of Nashville. They haven’t bought a tanker in recent years, so they utilize spare engines as tankers. The problem is, the spare engines all have 500- or 750-gallon tanks and their regular engines have 1000-gallon tanks. It doesn’t quite make sense to me to take a 750 gallon capacity vehicle and refill it rather than use a 1000 gallon engine and refill it at the nearest hydrant. Oh well. I’m not the fire chief here.

On the way back, I drove by Station 28 again and the fill-in companies were still there. About this time, Karyle called and said she was done. I headed back in Lebanon Pike and gassed up for tomorrow’s trip north ($2.65/gallon). I picked up Karyle around 1545 hours downtown and we headed back to the Fairfield comlex.

That’s it for today’s report.