Day 0 & 1 - Intro & Minneapolis to Chicago

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Friday, November 28, 2003

Tomorrow I’m off again on another road trip. Karyle Hanson traded her time share in Kissimmee, Florida for a week in Sarasota, Florida the week of December 6 to 13. Karyle is flying into Tampa on December 6th. Because I had plenty of time, I decided to drive down and visit some old friends in Chicago and relatives in Savannah, Georgia on the way.

The approximate route of my journey and stops is as follows:

Day	Date		Travel			Spend night in
Sat	Nov 29		Mpls to Chicago		Chicago
Sun	Nov 30		Chi-Louisbille		Louisville
Mon	Dec     1	Louisville-Chat		Chattanooga
Tue	Dec     2	Chat-Savannah		Savannnah
Wed	Dec     3				Savannah
Thr	Dec     4	Savan-Seminole		Seminole Cnty/Orlando
Fri	Dec     5				Orlando
Sat	Dec     6	Orlando-Sarasota	Sarasota
Sat	Dec   13	Sar to Tampa		Tampa/Gainsville
Sun	Dec   14	Gainsv-Atlanta		Atlanta
Mon	Dec   15	Atlanta-Louis		Louisville
Tue	Dec   16	Louis-Chicago		Chicago
Wed	Dec   17	Chi-Mpls		Home

In preparation for the I obtained a number of city street maps of larger areas that I would travel through and then spent many hours plotting fire station locations on both the city maps and on Street Atlas USA (version 8). The addressas and company locations were mostly obtained from web sites on the internet. Many were obtained from various fire department websites, and the rest from various fire buff clubs.

I also needed to do extended research on the internet looking up the radio frequencies utilized by the many areas I would travel through. As much as I despise the trunk-tracking systems, more and more of the areas are now using them. As I don’t currently own a digital trunk-tracker, I did not program all the digital systems. I will purchase a digital trunk-tracker when one is manufactured that will pick up the new 9600 baud system being installed in the Twin Cities area. At present, none are available.

Using “Trunkstar” (a computer program that allows you to type information into a spread sheet-type grid that provides downloadable .swg files for my Pro-92 trunktracker. This program cuts the time required to program from hours to minutes. The Pro-92 is a 500 channel scanner with ten banks of 50 channels and 100 programmable user groups for each bank.

There are three separate file group tabs utilized for each program: 1) A 10 line table to record named bank, with a place to click on system type (EDAC, Motorola I or Motorola II for example). 2) A table to program the 50 frequenices, frequency name, private line frequency (if used), and boxes to click if you want “delay,” “lockout,” and whether this frequency is “trunked” or not. 3) A table with two columns, one for the trunktracter group number and the second for the name of the trunktracker group (for example: “Fire Ground-2”)

I came up with four separate programs to get me through the various areas I would visit. Trunked groups have an asterix (*). Digital systems, that I didn’t program have two asterix (**)

1		2		3		4
Mpls to Chi		Chi to Atl		Atl to Orl		Orl to Sar
Mpls-St P	0	Chicago	0	Atlanta*	0	Orange County*
Eau Claire	1	Gary, Ind*	1	De Kalb*	1	Osceola Cnty*
Madison*	2	Indianapolis*	2	Fulton Cnty*	2	Polk Cnty*
Janes-Beloit	3	Louisville	3	*Clay-Gwin	3	Hillsboro Cnty*
Rockford	4	Nashville**	4	Macon-Bibb	4	Tampa
	5	Chattanooga*	5	Savannah*	5	Pinnelas Cnty*
Cook Cnty	6	Cobb Cnty*	6	Jacksonville*	6	Manatee Cnty*
Chicago	7	Atlanta*	7	Volusiua Cnty*	7	Sarasota**
North Sun	8	Fulton*	8	Seminole Cnty*	8	Charlotte Cnty
South Sub*	9	DeKalb*	9	Orange Cnty*	9	Lee County*

There are some duplications- in areas where I would spend the night. In these locations I needed to include the stay-over city in a program for both arriving into the area and a program for leaving that area.

I’ve been checking www.accuweather.com on the internet for two straight weeks trying to figure out the best days to leave and miss any bad weather on the way down. I decided to leave on the 29th to maximize weather conditions.

I ordered film from B&H in New York City over the internet and it arrived a week before departure. I had the American Automobile Associate (AAA Mpls) make me a Trip-Tik for the entire route. They do come in handy at times.

To me, half the fun of taking a trip like this is in the preparation. I really enjoy getting everything prepared in advance so that if I don’t have to waste time on the trip in plotting stations or looking up information after the fact. It’s amazing, for example, how close you can pinpoint the area of a fire address on a map just by looking at the companies that are responding.

I think I am pretty well prepared for this trip. I will sure find out!

Your roving reporter.

Saturday, November 30th

I intended to be on the road by 7am, but problems with my light timers caused me to reprogram my system. I have an old Radio Shack clock timer system that sends out signals over the electric lines in the house to turn on and off various lights twice a day. I use the system everyday, but just to control two lights. For the trip, I have four lights that are programmed to turn on and off. I usually test all the lights the day before I leave.

When I awoke this morning, the front outdoor light (which should have gone out at 11:45 last night) was still on. I remembered that for some reason two of the lights will not turn on or off with the third one on. So I had to re-program the system so that the third light would be off when the first and second turned on or off. More fun!

I finally got on the road around 8am. It was 22 degrees as I left. I didn’t run into much traffic until I got near Wisconsin Dells. From the Dells area south to where 94 splits with 90 to go to Milwaukee, traffic was very congested. Most of the traffic turned onto 94 at Madison.

I didn’t hear much fire radio traffic going through the Madison area-just a couple rigs returning and a medical run dispatched was about all. It was about 30 degrees as I hit Madsion. Driving conditions were good- overcast and dry. There was a fair amount of wind and some gusts that would at times slide a big rig a few feet sideways every now and then.

It had been 18 years since I had traveled this route from Minneapolis to Chicago. I used to visit Chicago six times a year back in the seventies. It’s hard to believe it has been that long since I was in the “Windy City”.

I arrived in Chicago at around 2:30pm. It was still overcast and the winds were howling with a temperature of about 35 degrees. I am sorry to report that the city streets in Chicago are in the same condition that they were 18 years ago- rough and bumpy. I arrived at Paige and Donna Van Vorst’s house on Dakin Street around 2:45pm.

Paige and Donna looked great! I grew up with Paige in Minneapolis. We have been the best of friends since the 3rd grade or so. Paige is the one that really got me involved in fire buffing.

We started taking trips by bus in 1958 to visit all Minneapolis and St. Paul fire stations. Somehow we were able to transfer our way around the city by bus with only paying one fare. We also buffed by bicycle extensively in our early teens. Then at 15, we had our driver’s licenses and were able to drive when we buffed.

I will never forget the first out of town buffing trip Paige and I took. At age 14, Paige and I traveled by Greyhound Bus to Chicago to buff (times were a little safer then and Paige and I were pretty mature for our age). We stayed at the YMCA hotel (although they didn’t want to let us stay alone at first) on Wabash Street and walked our way around to many stations near the downtown area. We also took an “L” train out to visit 35’s and 43’s. The highlight of the trip was visiting Soldiers Field where CFD fire crews were training daily for their “1961 Chicago Fire Department Thrill Show.”

Paige moved to Chicago in 1972 and has been there ever since. Paige and Donna were married in Chicago in 1976. I was honored to be their “best man” at their wedding. Their son and two daughters are grown and have left the happy homestead on Dakin.

We sat around for a couple of hours and had a wonderful time reminiscing. Paige and Donna took me out to a fairly new “Father and Son” restaurant (the third one now in Chicago) on North Avenue. That was the same restaurant chain that CFD Firefighter Bob Freeman recommended to us back in the seventies. The food was out of this world!

We drove by many stations on the way and on the return trip. It was hard to believe that old deteriorating areas near Clybourn Avenue are now trendy, up-scale places to live. A lot has changed in the Windy City since my last visit. It seems like there are twice as many skyscrapers as the last time I was here. At least the fire trucks are still red over black!

Paige gave me many of the CFD updates. Completion of new Station 63 at 1400 E 67th is very near. Engine 63 and Truck 16 will move into the quarters. When they do, Engine 100 (a few blocks away) will close and the crew will become manpower for “Truck 6” at Station 13 downtown (Truck 12 was taken out of service there a few years back)..

New Station 38 is to be built somewhere closer to Engine 77 with that company closing to become a new Truck Company at new Station 88 at 59th and Lawndale. New Station 84 with Engine 84 Truck 51 will be built at 59th and State (Engine 61 may close). There is a new Helicopter and dive team station now at 95th and Lake Shore Boulevard. There are a total of six stations currently being constructed or near to groundbreaking.

I was surprised to hear that Mayor Daley had the run-way at Meig’s Field (small plane downtown airport on Lake Michigan) torn up suddenly during the middle of the night recently without anything warning before hand.

Paige, Donna and myself enjoyed the evening relaxing at their home the rest of the evening. There were a couple of working stills Saturday night and Paige also got a few pages for working fires in the suburbs. We sat up visiting until after 11pm. I had to hit the sheets as I was planning on getting up at 6am. Paige showed me the updated 5-11 Club website on the internet with photos of their recent 5-11+ 4 specials. We could easily have talked all night. I wish that I had more time, but I plan to stop on the return trip.

I was amazed when I got up briefly at 3:15am and heard Paige still up working on his Jazz publication. Paige has been the editor of the “Jazz Beat,” a New Orlean’s based magazine for seven years and was up until the wee hours putting one of their quarterly issues “to bed”.

Your roving reporter.

P.S. No photos today.

Day 2 - Chicago To Louisville (11/30)

Sunday, November 30th

I had set my alarm for 6am and when it went off I was not really ready to get up. But I did get up, cleaned up and Paige and Donna sent me on my way. I had a great time with Paige and Donna (as I always do). I was very sorry to have to leave, but was looking forward to my return visit on the way back north in a couple of weeks.

It had warmed up overnight. It was 38 degrees as I departed. It was still overcast and the winds had subsided a bit. I headed down to the always-packed Kennedy Expressway. We had seen it a couple times when we were out last night and it was a virtual parking lot. Let’s face it folks- it’s about half the width it needs to be!

This morning it wasn’t too bad. I quickly got down onto the “Dan Ryan” (at least it has a few more lanes) Expressway and headed to the “Chicago Skyway” near 63rd Street. The “Skyway” was in deplorable shape and under much needed repair. Speed limits were as low as 35 mph, but at least there we no backups at this hour on a Sunday morning.

I heard a few peeps from Gary as I traveled though the area, but they were all medicals. It doesn’t look like Gary has had much new development since I was last here. By the time I hit Interstate 65 on the east side of Gary the sun was shining brightly. There was an inordinate amount of traffic for a Sunday due to the four day holiday. Interstate 65 was packed almost the entire trip down to Louisville.

I arrived in Indianapolis around 11:00am (lost an hour at the Indiana border). I hadn’t planned to, but I got off near downtown and headed to Station 7. It was 55 degrees and gorgeous and I was hoping to catch a few rigs out, but everything was locked up tighter than a drum. Just as I was taking a station photo, Rescue 7 got a medical run. I caught a quick shot of them on digital as they departed. The sun was terrible for photos (shadows), so I decided to hit the next station.

I then headed to Station 13- or at least to where Station 13 used to be. On the way I started seeing hundreds of football fans heading south and west of the downtown area. Some were carrying signs like “Need 3 tickets” as cars drove by. I drove around looking for Station 13, but to my surprise found that the “RCA Dome” and facilitiesnow occupies the land where 13’s once stood (that’s why I like to prepare ahead, and here’s a good instance of where I lost time because I didn’t have the info I needed available). After I was nearly derailed into a parking garage that was charging $20.00 for game parking, I decided I better get out of the area.

I somehow found a sign that stated “I-5 South” and continued to follow those signs this way and that way until finally I got back onto I-65 and headed south. Travel was still very heavy on the freeway. At mile 56 of I-65, traffic slowed to a stop and then started to slowly crawl. A highway patrol car passed us all on the shoulder enroute to whatever had happened up ahead. I quickly looked at my trip-tik as I saw that there was a mile 55 exit. I noticed that Highway 11 went due south while 65 was going southeast. After about 11 miles I could take Highway 50 east a few miles back to I-65 and hopefully bypass whatever was holding traffic up.

I got off at exit 55 and was joined by a number of other vehicles who’s owners were probably familiar with the area and did a bypass of whatever incident there was. When I got back on I-65, cars heading towards Indianapolis were also dead stopped for a couple miles back. But southbound traffic was moving well at that point.

I arrived in Louisville around 1:30pm ans my car thermometer said 60 degrees. I got off near downtown and stopped at Station 5 (they don’t refer to them as we do with the station bearing the number of the engine company- they refer to them as “Engine 5’s station” for example). But I will refer to them as we normally back home for simplicity here. I spoke with a very nice captain who told me about Louisville’s older houses. He was nice enough to pull out the engine and I got a photo of one of their 2002 Seagrave pumpers.

Almost everything delivered since 1994 has been Seagrave. Ladder 2 was using was an old, very-faded, tractor-trailer Pirsch cab-forward. I didn’t get a photo of it. Then I headed to Station 2 and got an indoor shot of their Seagrave engine. They have a 1997 Seagrave tractor trailer aerial that I wish I could have got a shot of. Sunday afternoon is not a good day to try and get photos with football games etc on the tube.

I was advised that some of Louisville’s older stations are amongst the nations oldest still in operation. I headed to Station 17, which houses Squirt17. That station was built in 1907 and is quite a stately-looking, big old brick fire house. The crew there was great and I got a photo of Squirt 17 out front.

Next stop was the oldest LFD Station still in service- Station7. It was built back in the 19th century- some say 1864 and others say the 1820’s. It was built as a volunteer house as the city limits of Louisville ended at Jefferson Street at that time. Nobody seems to know when the house was built. They had an old faded spare Pirsch cab-forward pumper and I didn’t ask that it be pulled out.

I went by Station 9 (another Seagrave engine) and then headed to another of the cities older houses- “Squirt 21”. I got a station photo and headed to “Quad 6” (used to be Engine 4 and Ladder 6. There were some very helpful firefighters there that pulled out a very long 1998 Seagrave quad for photos- a very unusual rig.

Next stop was “Quint 10” (used to Engine 10 and Ladder 8). About nine years ago, the department made three quint companies from separate engine and truck companies). The rig is a 1994 Seagrave 1500/400 with 100-foot rear-mount aerial. They were very kind and pulled the “quint” out so I could get a photo. The quints run with four men as do most engines and Quad 6.

When I was taking a photo of “Quint 10 Station” I was not paying attention and as I backed up didn’t notice a curb, lost my balance and fell backwards onto a sidewalk. Uff-dah! Look before you proceed- you dummy. Luckily I fell on my fat you know what and was uninjured.

The sun was pretty low in the sky and it was already 4:00pm when I headed to find a motel. I’m staying at a Red Roof Inn on the edge of town kind of in-between Quint 9 and Quint 10.

I asked a number of firefighters here about the supposedly combined Louisville/Jefferson County Fire Service merger. Nobody seems to know what it is all about. Right now most of the other departments in the county are volunteer (although that is changing slowly) and the county does not have ambulance service- it is all contracted out. Louisville has about 15 paramedic ambulances (one paramedic and one firefighter) and at least one paramedic on each engine and truck company. There is some discussion that says either the county stations will get paramedic rigs and transport or that maybe the city will look into dumping the ambulances and they will contract. The Louisville ambulances are extremely busy.

When I asked one firefighter what was supposed to be accomplished by the consolidation he said, “I don’t think anybody really knows!” Time will tell.

That’s it for now. Take care.

Day 3 - Louisville to Chattanooga (12/01)

Monday, December 1, 2003

I didn’t hear any over-night fires in the Louisville area. In fact, I never even heard a full assignment go out while I was there. I’ll have to admit that I slept pretty good, so I could have missed something during the night.

It was only 40 degrees and sunny when I hit the road around 8:00am. I headed the short distance to I-65 and got on it, heading for Nashville. The road was great and not as busy as yesterday. There were three lanes a good deal of the way. I arrived in a cloudy Nashville around 11:00am (50 degrees) and drove straight through as my plan was to spend time in Chattanooga in the early afternoon hours before heading to the Atlanta area for the night.

The drive from Nashville to Chattanooga was very nice with mostly three lanes also. The climb and descent through the mountains before you get into Chattanooga is almost scary. The speed limit is 55 mph as you continually wind and climb the mountains. Then it requires a lot of braking as you wind and descend your way back down coming into the Chattanooga area. Don’t try coming through this area when it’s foggy- especially at night. It can really be dangerous.

I remember when our family drove to Savannah, GA in the early 60’s and we traversed this area (before freeways) in a dark fog- at night. It was scary! It was hard to keep the car on the road. The trick, we found out ,was to get close enough (50 feet or so) to another vehicle to follow them so you could see their tail-lights and where the road went. Our entire family was still shaking when we finally made it into Chattanooga to stay for the night.

There is some very picturesque countryside as you approach the Chattanooga area. I arrived in the city around 1:00pm and headed for Station 1. It is a fairly new house (about three years old) and combined the companies from old Stations 1 and 2. Engine 1, Quint 2, Ladder 1 and Squad 1, all run from the new house. They also have a brand new Haz Mat unit at the station, which is staffed by the Station 1crews. Almost all recently bought apparatus has been Central States Fire Apparatus on HME chassis (except for the Squads).

The sun was directly behind the station, so it was terribly hard to get descent photos of the apparatus. The photos I took inside were probably better. Chattanooga is buying a lot of Quints. The department has a number of Quints in service and they are buying more. In some cases they replace a single engine company. In another instance (like Station 13, the department replaced an engine and ladder there with a quint and a squad.

The department now has three rescues squads. All run with fully equipped triple combination engines, but operate as a squad company at the fire scene. The ambulance service here is operated by Hamilton County (similar to Minneapolis with Hennepin County ambulances). The fire department does first-responder responses with the Hamilton County ambulances.

I visited Station 5, Station 13 and Station 8 also as I traveled from west to east across town. I got photos where I could. Most stations have very short front ramps- not long enough for good apparatus photography. Stations 5 and 14 still have older tractor-trailer aerials. Those will probably eventually become quints also. Engine 8 just received the latest quint (and became “Quint 8”) about three weeks ago. I got a fairly good shot of that.

After I washed the car and had a quick snack, I headed south on I-75 towards Atlanta. It took me an hour and a half to get into the Marietta area, just north of Atlanta. The drive down to Atlanta was also on a very nice three lane freeway. The freeway had heavy woods along both sides through the gentle rolling hills I-75 traverses into Atlanta.

I arrived at 4:30pm and checked into a very nice LaQuinta Motel just off I-75. I am a few blocks south of Marietta Engine and Ladder 5. I was very pleased when I saw the room. It is a large room with a lounge chair, a closet, large desk, fridge, microwave, and extremely large bathroom. I am monitoring Cobb County and Atlanta (both trunked). The Cobb County trunked system also includes the Marietta and Smyrna fire departments.

As I’m writing this travelog (about 7:40 pm) Cobb County has a working fire somewhere in CC Engine 10’s first-due area. Engine 10 reports they have heavy fire and smoke showing on arrival and will be attacking the fire. They are requesting a water supply company. CC Engine 7 announces they are on the scene and are the water supply company. Smyrna Engine 104, CC Rescue 23 and CC Truck 22 are also on the scene. The fire was put under control in about 15 minutes. Sounds like the fire was on the second floor with extension to the attic.

Tomorrow, I plan on visiting stations in this area before heading into Atlanta. I’ll probably spend about three hours here before heading off to Savannah. The trip to Savannah will take about three and a half hours. I hope to get in there by mid to late afternoon. It will be great to visit my cousin Alfred Skaar and his lovely wife Paula again. I don’t think I’ve seen them since 1985. That’s all for now. Take care.

Today's photos: 3194- Chattanooga Enigne 1, 1995 Pierce Dash 1500/500 3195- Chattanooga Quint 2, 2002 HME/Central States/RK 1500/500/109-ft 3197- Chattanooga Squad 1, 1997 International/Central States 1500/500 3199- Chattanooga Ladder 1, 2000 HME/Central States 1500/500/104-ft platform 3203- Chattanooga Haz Mat, 2003 HME/Central States 3211- Chattanooga Reserve Quint, 1991 Seagrave 1500/500/100-ft 3219- Chattanooga Quint 8, 2003 HME/Central States 1500/300/92-ft RK (tank actually 500 gals, but too top heavy)

Day 4 - Chattanooga/Atlana Area (12/02)

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

I realized late last night that I was no longer picking up Atlanta on the trunktracker. It could be because of the terrain or maybe my location in the motel. I was disappointed to say the least. I’m receiving Cobb County, however, and they have been very busy.

This morning, Cobb County had another fire around 7:40am at 4197 New Town Road. It sounded like another dwelling job with fire extending into the attic. Engine 23 should have been first due (looking at the map). Engine 6 was the water supply company. I heard Squad 4, Ladder 22 and Engine 9 also. The fire was quickly knocked down.

I had originally planned on staying the previous night in Chattanooga and I had planned the trunktracker programs for going all the way into Atlanta. I did not program Cobb County in the Atlanta to Orlando program. As I was going to visit some Cobb County stations, I wanted to be monitoring that area. So me plan to download the Atlanta to Orlando program this morning was put off so that I could monitor Cobb County. My plan was to work my way south into the Atlanta area. I would have to download the trunktracker with the Atlanta to Orlando program sometime after I left the Atlanta area

I left the motel around 8:30am (40 degrees) and headed to nearby Marietta Station 5. I didn’t even stop (I tried to) at the station as the traffic was so bad and the lighting conditions were horrible. It looks like that is only a single engine house now (Ladder 5 is no longer). I did, however, start hearing Atlanta trunked radio transmissions again.

I headed to Marietta Station 4, on the other side of Dobbins Air Reserve Base. Somehow I got lost in the process and ended up near Cobb County Station 2 (Engine 2 and Rescue 2). I stopped in and took a look at the apparatus (older E One engine and Volvo Rescue), but again, the lighting was terrible. I was barely able to get a station photo.

Next stop was the Smyrna Headquarters (Station 1). They have a very large new administration complex and fire station with Engine 1 and Ladder 1 and their Battalion Chief quartered there. I got photos of their engine inside and they pulled their tower out for me. I also stopped at their Station 3 and got a photo of Engine 3 outside (identical to Engine 1).

My next intended stop was at Cobb County Station 4. I say intended because I was unable to find it. Apparently it no longer is no longer on Cumberland Road (which curves around everywhere). I ran it from one end to the other twice and never found the station. I gave up.

After getting lost, I found an entrance sign to I-75 and headed in towards Atlanta. I got off near Station 26 and got photos of a spare engine and their new ladder truck. The spare was a 1997 Spartan/Quality- the same as EVERY OTHER pumper in the department. It seems that Atlanta replaced the whole fleet between 2000 and 2003. The engines are all Spartan/Quality 1500/500 and the trucks are all Spartan/Quality/AI 100-foot tractor trailer aerials with the exception of three stations which (like Station 26) that don’t have long enough bays for the tractor-trailers.

The Atlanta area is a very hard area to find your way around. Because of all the hills and woody areas, most streets are windy and very narrow. Not many streets go one direction for very long. If my car wasn’t equipped with a compass, I think I would never find my way around Atlanta.

As it was already getting close to 11:00am, I headed to AFD Station 15, which used to house Engine 11, Ladder 11 and Engine 15. Engine 11 was disbanded since I was last here and Station 15 is the only house that has a different number engine and ladder (Engine 15 and Ladder 11). The firefighters here were great and pulled out both the engine and tractor-trailer aerial. I now had photos of every style of rig in the Atlanta Fire Department.

I was told that every on-duty battalion chief had a meeting today with Atlanta’s new Fire Chief Rubin. Some of you may be familiar with his writings in Firehouse Magazine. Chief Rubin took over yesterday and is meeting daily with the battalion chiefs on each shift.

It was almost noon when I left Station 15. As I wanted to get into Savannah before dark, I decided to head south on I-75. Cobb County fire radio seemed much busier than Atlanta’s this morning. It was almost 60 degrees when I left the city.

This morning I realized that I had never done much buffing during the month of December. The light is so low and the days so short this time of year that it is really hard to get good lighting for apparatus shots except between about 10am and 3pm. With all the trees in the Atlanta area, overcast is better for outdoor photography than bright sunlight (because of all the long shadows from over-story trees).

I got into the Macon/Bibb County area around 2:00 and picked up I-16 to Savannah. I heard a few radio transmissions on the vhf fire frequencies there, but nothing to note. The temperature was 62 degrees when I went through Macon. I couldn’t find the “Macon County Line,” but I remember seeing the Bibb County Line (Macon County is actually south and west of the City of Macon). I’m not sure if the movie was about Macon County, Georgia or Macon County, Alabama anyway. How did I even get on that subject anyway?

I arrived in Savannah around 4:00pm and headed to my cousin’s “Miracle Greenhouse” on Eisenhower Drive. I was amazed at how bad traffic has become in Savannah. The historic city has fought off freeways to keep it’s quaint old-fashioned image. Almost every firefighter that asked why I was heading to Savannah said that they vacation in this area almost every year. It is a very popular vacation spot for people in this area of the country.

I met my Cousin Alfred, his wife Paula and their recently married daughter Laura at the Greenhouse. We had a nice visit and then headed to my recently deceased Aunt Gloria’s townhouse nearby. I unloaded all my crap and will be staying there for the next couple of nights. My other cousin Chris (who lives in Acworth, GA) and his family had just stayed at the townhouse over the thanksgiving holiday.

I showed Alfred the old scrapbook I had brought with of photos of his father (my Uncle Lloyd) and my father (twins). The scrap book had photos from when they were very young to when they were in the service (during World War II). Uncle Lloyd was stationed in Savannah when he was in the coast guard and fell in love with the city. He moved here permanently in the early 50’s. Uncle Lloyd died unexpectedly in 1980.

Chris and his family took me out to dinner at a great restaurant (I forgot the name) where they provide pails of peanuts and you throw the peanut shells on the floor. They had very good food. I threw a few shells on the floor myself. On the way back we drove by a number of new Savannah firehouses that have been built out south since my last trip here in 1985.

We headed back to Gloria’s townhouse and visited some more before Paula and Alfred had to head home. I’ve got this beautiful three-bedroom, three-bath townhouse to myself. I’ve got lots of room, but no phone line to send e-mails on.

There has not been a lot of radio traffic on Chatham County’s trunked fire radio system. I’ve heard a few Savannah fire runs, but not much else. South County Fire (about ten stations, Port Wenworth (2), Garden City (2), Pooler, Bloomingdale, Thunderbolt and Tybee Island volunteer fire departments also operate on the Chatham County system.

That’s about it for today. Take care.

Today's Photos: 3224- Smyrna Ladder 1, 1996 Simon-Duplex/LTI 1500/250/100-foot 3228- Smyrna Engine 3, 1999 ALF Eagle 1500/500 3231- Atlanta Ladder 26, 2001 Spartan/Quality/AI 75-foot 3233- Atlanta Reserve Engine, 1997 Spartan/Quality 1500/500 3235- Atlanta Engine 15, 2002 Spartan/Quality 1500/500 3238- Atlanta Ladder 11, 2002 Spartan/Quality/AI 100-foot 3240- Southside Engine 2, 1988 Seagrave 1500/750

Day 5 - Savanna Area (12/03)

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

I heard a few Savannah fire calls during the night, but nothing you would consider a working fire. One I heard was a small kitchen fire, with some of the rigs returning within 10 minutes or so.

The City of Savannah has 12 fire stations with 12 engines, three trucks companies and two rescue companies. The city is extremely flat. I can’t remember ever seeing a hill in Savannah. Southside FD has 12 stations, however a couple are almost totally for ambulances. Southside has two tower ladders and a quint, that I know of.

I left my late Aunt Gloria’s place around 8:30am and headed to the two closest stations, Southside Station 2 and Savannah Station 7. Southside is a subscription department that operates in unincorporated areas within Chatham County. Savannah has taken over many of their areas in recent years, especially areas south of the “Old Savannah.” Southside also does much of the medical transportation in the area since Chatham County ceased operating their ambulance service. Does that sound like anybody else- maybe some department with the initials of R.M.?

I got photos of Southside Engine 2 and Squad 2 and Savannah Squad 2, Engine 7 and a spare Squad at Savannah Station 7. A few of the older rigs still in service in Savannah are still lime yellow (like the Squads). All of the Southside FD apparatus is lime yellow.

I stopped at the “Miracle Greenhouse” to visit with my cousin Alfred, his wife Paula and their daughter Laura- all hard at work. It was slightly overcast and about 50 degrees with a fair amount of wind blowing. Alfred was busy watering all the plants so I got a chance to chat with Paula and Laura. I also hooked into their phone briefly to check my e-mails.

After a bit I hit the streets again and headed to Savannah Station 1. Ladder 1 was off on an assignment, but I got a photo of a reserve piece being used by Engine 1. I headed to Savannah Station 8, but they were out training somewhere. I then drove out east of Savannah by the Thunderbolt Fire Department (volunteer) and got a station photo as there were no or anybody around or cars to be seen.

My next stop east of Savannah was Southside Station 8, which has a new Sutphen tower ladder. I got photos of it and Engine 8. Southside Fire Department is a combination paid and volunteer organization. There are usually only a few paid firefighters assigned to each station at a time and the rest respond in their private cars.

I headed back west towards Savannah and stopped at Station 9. The engine was out, so I got a station photo. I was beginning to wonder if my trunktracker was working as I hadn’t heard any runs this morning so far. I headed to Station 3, the headquarters station and the last station really left in the downtown Savannah area. For many years the station ran with two engines and a ladder truck and a battalion chief. Today, Engine 3, Rescue 1 and a Battalion Chief run from the very large station.

Just as I was taking a few scenery shots of Savannah’s unique historic area by Station 3, I heard a run dispatched for Engine 1, Ladder 1, Engine 8 and Squad 1. I’m not sure which battalion chief responded. I caught a quick shot of Squad 1 as they left the station.

I went back to taking some photos of the neat old homes and tree-lined streets along Oglethorpe Avenue. There is also a Chatam County Monument in front of the station for Fallen Firefighter’s. I got a few photos. I also caught a shot of Engine 5 when they stopped by briefly.

Station 5 was the next stop as firefighters told me they had a huge aerial ladder. I drove down historic Abercorn Street with square park parcels in the middle of the intersection every few blocks. They are very tranquil green areas, loaded with trees, flowers, benches and a few even have fountains. These small town squares every few blocks help slow down traffic and keep Savannah’s atmosphere of as an unique old fashioned, laid back, southern town very popular with tourists.

You see tourist trams all over the city and many sightseers walking about, shopping, taking photos of the historic homes and the downtown’s tree lined boulevards. If you are looking for skyscrapers, don’t expect to see them in Savannah. There is a limit of 15-stories for any building built in the city of Savannah. Many areas are further restricted to only four stories. All over the downtown area, old buildings and warehouses are being converted into offices, bed and breakfasts, and shopping courts. The exteriors of the buildings remain the same as many are on the historic building roster.

I arrived at Station 5 and a group of extremely nice firefighters pulled out their huge 1997 KME 103-foot tower. It is a big, heavy rig indeed. Firefighters said they are awaiting delivery of a tractor-trailer aerial, which should help them navigate the many narrow streets a lot easier. As I headed to Station 4, I drove back though the historic downtown area. It was noon and the streets were full of people and I noticed lines out the doors of a few trendy restaurants.

Just as I was pulling up to Savannah Station 4, they headed out towards the northern area of their district. I followed at a distance until I saw them down a side street. I pulled up behind them as they were calling on a house to install a free smoke detector. An anonymous benefactor ahs donated a large sum of money to the Savannah Fire Department to purchase smoke detectors with. Residents may call the department and the closest company will make arrangements to come to and install the detectors in your home. I got a photo of Engine 4 and went back to their new station to get a photo. I stopped for lunch at a nearby Arby’s and planned the afternoon trip.

Following lunch I headed out to the airport on the far western edge of Savannah off I-95 near the airport. Three years ago the city opened this new house, which is at least six miles from the next nearest firehouse. They anticipate great growth in this area of the county in the next few years and expect that another station with an engine and ladder will be built before long. This station runs with a 75-foot quint apparatus staffed with six firefighters (today they had five).

I headed back down I-95 and stopped at the Pooler Fire Department. As I pulled up I saw most of their rigs parked out front of the station. I got photos of all their apparatus, most of it fairly new. Next stop was Southside Station 12, just south of I-16 a couple miles east of I-95. Three firefighters were on duty manning an engine, a Mack tower ladder and a basic life support ambulance. I got photos of the engine and ladder.

The next stop was Savannah Engine 6 on the western edge of Old Savannah. I got a nice photo of the only Emergency One I had seen in the department. I had now made a circle (counter clockwise and a little bit jagged in spots) of the city and only had three stations left on the south end. I headed to Station 2, which is south of where I am staying. It is a unique house in that it was formerly a home owned by an area firefighter. The firefighter sold his home to the city and the city built the apparatus bays and wallah- a fire station!

I was in a little hurry as the sun was rapidly descending. I got photos of Engine 2 and Ladder 2 (a quint). When the city annexed this area of the city, they bought a home (right in photo) from a firefighter and then added apparatus bays to create an interesting station. The Southside FD still occupies a large station a block south of Savannah Station 2 on White Bluff Road. The station is occupied by a number of ambulances, which service both Savannah and the unincorporated areas of the county.

I headed south on White Bluff Road to Station 10, which is the southern-most station in the city. I got photos of Engine 10 and met a very nice seasoned firefighter who expressed his concerned over the lack of fire protection left in the core area of the city. Stations 1, 2 and 7 were at one time much closer to or in the downtown area and are now miles south of the city core. He directed me to Station 11, which is an old Southside firehouse. Savannah occupied the house about three years ago.

I ran into some very interesting and knowledgeable firefighters at Station 11. I was told that least year, the Savannah Fire Department responded to over 6,000 incidents. Why so low you wonder. The reason is because the Savannah Fire Department has never done any first responder service in the city. The county used to operate the ambulance service. That is now done on contract (mostly with Southside).

The police in Savannah and Chatham County recently merged. The city is now taking over the 9-1-1 service from the county. This firefighter expects there to be first responder service initiated in the near future. He also expects that the city of Savannah will be annexing many additional square miles of unincorporated areas in the county. He also said there already were plans for building a temporary Station 15 out near the intersection of Highway 17 and I-95. Two other fire stations are also planned for other outlining areas. He said that the Savannah Fire Department had grown from 150 plus firefighters to over 240 firefighters in recent years.

I made my way back to the greenhouse to meet my cousin and his family. When they closed the doors of the store at 5:30pm we headed out to dinner. They took me out to a wonderful Italian restaurant in the Oglethorpe Mall. Jennifer, Alfred and Paula’s other lovely daughter, joined us for dinner. We had a great meal. It started to drizzle in Savannah right after dinner. Alfred and I returned to Aunt Gloria’s home and we visited for some time. I tried talking him into coming up to visit Minnesota. I don’t think it will ever work out, as Alfred wants to fly and Paula wants to drive. Oh well.

It was so nice to see my relatives in Savannah again. I only wished that I could have made it down before Aunt Gloria’s untimely passing. I appreciate the time they took out of their very busy schedule to make my all-too-brief stay here so enjoyable. I will definitely try to make it back again soon, hopefully when it isn’t their busy season.

Tomorrow morning I’m heading to Jacksonville in the morning to do some buffing and then to the Orlando area for the night.

That’s about all to report for today. Take care y’all!

Day 6 - Jacksonville (12/04)

Thursday, December 04, 2003

It rained all night in Savannah. I got up at 6:30 and started packing. Luckily, when I started loading the car around 7:15, it was just drizzling slightly. I saw on the Weather Channel that the rain was barely touching the Jacksonville area so I was optimistic about still checking out some stations in that area.

I hit the road just after 7:30 (53 degrees) and it rained pretty hard as I traveled out I-16 towards I-95. As soon as I drove a few miles south on I-95, the rain began letting up. About 30 miles south the rain stopped all together. The roads to Jacksonville were in good shape, although I did see the remains of a few major accidents along the sides of the interstate.

When I pulled into Jacksonville it was very foggy out (62 degrees) and you could see that they must have had some rain earlier as the streets were wet. The Jacksonville motorcycle cops had a hayday with radar on one of the side streets I exited from the freeway. It was so foggy near the water that people couldn’t see the radar ahead and the police had four cars pulled over on the grass on the narrow roadway issuing citations. I caught a photo of Station 15 and then stopped in at new Station 9 (it’s been around a while, but I had never seen it). I ran into a Firefighter O’Neal who couldn’t do enough for me and pulled out all the rigs (engine, ladder and rehab unit) and then gave me a station patch to boot. Heck of a guy! The ladder truck used to be at Station 2, but when the new house opened they moved it a few miles north to the new station.

I stopped at Station 2 in route to downtown. They have a new ALF Eagle engine and the firefighters there pulled it out and gave me their station patch. More nice guys! I stopped at Station 1 but the ALF tractor-trailer was out. I got a photo of the engine and talked quite awhile with a firefighter there about manpower. It seems that the department is being guaranteed four firefighters on an engine and five on a truck through some negotiations with the powers that be. That sounds like good news to me.

I headed to Station 4, but couldn’t get there. That is, the streets were all torn up in that neighborhood and the only way I could get near them was to go the wrong way down a one way street (signs said I could do it as otherwise businesses could not be reached). Just asI was introducing myself to the firefighters out front, the horn went off and a firefighter yelled out, “It’s for Everybody!” Engine 4, Ladder 4 and the Hi-Rise unit (one driver) shot out of the station and sped down the street. I tried to get a few shots, but they were flew out of the station.

By the time I got to my car I was so far behind that I lost them after their first turn. I looked around the area for the companied but gave up and headed back to the station. The companies had returned before I did. It had been a small fire and was quickly put out. The sun was now shining bright in the sky as the clouds had all dissipated. I got a few more photos and headed for I-95. I drove by Station 5, but there didn’t seem to be any interesting rigs there.

I got on I-95 just after noon and headed south towards Daytona Beach. The temperature increased from 65 to 83 degrees in about ten miles. I couldn’t believe it. I must have been on the edge of that storm front- I couldn’t believe the difference. I had to turn the air conditioner on for the first time this trip.

The freeway from Jacksonville south was under construction for over fifty miles. It was not what I would consider to be fun driving conditions. I turned onto I-4 near Daytona and arrived in the Seminole County area around 2:30pm. I found a motel near Orange County Station 41 and checked in.

After unpacking the car I headed to nearby Orange County Station 41. I ran into a very sharp firefighter that I have run into before. He updated me on many of the changes that have taken place in the fir service in this area. It seems that Orange County has been doing some moving of companies. Engine 41 now operates with a Quint, and Ladder 41 is out of service. That means that Ladder 66 (about eight miles away) is now the OC truck for 41’s district. The firefighters at Station 41 are not too happy about it as they get a fair amount of action. Their ladder truck went to Station 54 near Sea World to become part of Task Force 54. Now there is talk of moving Truck 66 to Station 83 and giving 66’s the quint that 83’s now runs.

Orange County has opened two new Squad companies. Squad 3 is now at Station 42 and Squad 4 is at Station 83. Squad 1 has been at Orange County Station 50 for many years and Seminole County has Squad 2. Believe me, with all the crazy drivers down here, they need at least four heavy squads to take care of all the major incidents and more serious traffic accidents down here.

I was also told that Winter Park had opened it’s new station and that Winter Park was aggressively annexing unincorporated areas. The city is planning a fourth station in the near future. With these annexations, the Orange County areas of coverage near Winter Park are becoming smaller. Also, the new tower that Winter Park recently put into service can cover nearby areas outside of Winter Park (maybe that’s why they’re considering taking Truck 66 out of service).

I was also told that Orlando Station 9 now has a Ladder Company. I decided to head to Orlando Station 9 first. Truck 9 was in the house, I rain into a firefighter that I visited with before and he had the truck pulled out for photos. We talked for quite awhile. It seems that almost all of the Orlando rigs now sport the black over red cabs, similar to Chicago’s. The Chief “likes the look.” Station 14 has opened in a temporary facility and they’re talking about Station 15. It seems the city has slowed down its annexations and is attempting to “square off” the city instead of having the uneven thumbs and fingers sticking out here and there.

One of the problems with the way companies are dispatched here is in how calls are separated by agency (Orange County or Orlando). While Orange County and Orlando joint-respond on many first alarm assignments, the closest companies do not always go. I was told that earlier today Orange County had a working fire. Because the run was handed over to Orange County dispatchers, they dispatched their closest engines and Orlando Truck 9 on the run (it was obvious that Ladder 9 was much closer than Ladder 66). The first due engine ran out of water before the second Orange County engine arrived. Orlando had a much closer engine available than the second Orange County engine and could have been there much sooner- probably before the first engine ran out of water. Orange County rigs operated on different talk groups than Orlando and the one does not know what the other is doing unless they were dispatched together on the initial alarm.

If Orlando is dispatched to an Orange County run, they will switch to an Orange County Fireground Talkgroup and hear what is going on. But other Orlando companies would be unaware of what was going on (even though they may be very close. In many instances, the county will send mostly their own rigs even though Orlando rigs may actually be closer. It can go the other way also. While the two departments work fairly well with one another, it isn’t always the closest companies that are dispatched.

I headed to Winter Park’s new station. After driving around in circles for a short time, (talk about a rich area with very large, very expensive homes) I finally figured out where the new station was. Wow!!!! It reminds me a lot of Beverly Hills Station 1. Winter Park has built a real monument for the fire and police in this edifice. It is huge- almost occupying an entire block. The doors on the station are huge wooden doors that look like they are made of mahogany. Engine 61, Truck 61, Rescue 61 and a Battalion Chief run out of the new “big house.”

Their new truck is a 100-foot Pierce Dash tower. The guys were disappointed it wasn’t a Quantum (all three engines are), but it would have been a taller rig and would have taken much longer to be delivered than the Dash. It is a big rig. Their 1994 Sutphen tower (looks like new) is now in reserve. As the sun was almost setting, I headed back to the motel for the night. I will hopefully catch up on the e-mails now that I have a phone available.

I’m currently monitoring both Seminole County trunked system and the Orlando/Orange County trunked system. The radio traffic has been almost non-stop since I arrived in the area. While most of the runs are medicals, I have heard a number of full assignments dispatched.

Tomorrow I will slowly head through the Orlando area, working my way towards Tampa. I pick Karyle up at the Tampa Airport around 3:00 on Saturday.

Well- I’m about pooped. Time to wrap this travelog up. Until tomorrow, take care.

Day 7 - Orlando area to Tampa (12/05)

Friday, December 05, 2003

It was busy last night and I woke up a couple times when there was a lot of fire traffic. I was not aware of any working fires however. Starting around 6:00am I started hearing all kinds of motor vehicle accidents. “Rollovers”, “car on its side,” or “people reported trapped in their vehicle.” It was crazy! Yes- it had rained overnight. But the rain had ended by 5am. And all these major traffic accidents, happening all over thearea.. Now I know why they need all those heavy rescues.

I feared to go out on the streets. It was still very overcast and temperatures were in the low 60’s with plenty of humidity. By the time I finished sending the late travelog e-mails and all the firefighter requests for digital photos it was 10am. I accidentally sent digital photos of a Louisville rig to a Chattanooga Firefighter. He e-mailed me back and thanked me for the neat photos. I then realized my blunder and sent him the right photos. I had e-mailed photos to firefighters in Louisville, Chattanooga, Savannah and Jacksonville- hopefully of the right rigs..

As I was showering this morning I missed an Orange County Fire somewhere not too far from where I was staying. Engines 43, 42 and 41 (my closest company) had a working fire in a home and had evacuated one occupant. I have no idea where the fire was. Hold on- maybe I can find out from my IPN site. I’m back. Sorry- the incident did not show up on under Orange County incidents.

I checked out and headed towards downtown Orlando. I wanted to see if I could get photos of any of the new rigs downtown. I got off the freeway near downtown and drove a few blocks before coming across Orlando Tower 2 and Rescue 2 (on a medical run). I got photos of Ladder 2’s 2002 Sutphen decked out in the new paint scheme.

Just as I was pulling up to Station 1, Engine 5 drove by me (in the new colors). As I pulled up in front of Station 1 I saw that the new Sutphen Heavy Rescue was parked outside. I quickly parked my car and ran to get photos as it looked like the crew was about to depart. After I got the photos, a firefighter from the Squad told me that the Haz Mat unit was out back.

He walked me around the back of the station and parked between a bunch of cars was the new Sutphen/Hackney Haz-Mat unit. The firefighter went to look for the Haz-Mat driver (there are normally two men assigned to the rig). About that time a message came blaring over the PA system, “Will the firefighter assigned to the Heavy Rescue please leave the Haz Mat rig and report to the Heavy Rescue so we can leave” or something like that. The firefighter laughed and headed back out front.

Before returning to his own rig, the firefighter introduced me to the driver who asked me if I wanted to get photos. I said, “Yes, I would love to.” We walked out to the rig and he said hop in the other side. I asked if he was sure and he said that yes, we’ll drive the rig around to the front of the station so you can get some photos. He even had the driver of the medic rig back it in so that I could get both sides.

It was quite the climb to get into that cab, especially for my short legs. He said to put on a head set as it was hard to talk without it and I did. I asked him what territory the Haz Mat covered. He told me #1 was the city, #2 the county and #3 anyplace in the county they want them to go as much of the money for the rig is provided by Federal Funds. He explained that Hackney built this unit, but not the Heavy Rescue. The cab on the Haz Mat is spilt right behind the driver and officer so that it tilts up. The rear seats and the extended cab over them stay put.

I also got photos of Engine 101 and the Rescue. Tower 1 was still using their old rig with a white top. Their new 110-foot tower is supposed to come on line next shift. It supposedly has two lifts near the turntable instead of one. I thanked the rest of the crew that was busy setting up a huge foldable haz-mat tent as I left.

I went by the Orlando shops to see if I could see the new Tower. It must have been inside one of the shop buildings. Engine 6 (new paint scheme also) passed me as they left the shops. Orange County Station 50 was less than a mile away and I headed past, but nobody was home. I headed to the Orange County Repair Shops.

Many of the shops staff were busy watching a demonstration of a new hydraulic jack by one of the manufacturers. I found Shop Foreman Hitchcock, who has been very kind to me in the past with apparatus rosters and even an old OCFR stick-on door patch. He told me they were going out to lunch, but showed me his apparatus board and said that they were falling behind with repairs (15 engines out of service either in the shop, at Cummins diesel or in fro major body repair).

He explained that they had received four more new E One Typhoon engines (working out very well so far) and a number of new medic rigs on International chassis. I asked him about new ladder trucks and he threw his hands up in the air. It seems that there is talk of new trucks, but he is not involved. He said the new chief doesn’t keep in touch with him about apparatus purchases. He’ll know when the rigs are delivered and that’s it he said. Many of their tower’s are getting up in age and are down frequently for repairs (one was in the shop today). I got about 10 photos of rigs in the yard out back (nothing new except the rescues).

As they headed out to lunch I headed to the Training Facility near Oak Ridge and John Young Parkway. It was noon and still very overcast. I stopped for a quick bite on the way. I was surprised to see so many people out drilling at noon hour. It seems there were a number of firefighters being tested for Orlando FD driver’s positions. I got photos of Orlando Engine 8 and a few Orlando reserve and training rigs.

As I’m doing this travelog it is now 7:40 pm. I just checked outside my motel room door as it sounds like a diesel engine running. When I opened my door to check, to my surprise I saw Tampa Rescue 13 parked near my car. I’m not sure if they’re here on a medical run or what (I forgot to put my earplug back in when I got up a little while ago).

It was approaching 1:00 and there were darker clouds on the horizon. I headed to I-4 and headed to Tampa, hoping to find the sun and nicer weather. I-4 has been under construction since I think I was born (not really). But it seems like every time I travel I-4 between Orlando and Tampa there are long sections of roadway that are being worked on. The first fifty or so miles were terrible. There were only two lanes and those both narrowed with cement dividers (no shoulder). Traffic was heavy and the going was slow.

I stopped at a rest stop to re-program the truntracker for Polk County, and the rest of the Tampa/Sarasota coastal area. I quickly got back on the road and found that at least the section of I-4 nearest Tampa (that also was under construction for years) is now completed and very nice. But, that section is still only three lanes wide in most places. It should be four or five lanes wide with all the traffic between Orlando and Tampa

I finally arrived in Tampa around 2:30 and checked into a Red Roof Inn near Busch Gardens. After unloading most of my crap, I headed to Tampa Station 13 (my closest station). To my amazement their old station on the east side of Busch Gardens was closed. I guess I hadn’t updated my Tampa stuff recently.

I drove to Temple Terrace Station 1 a few miles east of Busch Gardens. The rigs were all out, but there was a firefighter visiting. He explained some of the rigs were on a medical run and the other rig was getting gas. I asked about Tampa Station 13 and he told me they were in a new police/fire complex off 30th Street by Busch Gardens. I got a station photo and then headed to Temple Terrace Station 2.

I got lost trying to find the station. It is in a newer commercial development in the northeast corner of the city. I finally found the station and it was empty. I got a photo of the station. I headed for new Tampa Station 13. Traffic was terrible as I headed back in Fletcher by the University of South Florida. I finally made my way to Station 13 as the sun was about to set.

I ran into a Tampa Firefighter from Mahtomedi, Minnesota. He pulled out Ladder 13’s new Pierce Tower for me and we talked for a while. Tampa Station 13 is now at 2713 E Annie Street. He told me that Tampa has added another new Station out in the “New Tampa area” (the area northeast of congruent Tampa that is growing like crazy). Station 20 has been in this area for a number of years and now Station 21 (almost identical to Station 13) has opened. They expect to build another station if the rate of growth continues.

I headed back to the motel as the sun was down for the night. I had dinner and settled in for the night and started on this report. (It’s 8:15pm and Tampa Rescue 13 just returned outside my motel room door- for just a few minutes this time).

That’s about it for today. I’m monitoring Tampa, Hillsborough County and Pinellas County, but I may be too far away to pick up Pinellas trunked radio. I’m near the northeast corner of old Tampa. Tomorrow Karyle flies into Tampa in the mid-afternoon. We’ll be at the timeshare she traded for in Sarasota for the next seven nights. See you soon Jack!

Day 8 - Tampa (12/06)

Saturday, December 06, 2003

Last night on the local TV news they had segments about the Tampa Fire Department making inspections on many of the nightclubs in the Ybor City area (big time entertainment district). Fire staff mentioned the tragedy in West Warric, RI last winter and said they were trying to prevent similar situation from happening here. Club management was quite upset about the inspections and violation tags issued. They would not let TV camera crews into the establishments to look around.

When I got up around 7:00am, it was cold, windy and cloudy outside, so I went back to bed for another hour. After all, today I wasn’t in any hurry to drive any distance (for a change).

I left the Red Roof Inn (49 degrees) on Busch Parkway and headed west towards I-275 to head south towards downtown Tampa. When I got about a mile from the motel I got in the left hand turn lane to go by nearby Tampa Station 11. While waiting for the left turn arrow, I saw a lime yellow ladder truck parked in a lot on the NW corner of the intersection. When I looked back to the left, Tampa Aerial 1 was turning the corner in front of me and pulled into the same parking lot. After making my left hand turn, I quickly turned around and headed back to the intersection and followed Aerial 1.

It turns out that every year there is a Safety Expo held where competitions are held for firefighters and tow-truck drivers. They compete cutting roofs off cars, towing truck hookups and what have you. The Hillsborough County Sheriffs Department also had vehicles and displays set up and there at least a dozen wrecked cars placed in the motel lot that were going to be used for the competitions.

I felt for the people staying at the motel that looked out their windows to see what all the commotion was about and see all the police vehicles and even an armored car with a huge battering ram on the front. It must of looked like a big time bust to them.

Fire trucks there included a light rescue unit from Largo, a super Heavy-Duty Rescue 11 from Hillsborough County, Temple Terrace Ladder 1, and Tampa Aerial 1. Tampa Engine 5 and Rescue 11 also had stopped by. I met the sponsor of the event who was from Stepp’s Towing Service. He gave me a large Stepp’s calendar and a bunch of small pocket calendars. I got photos of all the rigs and then left the event before the competitions started.

I headed in I-275 towards downtown Tampa and went to Station 4 in Ybor City (where they had that huge fire a few years back). Station 4 used to have an aerial (ladder) company, but they and a few others in Tampa were taken out of service. I met a Lieutenant who was very nice and pulled their Tele-Squrt out for me. He told me about all kind of festivities taking place in Ybor City today. I asked him about all the construction Karyle and I had scene when we were here a few years back. He told me where to go to get some photos.

I drove around the area, which was completely blocked off by barricades and police squad cars. Parking was blocks away and they were charging $5.00 per vehicle to park. I headed to Davis Island to get some photos. He had told me there was a good area behind the hospital to get spectacular views of downtown. I pulled in there and there were a few other people taking photos also.

I drove down around the entire Davis Island. It is a really neat island just south of downtown Tampa with very nice homes and a small shopping area. People along the shores have great views of the water, many ships coming and going on the east side and even a small airport at the tip of the island. Tampa Station 17 is on the island. I took many photos as I traveled along the waters edge. A huge oil freighter came by that was setting out to seas. I could see a couple huge Cruise Ships up the channel near Harbor Island.

I headed back into downtown Tampa and drove by Station 1. The huge station was locked up tighter than a drum. I headed out toward the airport as it was about 1:00 and Karyle’s plane was due in around 2:30.

I stopped at Tampa Station 9 and saw their new Pierce Dash tower. Aerial 9 is almost identical to Aerial 13’s tower. I met the coolest firefighter from Engine 9 that I talked to for some time. He was from the New Jersey area and we talked about a lot of firematic stuff. He asked me about our manpower problems as the MFD layoffs had made the news here. I traded fire patches with another firefighter and got photos of the rigs on the ramp. He also said that the new Tampa Chief was going to change the terminology from “aerials” to “trucks” or “ladders.”

Just as I was about to leave the station around 1:30pm and head to Hillsborough Station 20, the tones went off in the station and Aerial 9 was sent to a fire on Harbor Island. I asked whey they sent Aerial 9 with Aerial 1 downtown and they said that on multiple story occupancies they send four engines, two aerials, a rescue, their smoke extractor (I forget what they call it) and a battalion chief. Engine 1 was the first on the scene and reported heavy smoke and fire showing. I thanked the firefighters and headed to the fire scene about five miles away.

I got messed up trying to get on the bridge to get to Harbor Island. When I finally figured out how to do it (one of the street names had changed from the time my map had been printed) I found that every street on Harbor Island was a private drive for gated housing. I could not get into the fire scene. It was inside one of the gated communities at a very new building (everything in that area was built in the last four years or so). Dejected, I headed back towards the airport.

Karyle called me on my cell from her cell phone about 2:15 and said she had just landed. She was taking the tram to the luggage area and would call me when she got her luggage. I drove down near the entrance ramp to the airport and waited for her to call me back. It was almost 45 minutes before she got her luggage. It was only 56 degrees as we left Tampa.

It only took us about an hour to get down to the Sarasota area on I-275 and then I-75. We stopped at Sam’s Club on the way through town to pick up some groceries for the week. We headed towards downtown Sarasota and ran into all kinds of pedestrian and vehicle traffic near the eastern edge of downtown. Tonight was the Sarasota Christmas Parade, apparently a big event here.

We arrived at the time-share around 5:00. Our unit is about 100-feet from the gulf. Karyle was out on the beach looking for seashells within fifteen minutes. We unloaded our gear and food and had a light dinner in the unit. We still needed some small stiff from the market, so we headed back into town to find a grocery store. We didn’t have very good luck finding a store. We ended up at what seemed to be a small warehouse store with almost all non-brand names in it. It was interesting to say the least. They even charge you for the plastic shopping bags. We laughed when we got out of the store. It was an experience all right. I don’t think we’ll be going back.

We got back to the unit and are just relaxing here tonight. I just got off the phone with Jack Mersereau. He and Carol had just returned from the Christmas Boat Parade in Venice. It was very cold watching the display he said. We will be getting together in the next few days.

We'll be in Sarasota for a week. Take care.

Day 9 - Bradenton Area - (12/07)

Sunday, December 07, 2003

It was only 50 degrees when we woke up this morning, but the sky was clear. We had a leisurely breakfast in the timeshare before heading out. We headed up the key this morning with the intention on going all the way up to Anna Maria, the far northwestern tip of Manatee County.

We went by our local heroes, Sarasota County Station 3 stationed here on our key. The sun was in the wrong position, so we decided to come back sometime later. We headed up through Longboat Key, a very up-scale area with many gorgeous homes and private golf courses. We stopped at Longboat Key Station 2 and I ran into a very interesting firefighter who said he also had trouble picking up the Manatee County Fire trunked system in this area (I barely get a broken squelch when they transmit).

We stopped to get a few more things for the unit at a very nice shopping center directly across from Longboat Key Club Harbourside Course (just gorgeous). I only saw one group on the entire course- and on a Sunday morning. Granted, it was cold for here, but t was above 50. Talk about fair-weather golfers. I got a station photo of Longboat Key Station 1 a little further up the key.

There were many gated communities in the Longboat Key area. Some of the homes were sensational. Some were built on stilts with parking areas or huge garages underneath. The golf courses looked very plush. I didn’t see a divot anywhere. It was obvious they weren’t public courses.

When we got up into the Bradenton Beach area we noticed that the homes, motels and businesses were not quite as nice as Longboat Key. Some were altogether seedy. We stopped at the Bradenton Beach Station, but as there were no vehicles around, I assumed they must be volunteers. The last station up the key was West Manatee FD Station 1 with a single engine. The West Manatee FD has 4 stations. I got a station photo only. We got all way up to Anna Maria Beach and then turned around and came down the eastern side of the key to Highway 64.

We headed in towards the Bradenton area through unincorporated Manatee County area. We stopped at a K-Mart store so I could buy some RG-58 cable and a splitter so I could receive cable in my room at the timeshare. I brought a 13-inch TV with me, but the rabbit ears could only pick up two stations in the area. With the splitter I can get the 28 or so channels from the cable system here. What’s really odd is that we get two NBC stations and two ABC stations here.

We went up to the nearby De Soto National Memorial along the shore of the Manatee River. Supposedly, Hernando De Soto and his ships landed on the shore here in 1539 and went inland with his 622 soldiers and 200 horses after sailing from Cuba. Hernando De Soto and his soldiers threaded their way 4000 miles through wilderness of the south over four years. Enough history.

We stopped at West Manatee Station 4 and I got a photo of their engine. A firefighter told me that the West Manatee Department was an amalgamation of a few former volunteer departments. We stopped briefly at Bradenton Station 3 and I got a photo of their engine.

Bradenton has three stations with an engine (#32) and a mini-pumper (#31) rescue vehicle at Station 3, two engines (11 & 12), a truck (11) and a Heavy Rescue (1) at Station 1 and an engine (22) and a quint (truck 21) at Station 2. We went by the Cedar-Hammack Station 2 and I got a station shot. The Cedar-Hammock FD has 3 stations. We stopped at the Golden Corral for a late lunch. They had plenty of good eats- especially their banana pie filling dessert- it’s totally awesome.

We headed for Bradenton’s Headquarters, Station 1. They have a very nice new station and all kinds of apparatus. I got photos of the units there. We headed fro Station 2 and I got a station shot only. (Truck 21 was actually filling in at Station 1 for Truck 11, in the shops for repairs).

Manatee County is made up of many different fire departments all dispatched by Manatee County dispatchers. Most of the departments are paid or partial-paid, but a few are still all volunteer departments. On the way back to Sarasota, we went by Southern Manatee FD Station 2 and I got a station photo. Southern Manatee has 5 stations.

We headed back to the time-share to see the sunset. We met a few other northerner’s staying here and they said this is the coldest they’ve seen it here in years. It only got up to 60 degrees here today. Usually, this time of year, it’s around 80 degrees.

We got a few sunset shots, but not very good ones as there was a small band of clouds on the bottom of the horizon that blocked the sunset. We retired to the unit for the evening and are lounging around like the old farts that we are.

I’m just glad we aren’t up in the northeast right now. Take care.

Day 10 - Manatee County Area - (12/07)

Monday, December 8, 2003

It was partly sunny and a little warmer this morning. We ate breakfast in the timeshare and then headed out for a walk on the beach our around the south point of the Lido Key. The area of water between Lido Key and Siesta Key is called Big Sarasota Pass. We walked through the South Lido Beach Park on the point and back to our unit.

We got in the car and headed back up into Manatee County to see the Florida Museum and Bishop Planetarium. We headed up Highway 41 this time and I got shots of the Whitfield FD Station, and the Trailer Estates Volunteer FD Station. We stopped at Cedar-Hammock Station 1, but the rigs were out. On the way to Cedar-Hammock Station 3, we surprisingly ran into all four Cedar-Hammock engines in a large parking lot doing driver’s training. How lucky was that! There were cones set up all over a large parking lot for the rigs to navigating through.

I got photos of all four of their new Pierce engines, two Sabers and two Enforcers. The art work on the back of the rigs was unbelievable (see photo). I got a station photo of Station 3 and then a station photo of West Manatee Station 2. We headed into downtown Bradenton and stopped along the Manatee River to get a few photos. There were a few ships, but nothing big.

We went to the Florida Museum and found out it was closed Mondays. That was too bad. We headed over the Manatee River to Palmetto and stopped at North River FD Station 1 (they have four stations). The engine got a run just as I was getting out of the car. When they got back from a pulled box, I got a photo of their aerial ladder- a really dark lime green color. The engine they were using was an old lime green Pierce Lance. Their newer apparatus is white over red.

We headed up to see Skyway Memorial Gardens thinking it was an arboretum or something. Luckily it wasn’t very far away as it turned out to be an old cemetery. We weren’t ready to check in yet so we headed to the Prime Outlet Mall at Ellerton. I got station photos of North River Stations 2, 3 and 4 on the way.

We stopped at a Ruby Tuesday’s for lunch before heading into the outlet mall. We had a very nice lunch before we set out traipsing through the outlet mall. The mall was very impressive in size and the parking lots were almost full. We walked around and checked out a few stores that we were interested in seeing. Mostly we just walked. I picked up some discount golf books that has some amazing color photos of the top Golf Resorts in the USA.

We headed south on I-75 back towards Sarasota. We stopped at East Manatee Stations 2 and 1 and I got a few rig photos. When I asked a firefighter if the Manatee County Dispatchers actually assign rigs to respond, he said no. What the dispatchers do is tone out the closest station with what the reported fire is. It is then up to each department to respond with whatever units they feel necessary to respond with.

Then we headed down through a gorgeous area of large new fancy homes along rows of golf courses in the University Park area. The homes were all new, were very large and had nicely landscaped lawns and were either along a golf course or near a large pond. We were very impressed with the area. We were told that South Manatee Station 5 was being built and that their engine was quartered at the Sarasota Outlet Center. Karyle suggested we drive around the backside of the mall and sure enough we found their engine and an East Manatee (Station 1) engine doing relay pumping. The two departments work closely together as the stations are only a mile apart (one east of the freeway and one west).

South Manatee engine was staying in the rear of one of the outlet stores with the crew responding out the rear delivery door of the store. Their station should be completed early next year. I got a little wet getting photos of the rigs as they had three master streams going.

We headed back south on I-75 and got off at the Fruitville Road exit and headed east towards the time-share. It got up to 70 degrees today, was mostly sunny and very comfortable. We got back in time to get a rather odd sunset photo along the gulf. There were a lot of clouds to the west and a very narrow clearing underneath the clouds where we could just see part of the sun setting.

We headed to the Armands Circle shopping area and walked around looking at the many specialty shops there. There were a lot of holiday decorations and we took a few photos. We ended up at a fudge and ice cream parlor. That was a mistake. We both ended up getting the big waffle ice cream cones- mine was chocolate-chip caramel, Karyle’s was vanilla and caramel. Karyle bought some fudge (her favorite). There go our diets!

When we got back to the unit, I did a load of wash in the coin-operated machines in the resort Laundromat (just a unit down from us). We ate a light dinner in the unit and are just taking it easy relaxing.

Tomorrow, the Mersereau’s (Carol and Jack) are coming up to Sarasota and Carol and Karyle are going museum hopping and Jack and I will do a little fire buffing. On Thursday we are going down to Venice to meet the Mersereau’s and the four of us are going down to the Punta Gorda to shop and hopefully buff a little too.

We had a very enjoyable day. Season’s Greetings to you and yours.

Day 11 - Sarasota County Area - (12/09)

Tuesday, December 09, 2003

Jack and Carol Mersereau arrived at the time-share about 10:00am after driving up from Venice. Carol and Karyle went off museum and aquarium hunting and Jack and I went off fire station hunting.

Jack and I first stopped at Sarasota County (SC) Station 1 and got a photos of their reserve engine. At present Engine 1, Ladder 1, Medic 1 with Engine 4 and Medic 4 from Station 4 recently joining them while old Station 4 is demolished and a new one built on the same site. Engine 4 and Medic 4 were at the station picking a few leftover items. Ladder 1 was out on errands. We headed to Station 4 with the intent on returning to Station 1 later in the day.

We stopped at SC Station 4 and got photos of Engine 4 and Medic 4. They just vacated the station on Monday, but were still picking up odds and ends before demolition takes place. We ran into some very friendly firefighters there. We headed to SC Station 5 and training tower.

The gang at Station 5 was very nice also and pulled the engine out for a photo. The tanker also assigned to the station was in the shops for repair. Our next stop was SC Station 7. Engine 7 also had a spare engine and we got photos of it. Just as we were going to leave, they got a run to an extrication of an infant in a locked vehicle and we left the station.

We were on the way to SC Station 8. I had to stop and close my trunk as my indicator light said it was open (I must have accidentally hit the button when we got back into the car when we left 7’s). Just before we were getting onto I-75, I got out to shut the trunk and I saw Engine 7 parked behind a bank. We pulled in and got some great shots of the reserve engine. What luck that was!

We got to SC Station 8 and the crew there couldn’t do enough for us. They pulled out the engine and the Haz Mat rig for us and we got photos of their Emergency Supply truck also. Firefighters invited us in for lunch as they said they had extra sandwiches. Just as we were about to go into their kitchen area, the tones and printer started sounding and the whole station responded on a bad car wreck. There went our lunch!

We headed to SC Station 20. We found a Long John Silvers and A&W Root Beer Stand and stopped for a light lunch. Jack bought. Thanks again Jack. We found SC Station 20, but it didn’t look like it was a fire station. We stopped in anyway. It turned out to be the fire department shops. We got photos of Engine 1, and Engine 7 sitting out in the yard. Tanker 5 was still in being worked on.

We also got photos of the SC County Fireboat, a 25-foot Boston Whaler and a few reserve pieces. The shop foreman showed us a real bonus- a fully restored 1938 Mack pumper in mint condition. We got photos of it and an old 1945 Mack pumper they were going to start working on also.

Our next stop was temporary SC Station 11. Station 11 was recently demolished. You can still see the front driveway on Stoney Point Road where the station used to be. They have moved temporarily into an old doctors office on Highway 41 with the apparatus being parked outdoors. Contract crews were in the process of erecting a cyclone fence to protect the apparatus. The guys love the temporary quarters as they each have their own room (old examining rooms).

Firefighters kindly pulled Ladder 11 out so we could get photos of it and Engine 11. The new Medic rig was on a run. The new station should be ready in about a year. Our next stop was SC Station 12. The station was vacant of apparatus, so I just got a station photo.

We went looking for SC Station 6, but could not find the station. It turns out the station is miles north on the same street (the map I bought had an incorrectly placed fire station symbol). We headed to Station 2 where we were again greeted by some very friendly firefighters. Before we could ask them to pull out the rigs, Engine and Medic 2 got a run. We did catch photos of Engine 2 on their return. Station 2 also has two unique medic units that will have assigned firefighters that respond with a nurse from the Sarsta Memorial Hospital statewide on serious Heart and Vascular responses and another unit special equipped to respond on pre-mature baby births.

We headed back to SC Station 1 to see if we could catch Ladder 1 in quarters. We ran into the great crew from SC Station 4, who pulled the big rig out for us. They told us that a Bronco Skylift tower was due soon for assignment to Ladder 11. They also told us that starting in January, 2004 Stations 18 and 19 (in far eastern Sarasota County) will be manned with two men daily. By the way: We were told that all the Pierce rigs were bought by the City of Sarasota before the department became a county department about eleven years ago.

As it was 3:30 and we were supposed to meet Carol and Karyle back at the unit by 4:00, we headed back to Lido Key. We stopped briefly at SC Station 3 and got a very nice Lieutenant there to pull the quint out for a photo. We also ave him a few patches we had to put on their station wall. He told us that the fireboat usually assigned there was going to be replaced. He also said that the fire department was looking for a place to moore the new craft at a marina nearby.

We headed back to the time-share and were told by the women that we were late- seven minutes late in all. Carol and Karyle had a great time visiting a Sarasota Aquatic Center and then took an hour and a half boat cruise around the area. They even landed on a remote island. They said they had a great time. I know Jack and I sure did.

It got up to about 80 degrees here today. It was very comfortable with a few clouds here and there. It got more overcast in late afternoon. There is a possibility of some rain here tomorrow as another cool front passes through.

We will be meeting up with Jack and Carol again on Thursday when we meet them down at their new home in Venice. We’ll see what the weather brings us tomorrow. We may go up to a museum in Bradenton in the morning

Take care y’all.

Today's Photos: All the following are Sarasota County Fire Department Units 3542- Spare Engine, 1985 E One 1000/750 3549- Engine 5, 1990 Pierce Lance 1500/500 3556- Spare Engine, 1986 Forc C/E One 1000/750 3562- Haz Mat 8, 1991 Spartan/Hackney 3575- Ladder 11, 1987 E One 1250/250/110-foot 3588- Engine 2, 2001 E One 1250/750 3591- Ladder 1, 1999 E One 1500/300/95-foot platform 3593- Engine 3, 1992 Pierce Lance 1500/500/50-foot

Day 12 - Sarasota County Area - (12/09)

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

I talked to my sister this morning and found out that we missed a little snow up in the Twin Cities yesterday and overnite. Sorry about that. But I’m sure ya’ll save some for us when we return.

We headed up to Bradenton so Karyle could go to the Florida Museum and Bishop Aquarium complex. On the way we stopped by Sarasota County Station 6, the northernmost station in the county. They had an interesting E One Hush with a 50’ Telesqurt.

After I dropped Karyle off at the Museum I headed for some South Manatee County Stations that I had not visited. My first stop was SM Station 2. I got a photo of their engine and station. The next stop was SM Station 4. They were out of the station, but I got a station photo.

Then I visited SM Station 3 and got a photo of their engine and station. South Manatee FD has four new Pierce Quantum pumpers on order, with two of them with being quints. The departments in Manatee County get their funding from the County of Manatee. All but two departments have paid firefighters on duty at all times. Many have “volunteers” as supplemental personnel.

I also found out how their numbering system works. Each department has their own numbering series, which is the first number of the three digit number. The second number is the station number in the department and the third number is the apparatus type (1) being engine, (9) being aerial ladder etc.

When alarms are received, dispatchers for Manatee County send out Plectron codes that alert the department. Any call in the South Manatee FD area will go to all five stations. Departments do not hear calls dispatched to other departments jurisdictions. Manatee County has its medic rigs spread out in most of the departments in the county. Their crews work for the county and not the individual departments.

I also visited SM Station 1, which is soon to be replaced by a much larger $2 million plus complex on East 15th Street, near their present station. I got photos of Engine 311, Squad 315 and Truck 319. Just as I was finishing with the photos, Karyle called and said that she was done at the museum. I headed back there to pick her up.

Karyle ran into John Howard (originally from Minneapolis) who is the Museum Director. John married Marilyn Stanley, a Minneapolis Park Board park director who Karyle worked with for a number of years. John and Marilyn Howard moved to the Bradenton area in the early 80s. Marilyn now does fund raising for the Manatee Community Foundation. We hope to visit her sometime before we have to leave.

We headed back to the time-share for lunch. It was overcast, windy, but not raining yet. We made some sandwiches and ate out on the beach. We were entertained by a few para-wind sailors or whatever you would call them. They have small boards and a large half-moon shaped parachute. The parachute is connected by wires and the person on the board uses his arms to control the direction the wind pulls him. They do flips and become air-born briefly at times. It must be brutal on the arms, but it’s fun to watch. They were really whippin about in the strong winds today.

In the afternoon we headed to the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota. In 1924, John Ringling bought 66 acres of land along the waterfront here and built a mansion “”Ca d’Zan”. A few years later ,Sarasota become the winter home of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus.

We toured the mansion “Ca d’Zan” (Venitian dialect for “House of John”) he had built between 1924 and 1926. He and his wife toured the world over finding furnishings and artwork for the mansion. The mansion is very elaborately furnished with very valauable furniture and artwork.

John Ringling made his fortunes through the circus, real estate transactions and the railroad. We took a tour through most of the four-story mansion. You need to make special appointments to tour the third and fourth floors because of fire codes (only six people at a time are allowed on the tours). The mansion is richly furnished in expensive furniture and full of valuable tapestries and all kinds of expensive art.

In 1929, John Ringling built a huge museum on the same property to accommodate his very large collection of artwork he had acquired from world over. Many of the pieces in the museum are internationally acclaimed pieces of art. The collection is said to be among the most celebrated and rare in this country. We toured the museum after we toured the mansion.

We also toured the circus museum on the grounds. It contains many of the actual wagons used by the circus for years. There are models of many of the extravagant circus tents, circus train cars and other memorabilia on display. There are also a number of black and white photos documenting circus life, including performance photos, photos showing the setting up and tearing down, and photos of the trains that the circus traveled on.

While we were in the mansion, it started to rain, but by the time we finished the tour the rain had stopped. I took quite a few photos of the mansion, a few in the art museum and a few in the circus museum. We were transported from place to place by extended Club Car golf carts.

We headed back to the time-share for the night and fixed a hot pork roast dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy and pork stuffing. It wasn’t too bad. There was not a visible sunset tonight because of the overcast skies. The rain should clear the area this evening and be a little cooler tomorrow, but with sunny skies.

Tomorrow we head down to join the Mersereau’s in Venice. Then we will drive down to Punta Gorda in the afternoon. It should be an interesting day. I’m sure we’ll come across a fire station or two in our travels.

Until tomorrow- take care.

Today's photos: 3558- Sarasota County Engine 8, 2001 E One Cyclone II 1000/1000 3561- Sarasota County Emergency Support, 2000 International/E One 3570- Sarasota County fully restored 1938 Mack parade piece 3609- Sarasota County Engine 6, 1991 E One Hush 1250/500/55-foot 3613- South Manatee Engine 321, 2000 Pierce Dash 1500/1000 3619- South Manatee Ladder 319, 1987 Sutphen 1250/400/65-foot 3631- Front of Ringling Mansion 3668- Front of Ringling Museum

Day 13 - South Manatee County Area - (12/11)

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

I talked to my sister this morning and found out that we missed a little snow up in the Twin Cities yesterday and overnite. Sorry about that. But I’m sure ya’ll save some for us when we return.

We headed up to Bradenton so Karyle could go to the Florida Museum and Bishop Aquarium complex. On the way we stopped by Sarasota County Station 6, the northernmost station in the county. They had an interesting E One Hush with a 50’ Telesqurt.

After I dropped Karyle off at the Museum I headed for some South Manatee County Stations that I had not visited. My first stop was SM Station 2. I got a photo of their engine and station. The next stop was SM Station 4. They were out of the station, but I got a station photo.

Then I visited SM Station 3 and got a photo of their engine and station. South Manatee FD has four new Pierce Quantum pumpers on order, with two of them with being quints. The departments in Manatee County get their funding from the County of Manatee. All but two departments have paid firefighters on duty at all times. Many have “volunteers” as supplemental personnel.

I also found out how their numbering system works. Each department has their own numbering series, which is the first number of the three digit number. The second number is the station number in the department and the third number is the apparatus type (1) being engine, (9) being aerial ladder etc.

When alarms are received, dispatchers for Manatee County send out Plectron codes that alert the department. Any call in the South Manatee FD area will go to all five stations. Departments do not hear calls dispatched to other departments jurisdictions. Manatee County has its medic rigs spread out in most of the departments in the county. Their crews work for the county and not the individual departments.

I also visited SM Station 1, which is soon to be replaced by a much larger $2 million plus complex on East 15th Street, near their present station. I got photos of Engine 311, Squad 315 and Truck 319. Just as I was finishing with the photos, Karyle called and said that she was done at the museum. I headed back there to pick her up.

Karyle ran into John Howard (originally from Minneapolis) who is the Museum Director. John married Marilyn Stanley, a Minneapolis Park Board park director who Karyle worked with for a number of years. John and Marilyn Howard moved to the Bradenton area in the early 80s. Marilyn now does fund raising for the Manatee Community Foundation. We hope to visit her sometime before we have to leave.

We headed back to the time-share for lunch. It was overcast, windy, but not raining yet. We made some sandwiches and ate out on the beach. We were entertained by a few para-wind sailors or whatever you would call them. They have small boards and a large half-moon shaped parachute. The parachute is connected by wires and the person on the board uses his arms to control the direction the wind pulls him. They do flips and become air-born briefly at times. It must be brutal on the arms, but it’s fun to watch. They were really whippin about in the winds today.

In the afternoon we headed to the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota. In 1924, John Ringling bought 66 acres of land along the waterfront here and built a mansion “”Ca d’Zan”. A few years later ,Sarasota become the winter home of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus.

We toured the mansion “Ca d’Zan” (Venitian dialect for “House of John”) he had built between 1924 and 1926. He and his wife toured the world over finding furnishings and artwork for the mansion. The mansion is very elaborately furnished with very valauable furniture and artwork.

John Ringling made his fortunes through he and his brothers circus, real estate transactions and the railroad. We took a tour through most of the four-story mansion. You need to make special appointments to tour the third and fourth floors because of fire codes (only six people at a time are allowed on the tours).

In 1929, John Ringling built a huge museum on the same property to accommodate his very large collection of artwork he had acquired from world over. Many of the pieces in the museum are internationally acclaimed pieces of art. The collection is said to be among the most celebrated and rare in this country. We toured the museum after we toured the mansion.

We also toured the circus museum on the grounds. It contains many of the actual wagons used by the circus for years. There are models of many of the extravagant circus tents, circus train cars and other memorabilia on display. There are also a number of black and white photos documenting circus life, including performance photos, photos showing the setting up and tearing down, and photos of the trains that the circus traveled on. Thursday, December 11, 2003

We had breakfast in the time-share before we left this morning. It was overcast and a little cool to start with. We headed to the Mersereau estate in Venice, about 25 miles south and east of here. We drove down the Siesta Key on the way, as we had not been there before. Some of the greatest beaches in the area are said to be on Siesta Key.

Karyle noticed Sarasota County Engine 13 in a small shopping center and I stopped and got a quick photo of them. I also got a picture of their station as we drove down the key. We headed inland and I got a station photo of SC Station 14.

We arrived in Venice at the Mersereau estate around 10:30. We stopped in to see their wonderful new home. It is really a nice sized place in a good location (by the pool and tennis courts) and well furnished. I can see why Jack and Carol fell in love with the place.

Carol and Karyle drove into the Venice Shopping District and to Venice Beach while Jack and I visited Venice Stations 1 and 2 and the Nokomis FD Station. We got shots of all the apparatus at the stations including Venice's 1926 ALF engine. The firefighters were very nice and extremely helpful. We stopped to get a cake, as today was Karyle’s Birthday . We had cake (to hold us over for the hour drive to Punta Gorda) when we got back to the Mersereau’s place.

We then all jumped into the car around 12:30 and headed down to the Punta Gorda area for lunch. The sun had made an appearance and soon there was hardly a cloud in the sky. We stopped at Fisherman’s Village, a pier with condos on the second floor and shops and restaurants on the first floor. We walked through the shopping area and stopped at the restaurant at the end of the pier over the water. Normally the restaurant is open air, but because it was cooler and very windy, they had lowered the plastic covers over the side walls.

They had good food and we had a nice lunch together with great views of the harbor area. Boaters can even drive up and eat at the restaurant, as there is a dock and stairs on the far end. We spent some time looking at the shops on the way back also and took a few photos of the area.

We loaded up and headed out into a very nice, upper-scale area with very nice homes all on man-made inter-coastal waterways. Almost every home had a boat out back on the water. There area must be 2 miles wide by four miles that is entirely homes on built on islands with waterways. It was a very nice area to visit. There are many small bridges that take you from one island to the next. It would be very easy to get lost in this area. It had turned out to be a gorgeous afternoon, although the temperatures were only in the mid sixties.

We stopped at Punta Gorda station 3 (brand new two-story station) that had doors on the sides so as to make it look like the homes in the area on the front. There are no poles in this station for insurance reasons- we were told. They have a long staircase that the firefighters have to traverse to get up or down on. I’m sorry, but this seems stupid to me. I’ll bet that the chances of getting injured on this long staircase are better than they would be using a pole.

A very nice firefighter there pulled out their new E One Typhoon engine in Chicago colors. It was a gorgeous truck. It is the first to come in this new color scheme that has been adopted by the department. The firefighter even took a photo of the four of us standing by the new rig.

We also stopped at Punta Gorda Station 1 and got a photo of their fairly new engine. We headed back up Highway 41 towards Venice, as it was already 3:45pm. We got back to Venice just before 5:00 and had some more birthday cake before we departed for Sarasota (it was late desert for our late lunch).

As it was about sunset time, we drove across to Venice Beach and just barely caught a very picturesque sunset. We both took photos just as the sun was hitting the horizon. We got back up to the unit around 6:15 and are just taking it easy. We’ll have a late dinner as we had a late lunch.

Tomorrow, Carol and Jack are coming up to Sarasota. Craol and Karyle will be going to the Sarasota Jungle gardens. I’m sure Jack and I can find a few fire stations to visit in the meantime.

The cake was awesome, by the way. Somehow, I’m sure it will be gone by tomorrow. Hope ya’ll had as a nice a day as we did. Take care.

Day 14 - West Manatee County Area - (12/12)

Friday, December 12, 2003

Jack and Carol Mersereau drove the 25 miles up from Venice in the morning. Carol and Karyle were going to go to the Jungle Land Zoo here in Sarasota. Jack and I thought we’d try and find a few stations to visit while the girls were busy. It turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day with highs in the mid sixties.

Jack and I drove up Longboat Key to visit some stations I hadn’t stopped into on Sunday. We stopped at Longboat Key Station 1. We were introduced to a firefighter/paramedic who showed us around and pulled the rig out for us. It turns out he is also a Minnesota transplant. He graduated from Simley High School and became a paramedic while still in Minnesota. One night while trying to give IV to a patient at an accident scene the IV line froze up. He said he thought to himself, what on earth am I doing up here in this weather. He moved to the Sarasota area and was hired by the Longboat Key department. He said he hasn’t regretted the move one bit. In fact, after his parents visited him here, they moved down to the Sarasota area too.

We stopped at West Manatee Station 3 and found out that it was a volunteer station. We headed up to West Manatee Station 1 and found the place empty. A secretary said the crews gave blood pressure tests on Fridays from 11am to noon at the local Publix Grocery Store. We drove there, but could not find the rig or the crew.

We headed to West Manatee Station 2. Manatee County paramedics told us that they were out on a run (which we heard earlier for WM Station 1. It seems that WM Station 2 was filling in for WM 1 as WM Engine 1 was training on their fireboat. The rig returned in short order and we got photos of it and their 75-foot aerial ladder.

As we were both hungry, we found our way to the local Golden Corral and had a very nice lunch. Following lunch, we headed to Cedar-Hammock FD Station 2. We ran into a very friendly firefighter there and got a rig photo. He mentioned to us that they had a new engine due soon from Pierce. He also mentioned that the factory was out near 38th Street and Highway 301. Just as we were leaving the girls called and said they were done and were heading back to the timeshare. I told them it would take us almost an hour to get back from where we were.

We started back, but drove out to find the Pierce factory the firefighter talked about. We looked for both directions from Highway 301 on 38th Street and came up negative. Then I saw a UPS truck parked and asked the driver. Of course, he gave us the exact address 1521 East 38th Avenue. We found it further down the road than where we had been.

The factory is huge. It is an old Oshkosh building and there were fire trucks and red chassis parked all over the place. The facility is gated with a guard on duty. As we were due back to the timeshare soon, we passed up trying to get in and headed back.

We arrived on time at the time-share, but the girls were conspicuously absent. We waited, and waited and about a half hour later the girls showed up. They were both laughing as they pulled up and got out of the car. It seems they found their way to the local Mall and did a little shopping on their way back.

Jack and Carol headed south and Karyle and I went out for a walk on the beach by the end of Lido Point Park. We walked around the point and were looking for a way to cut across and get back. We found inland waters that we were unaware of and ended up having to walk the long way around on the way back. To say the least, we had taken much longer journey than we had originally planned. Just as we found our way back, we saw a man with a small motor strapped to his back with a half moon kite take off from the beach area. I’m not sure what they call them, but we saw a woman take one out of her truck and ran the motor for a short while. She then strapped the motor on her back, attached the kite to her pack and took off. She said the whole unit costs around $7,000. The two of them flew back and forth along the beach area and then disappeared into the sunset.

We stopped back at the unit and had a piece of Karyle’s birthday cake and then went out to get some sunset photos. It was one of the better sunsets we’d see since we arrived. We were scheduled to meet Sally Jones, a retired Minneapolis Park Board park director for dinner. We headed for her house.

On the way we drove through the Armand’s Circle shopping area where there were a number of musicians stationed around the circle playing music. We didn’t have time to stop and hear the music. As we left the key, we saw that a number of boats at Bird Key Point were decorated with lights and there were a lot of cars turning in to see the lights. We could see many of them from the roadway and they looked very impressive.

We got to Sally Jone’s home a little late as we stopped at the wrong complex first. When we couldn’t find her address, we finally realized we were in the wrong complex. We went to the next complex down the street and quickly found Sally. Sally had some snacks for us and we sat and talked for a while before heading to dinner.

We ate at a great restaurant nearby. I can’t remember the name of it for the life of me. We had a great time and a great meal. It was so nice to see Sally again and see her new “home away from home”. It was 9:00 when we finally finished eating and time for us to head back to the unit. We had to get our gear packed and ready to go by early morning. I would try to get as far as Atlanta on the drive tomorrow and Karyle would flew out of Atlanta. Karyle’s flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 4:50pm, however.

Karyle decided to book an earlier flight so that I could drop her off earlier and get a good day of driving in. She had to pay an additional $100 to book a flight that left Tampa four hours earlier. We both packed up as much stuff as we could before we hit the hay so that we wouldn’t have that much to do in the morning.

I probably won’t have time to do any buffing on the return trip as I’m trying to beat the bad weather coming from the west. My revised plan is to get back home by Monday night, instead of Wednesday night. I’ll see what the weather looks like.

Take care. We had a great week in Florida! It was so nice to see Karyle and Carol have fun doing things together. It was great for me to see Jack again and have a buffing partner.

Day 15 - Back to Minneapolis - (12/13-15)

Saturday, December 13, 2003

We loaded up the car, threw out our garbageand recycling, and checked out of the timeshare around 8:15am. We drove through the City of Sarasota west to east through city streets (there are no freeways other than I-75 on the eastern edge of the city). We headed north on I-75 and then took I-275 which splits off going slightly west and through St Pete on the way to the Tampa Airport.

I dropped off Karyle at the Northwest Airlines check-in around 9:15am and then proceeded back north on I-275 until it rejoined I-75 up in that fast-growing area of northeast Tampa (where there is a ton of construction going on). It was a nice day (slightly overcast) and driving conditions were very good. My destination was Atlanta, where weather reports indicated it would be raining by mid-afternoon.

By the time I got up to Gainesville, the temperature had risen to 69 degrees. I made the mistake of getting off I-75 near the University of Florida exit and ran into a real traffic jam (must have been a home football game). I stopped briefly for gas and quickly got back on I-75. Just as I got back on the freeway, I got a call on my cell phone from a woman from church asking me to substitute drive for her for the Meals-on-Wheels on January 5th. I chuckled as I accepted, as I’m sure she had no idea I was in Florida at the time and on the freeway- as I talked to her. Cell phones can be so handy at times. They can also be a pain. Later that afternoon, while driving through a pouring rain in Georgia, I would get a call from a salesman (nice timing).

It got very overcast as I left the Gainesville area. I knew I’d hit rain someplace in Georgia. The temperature started dropping rapidly as I traveled north. By the time I got to Macon, it had started to rain. As I got closer to Atlanta, it was pouring rain and quickly became dark. Traffic going into downtown Atlanta was at a standstill. It was not what I would call good driving conditions in a down-pour when traffic is so backed up. I finally made it through downtown and then cleared up for clear sailing through north Atlanta.

I got off the freeway at Delk Road, where I had stayed on the way down. I filled the gas tank so I’d be ready to go first thing in the morning. I stopped at the same LaQuinta Motel that I had been so happy with on the way down. Luckily, they still had a few first-floor rooms available and I was able to back right up to the door of the unit and unload without getting too wet. I walked over to the adjacent Cracker Barrel restaurant when the rain let up a little and got a take-out meal and relaxed in the room as I ate my dinner.

I did not hear any Atlanta traffic on the trunktracker the entire time I was in Atlanta. I did monitor Fulton County and they were fairly busy, mostly with accidents. Marietta Station 5, around the corner and about a block north of the motel, took a few runs early that evening. The runs were both single-company runs.

I checked the weather for the following day (both on the internet and on the weather channel) and it looked like there would be snow in Louisville and Indianapolis for Sunday's drive.

It rained all night in Atlanta, raining so hard a couple times that it woke me up.

Sunday, December 14, 2004

Luickily, it was only misting as I loaded the car Sunday morning. It was only 35 degrees in Atlanta as I left and there were plenty of puddles everywhere. My plan was to head up the western route (through Paducah) after I got into Nashville (to avoid the snow in Louisville and Indianapolis). I compared the mileage on the route I took down and the route I planned to take today, and they were almost identical (860 miles from Nashville to Madison, Wisconsin). I got back on northbound I-75 and headed to Chattanooga.

It rained and misted the entire way into Chattanooga (40 degrees when I arrived), but traffic was Sunday morning light and not a problem. As I headed west on I-24 from Chattanooga, it became very foggy. There was a time before I-24 climbs through the mountains that visibility was a little less than you would like. I slowed down a bit as I didn't want to become part of one of those multi-vehicle chain-reaction accidents. But once I started the climb up I-24 into the mountains, the fog disapated and then the rain stopped altogether.

It was very overcast all along I-24 the rest of the way into Nashville. As I approached downtown Nashville (around 11am), the temperature was only 38 degrees, very overcast and I could see traffic backed up ahead of me. It turns out I had run into early Tennessee Titans home-game football traffic. Once I got by Titan's Stadium (that was the stadium I photographed on the trip down), traffic started moving again and I continued on I-24 towards Paducah, rather than heading up I-65 toward Louisville.

I fumbled through my briefcase trying to find a map of the route I was going to take (as I assumed the Trip-Tik was routed back up I-65). I found a regional AAA map with the route on it and used it to get an idea of the route I was to follow. When I got near Paducah, there was a very light covering of snow on the ground from an early morning snow flurry. I wondered if I’d eventually be hitting snowfall on this route also?

I followed I-24 past Paducah (28 degrees) until it met up with I-57. Just as we merged with I-57, I saw an unmarked radar car on the bridge over head. I didn’t bother to slow down as I was only going about four miles-per-hour over the posted limit. But, when I came around the bend, there were a bunch of Illinois State Patrol marked squads parked along the freeway entrance ramp. Sure enough, one turned on his lights and proceeded to pull over the car that was just passing me by. A short way down the road, I came across four other marked patrol cars that had pulled people over and were issuing citations. It was quite the “sting.”

The drive up I-57 was extremely boring. I usually look forward to going through big cities and listening to their fire radio traffic. There were no big cities on this route. My plan now was to try and get to the Champaign-Urbana area for the night. It was totally dark by the time I approached that area. My AAA regional map did not define where the freeway wasin relation to the two cities. I expected to find motels along I-57 near the cities. I kept looking and looking and got all the way to where I was supposed to take I-74 to get to I-39 (which eventually joins I-90 at Rockford Illionois).

I turned onto I-74 expecting to see some motels along it. No motels! It was hard to tell from the regional map where the cities were in relation to those freeways (turns out they were east of the I-57 and I-74 junction I later found out). I was getting more than a little tired and hoping to see some signs of a major city. I didn’t! Freeway signs listed Bloomington as being 45 miles down the road. I set that as my new destination, praying that I’d find motels there. I checked a couple motel guides as I drove but didn’t see a Red Roof Inn or Motel 6 near I-74.

I finally made it into Bloomington, Illinois around 5:30 and exited on Sugar Creek where I (happily) saw a number of lighted motel signs (what a relief to be back to civilization)! I pulled into the first motel I could find that had outdoor room entrances (so I could park the car next to the door and unload everything quickly). I checked in at the front desk, drove next door to a Subway Sandwich shop (as I was also starving) and picked up a meal to take back to the room. I was dead tired!

I’d gone further than I’d originally planned and was now only about 460 miles from home. The best part was, I still hadn’t seen any snow- although Bloomington had a small accumulation from the previous night. It was cold and windy in Bloomington. The wind chill was in the teens. I re-programmed the trunktracker for the return trip home and then turned the Minneapolis-St. Paul area bank on to see if I could pick up any local fire department action on the VHF band. I only heard one medical run somewhere out in the boonies of the Bloomington-Normal area. Bloomington has four stations and Normal has three stations, by the way.

As I had not planned on traveling this route, I had not looked up any frequencies in this area. I was too tired to go on the internet and check if there were trunked frequencies for that area. I was wondering if I’d be able to pick up Peoria, Illinois fire radio traffic as I was only about 35 miles away. As it turned out, I never heard anything from Peoria (which I later found out, was still on VHF).

I left the scanner on while I watched a little TV, the news and weather. When I was about to drift off, I hadn’t heard but the one call, so I turned the scanner off for the night instead of digging out an ear-plug for monitoring. I slept very well that night after the long drive- about 680 miles.

Monday, December 15, 2003

As I was showering Monday morning, I heard a siren approaching the area and went to the door to see if it was a fire truck. It was. Bloomington Engine 1 passed the motel with lights, siren and air horns. I hadn’t heard anything on the scanner, but I had been showering and the scanner wasn’t that close to me. As I lost sight of Engine 1, I hoped that it hadn’t turned onto the freeway to respond to a freeway accident on I-74 in the direction I was going to head.

It was very windy and only about 28 when I loaded up the car, checked out and left Bloomington and got back on I-74. The turn off onto I-39 came up very quickly and I was now on my way to Rockford. Shortly after leaving Bloomington-Normal, the snow disappeared from the ground (I didn’t see it again until I got near the Madison area).

The drive up I-39 was very easy and soon I was on the I-90 toll-way. I only had three tolls to pay on the way out of Illinois. It was 29 degrees out when I reached the Rockford area. I got the AAA Trip-Tik out for the rest of the return trip. When I opened it to the Rockford page, I discovered that AAA had routed me through Paducah on the return trip! I DID have maps for the entire return trip (and didn’t know it until just then). I felt like a fool. I guess I just assumed they’d return me on the same route I had taken down.

I stopped briefly in Janesville for a quick breakfast. As I neared Madison I began seeing white stuff on the ground again. I heard trunked transmissions from the Madison Fire Department as I passed through the area, but didn’t hear any fire runs. It was 31 degrees in Madison as I passed through the snow-blanketed area..

It was very overcast the rest of the way of the drive home. I heard some fire traffic from the scanner as I went through the Eau Claire area. I assumed it was the Eau Clair Fire Department (Engine 6 was oneof the rigs) on vhf.

I started picking up Maplewood Fire when I got near Menomonie, Wisconsin. Shortly thereafter I started hearing Minneapolis and St. Paul fire radio traffic. I was getting near home and it still had not snowed on the return trip. I felt pretty lucky that I'd avoided the bad weather?

I arrived in Minneapolis around 2:30 and stopped at the post office to pick up my mail. Just as I got back into the car from the post office, it began to snow. What timing! I’d cut my trip two days short, but at least I didn’t have to drive through any snow on the 1500+ mile drive back. I’ve done that before, and that can really be miserable driving.

While I didn’t see one section of hose laid the entire trip, I did get to visit many fire stations and met many friendly firefighters. I took many fire rig and station photos and quite a few scenery photos on the trip. In all I took 13-1/2 roles of 36-exposure slide film and over 600 digital photos on the journey.

It was nice to get away after a long golf course season. I didn’t think once about work during the entire trip. It was so nice to see my relatives in Savannah, Georgia again- even if it was only for a couple days. It was great to see Jack and Carol Mersereau and spend time with them. Karyle and I really enjoyed their company. I hope we'll run into them again on another trip to the sunshine state.

One of the funniest things I heard on the trip was the night we had dinner with retired Minneapolis Park Board employee Sally Jones (who now winters in Sarasota). She told Karyle and I about all the old folks in the Sarasota area. She said the story goes that “All the old folks on the east coast retire to the Miami area. Their parents live in Sarasota!” I thought that was pretty funny.

Thanks for riding along. I'm planning on a trip to the west coast in March. See you then!