Day 0 & 1 - Intro & Minneapolis to Kansas City

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Spring 2004 Buffing Trip to Kansas City, Wichita, Oklahoma City, Dallas-Fort Worth area, Shreveport, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lafayette, Houston Area, Austin, San Antonio and return trip thru Dallas-Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Wichita, and Kansas City

Friday, March 26, 2004 - Day 0 (and preparations before)

I hope that I am finally ready for yet another Buffing Trip, this time to departments in Texas and Louisiana. The set-up and plotting of stations, radio systems and the like for a buffing trip is half of the fun for me. I have been working in recent months to up-date my fire department rosters of all the departments in the metro areas that I will be visiting during this trip.

I have also plotted all the station and company locations onto the DeLorme Street Atlas USA computer program (some departments had already been plotted from previous trips). I utilize this program to “follow the action” when monitoring in the hotels to locate addresses of fire calls, etc as they come in and I also use it at home almost every night as I monitor different departments on-line. The map program definitely is a very interesting and useful ingredient of the buffing journey. .

I have also recently obtained up-to-date street maps of all the major cities I will be visiting. Some of the maps came from AAA and some I purchased at a local map store. As much as I like the DeLorme map program, it is very hard to use in the car. That is why I use the street maps while I am driving. The stations and companies have all been plotted onto the “FSLM’s” (Fire Station Location Maps) a term Duane Troxel introduced me to many years ago. I also note interesting tourist spots on the maps and plot the locations of the motels I will be staying at.

I recently made motel reservations for all of my nights stays from the day I arrive in Dallas to the day I leave Dallas for the return trip home. Basically (if all goes as planned) the schedule for this trip should be as follows:

Sat, Mar 27 - Leave Minneapolis for Kansas City (should arrive around 1:00 in KC)
Sun Mar 28 - Leave KC for Wichita (should arrive there before noon)
Mon Mar 29 - Leave Wichita for Oklahoma City (should arrive before noon)
Tues Mar 30 – Leave OK City for Dallas (should arrive around 10am) be there 3 days
Fri Apr 2 – Leave Dallas for Shreveport should arrive by 1:00)
Sat Apr 3 – Leave Shreveport for Baton Rouge (should arrive around 1:00)
Sun Apr 4- Leave Shreveport for New Orleans (should arrive there by 9am) 4 days
Thr Apr 8 – Leave Neew Orleans for Houston (short stop in Lafayette on way) 2 days
Sat Apr 10 – Leave Houston for Austin (should be there by 9am) 2 days
Mon Apr 12 – Leave Austin for San Antonio (should be there by 9am) 4 days
Wed Apr 14 – Karyle Hanson flies into San Antonio from Minneapolis to join me
Fri Apr 16 – We leave San Antonio for Austin (should arrive by 10am)
Sat Apr 17 – We leave Austin for Dallas (we should arrive around 11am) 3 days
Tue Apr 20 – Karyle flies back to Minneapolis, I head for OK City
Wed Apr 21 – Leave OK City for Wichita (should arrive by 10am)
Thr Apr 22 – Leave Wichita for Kansas City (should arrive by 10am)
Fri Apr 23 – Leave Kansas City for Home (should be back home by 2pm)

I have programmed my two newest trunktrackers (an older Pro-92 and a brand new Pro-96) with the following channel lineups for the trip. The Pro-92 setup was done for previous trips. The Pro-96 Dallas-Fort Worth and the Pro-96 New Orleans-San Antonio were taken from V-folder programming that came installed on the Radio Shack Pro-96 digital trunktracker. It comes with 10 folders with 10 banks of frequencies and talkgroups installed into the scanner’s memory (a very nice feature). I did a lot of research before I bought the new trunktracker (digital with 9600 baud capabilities). I spent a lot of time on the internet comparing the Uniden digital trunktracker and the Radio Shack version.

The best things I found featured on the Pro-96 were the two slip-in battery holders (one for re-chargeable batteries and one for Alkaline batteries). The Uniden has a hard-wired plastic-encased battery pack (which I hate). The Pro-96 is totally programmable so that the radio can be updated to newer systems that might come into being. The ten V-Folders or pre-programmed frequencies and talkgroups is another awesome feature that comes with the Pro-96 (although the new system being used now in the Twin Cities area is not part of the pre-loaded V-folders). From what I read comparing the two, the audio is also better on the Pro-96.

If you are in the market for a new digital trunktracker, check the internet. There are many sites that compare the two radios. I also came upon the Pro-96 Yahoo Group, which was a great deal of help in understanding the operation of the radio, its uses and applications. That is where I also found out about the Win96 computer program that I am now using. It is even better than the Trunkstar 92-93 program I use with the Pro-92. The computer cable that I bought for the Pro-92 also works with the Pro-96

I uploaded the V-Folder (0) memory (Dallas-Fort Worth area) into my Pro-96 and then connected the Pro-96 to my computer and downloaded the scanner to the Win96 computer program I recently purchased on line. I then edited all the non-fire groups out of the Win96 program and created my Pro-96 Dallas-Fort Worth fire group as seen below. I did the same for V-Folder (1) memory (Louisiana and some Texas), first uploading from the V-folders to the scanner and then downloading to the Win96 program in the computer. I eliminated a number of the V-folder (1) banks that I couldn’t use (on the trip) and then programmed Shreveport, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Houston and Galveston into those empty banks in the Win96 program. I edited out the non-fire talkgroups of the departments I saved. I found all the frequencies and talk groups that I had to add on the internet. The following are what I have programmed and am capable of downloading to the trunktrackers:

Pro-92 WEST-Rev
0 MINNEAPOLIS
1 LOS ANGELES
2 OK CITY
3 KANSAS CITY
4 ALBUQUERQUE
5- SAN DIEGO CNTY
6 WICHITA
7 CLARK CNTY
8 SAN FRANCISCO
9 EL PASO

Pro-92 TEXAS
0 MINNEAPOLIS
1 DALLAS-IRVING
2 PLANO
3 FORT WORTH
4 ARLINGTON
5 GRAND PRAIRIE
6
7 RICHARDSON
8 GARLAND
9 EL PASO

PRO-96 Dallas-Ft Worth
0 DALLAS CNTY
1 DALLAS
2 FORT WORTH
3 ARLINGTON
4- GRAND PRAIRIE
5 RICHARDSON
6 IRVING
7 PLANO
8- CARROLLTON
9 GARLAND

PRO-96 NewOrl-SanAnt
0 NEW ORLEANS
1 SHREVEPORT
2 AUSTIN
3 BATON ROUGE
4 LAFAYETTE
5 SAN ANTONIO
6 SAN ANTON NW
7 SAN ANTON NE
8 HOUSTON
9 GALVESTON CO

I am retiring from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board this week after 42 wonderful seasons. I lost my work cell phone and recently purchased a new Verison photo phone with all the bells ands whistles and great coverage areas. I have been a subscriber to the IPN (Incident Paging Network) for a number of years now, having them send fires from many of the areas not covered very well (mostly south and west) by the Tac-9 system to my personnel pin on my Extra Alarmer pager. I recently moved those text pages to my new cell phone and have added all the areas (Baton Rouge, Shreveport, New Orleans for example) that I had not previously subscribed to.

I also purchased an interesting internet contract for the next month (for $79.95) that allows me to connect by lap-top to my cell phone for unlimited computer use in all the cities I will be traveling to. I have tried it here in Minneapolis and have not been overly pleased with the speed so far. Time will tell whether or not this is a good alternate to using Juno Internet dial-up when on the road. It will certainly be interesting. Some areas already have Roadrunner speed through cell phones (I believe Washington DC and San Diego are two of the areas). That would really be great.

I hope I’m ready for the trip. I feel ready, but there are always those things you don’t plan for. I know that Oklahoma City is working on a trunked system, but I don’t believe it is up and running yet.

Take care and enjoy the trip!

Day 1 – Saturday, March 27, 2004

I left the Twin Cities at 6:15AM this morning. It was 51 degrees already, a little warm for that early in the day this time of year. It was very cloudy and foggy in some areas as I made my way out of town.

When I got near the Albert Lea area along I-35 it got very foggy. I slowed down quite a bit as it was hard to see any vehicles more than 200 feet way. After about 20 miles the fog dissipated and it remained very overcast until I got to Ames, Iowa where there was a brief downpour.

I didn’t hear a word out of the Des Moines FD on their old UHF (460’s MHZ) radio band, so I assume they are now totally on a trunked system. It was 60 degrees in the Des Moines area and some of the golf courses looked exceptionally green.

I arrived in the Kansas City area around 1:00 and started picking up KCMOFD radio transmissions almost 40 miles north of the city. It was about 70 degrees in KC and their was a fine mist beginning to fall. I decided to hit as many stations as I could before it really started to rain hard- as I knew it eventually would.

My first stop was KCMO Station 23, now the home of Pumper 23, Rescue 12, Truck 10 and Battalion 104 (Rescues here are E One Cyclone II’s with squad compartments). I got a station photo and talked with a firefighter who told me that there were a couple new stations being built. They are building a new Station 14 on Highway 152 (northeast corner of the city) near Liberty. As it was drizzling, I didn’t even ask for any of the rigs to be pulled out (they were pretty dirty anyway from previous runs on the muddy streets.

My next stop was Station 24 where I got a station photo only.. My next stop was Station 27, now home of the Haz Mat Company. Station 27 has a large 1996 Simon Duplex/SuperVac Squad 71 (Haz Mat rig), Pumper 71 (cross manned) and a smaller Volvo Haz Mat support rig. I met a great firefighter there who explained some of the goings-on in the department. The department will be purchasing some new “Wet Squads”, one of which will replace Pumper 71. The “Wet Squads” will have squad-type bodies but will also have pumps. The manpower for the new company will come from one of the current rescues. He thought that when the department was done, there would only be a couple of the current Rescues left in service.

He also told me about new Station 14 and a replacement station out south. He explained that the department would be eliminating some rescues for manpower to re-open some ladder companies that were closed when the department created the Quint Companies. One of the Rescues will be closed for the manpower for new Station 14. The firfighter pulled out Haz Mat 71 and Pumper 71 so I could get photos (it wasn’t raining at the time).

I went by Station 10 after it had started raining again. I got a station photo from the car. Ladder 3 was not in quarters. I also drove by Station 8 and got a station photo from the car as it was drizzling. I drove by Station 17 and got just a station photo during a light rain. I was near Station 18, so I drove by and got a station photo just as it started to pour.

I didn’t see any new apparatus at any of the stations I visited. The KCMO Fire Department still has most of the rigs that they leased from E One in the mid-nineties. Every Pumper, Ladder and Rescue I saw today were E Ones. I was surprised to see that all of the stations I visited today seem to have been built since the 1970s. They were all in very good shape.

It was now 3:30 and the rain was the end of my buffing for today. I drove further south out I-71 and caught I-435 for a short trip to Overland Park, where I am staying for the night. When I arrived at the motel I decided to plug in the trunking info that I had for Kansas City, Kansas and Johnson County, Kansas (where I am staying). I re-programmed the Pro-92 using the “West-Revised” program and eliminated a few west coast departments to use for the KCK and Johnson County systems. I still have the old program to use when visiting the California departments.

I was disappointed after downloading the revised program to the scanner to find that if I monitor KCMO (EDACs system), I can’t receive either of the other two trunked systems. I can monitor Johnson County and KCK’s trunked systems together, but not with the KCMO on. So I am sticking with monitoring the KCMO system tonight. I wonder if I could monitor them all at the same time on the Pro-96? Oh well….

I was very pleased when I hooked my computer up to my cell phone in the motel here. The connection was surprisingly fast and worked great. I will probably be sending this report and the photos through my cell phone. If it works this great in other cities, I will probably not even use my Juno dial-up. So if any of you have messages for me, send them to my MSN e-mail address please.

I just got a “Lines Laid” fire from Tulsa on my cell phone from IPN. Being able to get fires on my cell phone while traveling will be a really great asset. Hopefully, I won’t miss any fires. I have Johnson County and KCK programmed on IPN for lines laid fires also, so I could switch over and monitor them if there is a fire tonight.

Tomorrow morning I will head for Wichita. The rains are supposed to end and I should have a good part of the day to visit stations there.

That’s all for now. Take care.

Day 2 - Kansas City to Wichita

Day 2 – March 28, 2004

It rained most of the night in the Kansas City area. I was surprised I didn’t hear and working fires before I went to bed as there was some pretty good thunderstorms. I did hear one fire around 3:30am in Battalion 103’s area in the north side of KCMO.

I left the motel around 8:00am and headed west on435 and south on I-35. It was 48 degrees when I hit the road. I got off I-35 at 119th Street to check out Olathe Station 52, but just got a station photo as there were no rigs out..

About half way to Emporia, I saw blue skies to the west. Sure enough, as I arrived in Emporia, the sun was shining brightly. I arrived in Wichita around 10:45am and started out on the northeast side of town at Station 18. Station 18 has a Squad, a Engine and an Aerial Platform. There are only five men assigned per shift. The engine has three men assigned to it (Captain in charge) and the Squad has two assigned to it (Lieutenant in charge). The Squad crew cross mans the platform if it is called to respond.

The busiest companies in Wichita (by far) are the Squads. The Squads are mostly Ford F550 four-door pickups with a small skid-mount pump, 300 gallons of water and compartmentation for many rescue tools. The Squads take all the medical runs, automobile fires, and most accident calls. They also respond on full-assignment fire runs.

As explained to me, the SOP here the minimum response calls for the closest three Engines/Quints, the two closest Squads and a Battalion Chief. Certain buildings and areas get more apparatus of course. Obviously, a high-rise will get an aerial ladder (mostly platforms here) etc, etc. But in all cases, the Squad crew is the aerial platform crew.

When I was looking up information on the Wichita FD before I left, I read an interesting report the City of Wichita had paid to have done on its fire department a few years back (it came up in a search of “Wichita Fire Stations”). Among other things, it criticized the department for not manning its aerial ladders. It also recommended a number of stations be moved to cover the city better. I found out before I left that they had moved two stations on the far south side (12 and 19) out further to better cover new growth areas and recent annexation areas.

What I didn’t know, is that they built three additional new stations, one of which (Station 13) totally left the area and moved to the far northwest corner of the city. Station 4 was moved south and west to fill in part of the area vacated by Station 13 and the move of Station 12 further south. Station 7 (just north of Station 4) moved north and slightly east also. Station 4 has become a very busy station recently. The department will also be building a new Station 10 and a new Station 15 in the next year or so.

Of note as I am writing this report: an assignment was just dispatched to a reported chimney fire nearby to where I am staying (in eastern Wichita). Engine 5, Quint 9, (I believe Engine 11), Squad 5 and Squad 9 and Battalion 9 were dispatched. It was just reported that Squads 5 and 9 are handling the incident.

The department has acquired a bunch of new “machines” as they call them here. They have, I believe, five new Pierce Quints (I saw new Quints 4, 9 and 13- 4 is in service), two new Pierce Aerial Platforms (AP1 & AP2) , a new Pierce Heavy Rescue (#4) and at least one new Engine (#1) with more on the way. The department hopes to replace all apparatus in the next five years.

Back to today’s journey: After Station 18, I headed north a little to Sedgwick County Station 37. The county I was told, dispatches all city and county fire. The engine and heavy rescue were out on a drill, but I got a photo of their Tender (tanker to us). I headed south to Wichita Station 14 and got a photo of one of their older Sutphen (1984) 75-foot Quints with a 1500gpm pump and 400 gallons of water.

Wichita went to quints (and lime-yellow apparatus) back in the mid 80s and are still buying quints. They went to white over red apparatus about 9 years ago. There are currently nine quints in the department and four aerial platforms. There are currently 18 stations in the city. Five stations have a Engine and Squad, two have two Engines, an Aerial Platform and a Squad, two have a Engine, an aerial platform and a Squad and nine have a Quint and a Squad (Station 4 also has a Heavy rescue besides). There are three battalion chiefs (1, 2 and 9) to cover the city.

It’s 7:39 pm: I just went out to my car to get some luggage and as I returned the first thing I hear on the radio is “Engine 1 has arrived with heavy fire coming out the front”. I don’t know the address yet. I was only out of the room for a minute. Figures! I believe Engines 1, 21 and 10 are on the scene with Squads 1 and 10 and Battalion 1. If anyone is interested in monitoring Wichita, there has been a free Wichita Fire feed at www.firefeeds.com recently. 7:53 pm: I just heard Engine 7 and Squad 7 called to assist with overhaul at the fire scene. Squad 5 is also on the scene. They’re going to “Squad” the thing to death.

Back to today’s journey, again: The next stop was Station 10, an older single-bay station (Squad runs out the rear), which will be replaced and moved further north this year. The guys at the station (all shifts) chipped in and had the artwork done on the rear cabinets in honor of those who died on 9-11-01.

I went to Station 1, which is a huge complex with all sorts of “machines”. It has two engines (1 & 21- I keep wanting to say “engines”), AP-1, Squad 1, Air 1, Mobile Command, arson car, Battalion 1 and a couple other chief’s vehicles. I got photos of the new Pierce “machines”. Squad 1 got a call while I was there.

Next stop was new Station 7 at 2400 Coolidge Avenue N, a very nicely designed new station with turrets that look like flames when it’s dark out. All the new stations are of the same design, with different colored brick work and different artwork on the lighted spires. I drove by Station 3 and got a Station photo only. Then I headed out to new Station 13 at 3162 W 42nd Street North. New Quint 13 was in the back of the station, but crews have not been checked out on the new rig yet. I got a half way decent photo in the station.

New stop was Station 16 in the western area of the city. They have a engine and a squad. I got a photo of the engine and an old reserve Sutphen pumper out back. Station 17 is also on the far western side of town and has a Quint (the only older Sutphen Quint I saw that was not lime green) and a Rescue. Both units responded to a nearby traffic accident while I was there. The quint returned almost immediately and I got a nice photo out back of the station.

I headed to Station 8 and got a station photo only. I went to new Station 4 at 2423 S Meridian Street. I got photos of the new Pierce Heavy Rescue and one of the new 75-foot Pierce Quints. The Heavy Rescue is also cross-manned by the Squad. In some cases, the pumper crew will take the Heavy Rescue and the Squad crew will respond with the Squad and a Haz Mat or confined-rescue trailer.

Station 2 was the next photo stop. It is located next to old Station 6, which is now a museum and has a monument and listing of fallen firefighters. Station 2 has Engines 2 and 22, new AP2, Rescue 2 and Battalion 2. I got photos of Engine 2 out front (short apron) and the new Aerial Platform out back.

It was after 3:00 now and I still had six stations left (two of them way out south). In a hurry, I got station photos of Station 11 (Engine was out), Station 5, Station 9 and Station 15. I checked into a motel around 5:30 and decided to get the two south side stations on the way out of town when I head to Oklahoma City tomorrow morning.

It was a very busy day, in the mid sixties with bright sunshine. All of the firefighters I visited with today were very friendly and knowledgeable. They were a great help in pulling apparatus (machines) out so I could get photos. They all complained about not having sufficient manpower to man the machines properly, but it seems like every department is in a similar situation. What happened to all that Federal Money promised after 9-11?

I found Wichita a nice city with a number of very nice neighborhoods. The city is annexing at a rapid rate as new areas become populated. Most of the non-city areas are without hydrants. The Wichita FD responds outside the city fairly often with Sedgwick County units. I believe there are only eight or nine county stations covering a very large area- almost 800 square miles. There are five or six volunteer fire departments also operating in outlying county areas of Sedgwick County.

I am sorry this report is so broken up. It’s sometimes hard to include pertinent departmental information into the trip synopsis and make it flow properly. I hope I haven’t confused too many readers with all the department information injected into the tour of fire stations.

Hope you had a good day. Take Care.

Your traveling reporter.

Day 3 - Wichita to Oklahoma City

Day 3 – March 29, 2004

I did not monitor Wichita Fire overnight with an earpiece as I was picking up a number of police channels that I had not programmed into the trunktracker. Each time I’d try to lock them out, they’d come back again. It really confused me when I had programmed ONLY the fire talkgroups and I kept getting certain talkgroup numbers that I had not programmed. More fun.

It was 9:15 am by the time I checked out of the motel, loaded up and photographed new Wichita Stations 12 (3443 S Meridian) and 19 (4440 S Broadway), and got onto the I-35 tollway headed to Oklahoma City. It was 51 degrees out when I hit the streets and warmed up quickly.

Oklahoma City has 35 fire stations with 36 Engine companies, 13 Rescue-Ladders, one heavy-rescue, one haz-mat, 15 or so brush engines and six battalion chiefs. The brush engines are manned by at least one firefighter, preferably two. Today I heard a number of runs taken by both the Engine and the Brush Engine. In fact, Engine and Brush 30 even responded together on a shooting incident. The voters in Oklahoma City passed a ½ cent tax levy for public safety a few years back. The police and fire departments use much of that money to purchase equipment for their departments.

I decided on the way down to OK City to hit a number of the OK City stations on the far north end of town that I’d never been to before. I arrived in OK City around 11:30am and got off the freeway a few blocks from Station 2, the far northeast station in the cities 675 square miles. The station was empty when I got there, but Brush 2 returned with two firefighters from a call involving burned out junked autos. I got a photo of their spare Brush unit.

By the way, all of the OCFD Brush units are built in the OCFD shops on heavy-duty four-wheel drive pickup chassis. There are a number of different types that have been built over the years and they have continually been refined to a point where they are a very workable piece of apparatus according to firefighters here.

My next stop was Station 22, home of Engine 22 and Rescue-Ladder 22. I got photos of Engine 22 outside and Rescue-Ladder 22 inside their unique, peaked-roof station. The station looks like a church from a distance.

The next stop was Station 15, home of Engine and Rescue-Ladder 15. The engine just received one of three new ALF Eagles with 50-foot Tele-squirts in the last three weeks. It was in the shop and they were using their old rig, a 1991 E One with a Tele-Squirt.

Station 37 was built in 1998 and is the northernmost station in the city. I drove past many open fields before coming to their station and a number of huge new housing developments. Engine 37 had broken down earlier that morning and someone from the shops was on the way to find out what was wrong. I got a shot of Water Tender 37, a 2500 gallon Freightliner/Eone tanker.

Before I left, the shop repairman arrived and I got a chance to pick his brain about recent apparatus purchases. He knew every rig at every station. He told me about the new ALF’s and where they were assigned, that there were five more E One Cyclone pumpers on order and that there were three new 750gpm “mini-pumpers” at stations 27, 28 and 36.

I had a long drive across some very nice countryside to get to Station 3 on the far northwest side of the city. There are hundreds of very large and nice private homes that have power gates at the entrance to the property. One of the OC firefighters told me that they are a big problem for firefighters as they only have combinations to get into a small portion of them. Some of them are in areas without hydrants and can be a real problem.

After Station 3, I headed to Station 30 and got a nice photo of their engine. I saw the ladder on the street when they were headed to a “water shut-down”. I waited a short time for them to return, but they might have been to a flooded business and had to push water.

Station 17 was my next stop. I got a photo of their fairly new E One engine. Nearby Station 11, home of one of the new ALF Tele-Squirts, was vacant when I arrived. I waited around for about a half hour as I wanted to get a photo of the brand new rig. I finally gave up and headed back in towards town and I came across them about a mile away. I was happy I was able to get photos of their new rig in a nice setting.

I headed to the fire department training area/shops. There were a number of older rigs parked outside in their huge multi-block complex. There was a large recruit class going through some testing at the drill tower. As I didn’t see anything that I hadn’t photographed before, I didn’t stop.

I drove to a nearby motel and checked in and unloaded a bunch of my gear and headed back out on the streets. This time I headed out south of the downtown area to many stations I had not been to before. Station 8 was my first stop. They are located directly across the street from old Station 8, which is still used to store some trailers and other specialized equipment. Station 8 used to have an Engine and a Ladder, but now has Engine 8 and Rescue 8, the departments only manned rescue vehicle. Rescue 8 is expecting a new and larger squad in the next year.

Up until five years ago, there were six E One Rescue Squads in service, one in each battalion. When a new Chief of Department came on board, he decided six rescues were not necessary and much of their gear was transferred over to ladder trucks in the area and hence the term “Rescue-Ladders” that is still used here when referring to ladder trucks. Some of the closed rescue crews were used to open additional rescue ladder companies.

Station 7 was my next stop. Ladder 7’s 95-foot E One tower was in the shops and they were using a 1988 Pemfab/LTI 75-foot Quint. I got photos of the spare and their 1998 HME/Becker pumper. Nearby Station 19 was the next stop. Engine 19 also has one of the brand new ALF Eagle Tele-Squirts and I got a fair photo of it.

When I had visited here a number of years ago I visited Station 25. Their huge new station is located kiddy-corner from the much smaller old station. Ladder 19 was moved to Station 25 when it opened and the station is now one of the busiest in the city. I got a nice photo of their 1995 HME/Becker/LTI 82-foot quint (Rescue-Ladder 25). There are a number of these Becker built 82-foot aerials in service in Oklahoma City.

My last stop was Station 21, which is identical to old Station 25. As the sun was almost setting, I only got a station photo. I can’t tell you how nicely I was treated today by Oklahoma City firefighters. I was very impressed with their knowledgeable of the department and how professional and friendly they were. . It got up to 70 here today with mostly sunny skies. Thanks all, for a wonderful day.

I got back to the unit just after 6:00 and began this report t. I believe Oklahoma City is the only place I’m traveling through that does not have the Verizon cell-phone computer service available, so I will probably send this report via Juno dial-up. I have really been impressed at the speed that I have had using my cell phone hooked into my laptop computer. I am able to send the e-mails with photos attached in about one fifth the time dial-up takes. Who would have guessed a few years back that this would even be possible? Surely not me!

I am sending additional photos from each days journey to Dave Freedman to be posted on our club website. I don’t want to overload the e-mail of members that get my daily reports sent to them with 12 or more photos daily. I know how long it takes to download these through a dial-up system.

Tomorrow morning I head to Dallas for three days stay in the area. I’m looking forward to being in the same area for more than a day at a time. There are so many large departments in that area. Three days will not give me time to check out but a small number of them.

That’s all for now.

Your roving reporter.

Day 4 - Oklahoma City to Dallas

Day 4 – March 30, 2004

I remembered a few things I forgot to touch on regarding Oklahoma City yesterday. As you may have noticed, a number of the Engine Companies have “Paramedic” above the Engine Company number. Approximately 20 of the department’s engines are now “Paramedic”. There is a minimum of four firefighters on all engines, but the ladder trucks can run with three per a minimum-manning clause. At present there are 965 firefighters in the OCFD.

The ambulance service is contracted with a private contractor. At one time, the fire department almost took over the ambulance service, but the cost was deemed to be significantly lower with the present private operator.

I left Oklahoma City around 8:30am this morning. I was up late last night trying until midnight to e-mail yesterdays daily report through Juno dial-up. June service in Oklahoma City is the worst of all the places I travel. I also found out that my text messaging with Verizon did not work in OK City either. In fact, when I was driving through Ardmore, Oklahoma my cell phone started going nuts. First one text message, then another, then another…. What the heck was going on?

Apparently, the text messages are saved somewhere until my cell phone is in an area that is capable of receiving text messaging. Then, they all come through at once! While I was in OK City I missed ten messages as follows: 2 alarm Houston; 2nd in Burbank, CA; KC, MO lines laid; Independence, MO lines laid; Shoreview, MN lines laid; Minneapolis lines laid; Wichita, KS lines laid; Minneapolis, lines laid; 2nd alarm San Clemente, CA; and KC, MO lines laid again. Kansas City had another lines laid, just as I arrived in the Dallas area and Wichita had a lines laid around 3:45.

That reminds me to turn off the lines laid choice on my IPN account in those places that I have traveled through. I also need to turn on the “lines laid” on the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the next three days.

I arrived in the area around noon and got off I-35 in the northernmost area of Irving, TX. I had decided on the way down to start off with Irving as I’d never been to any of their stations before and they are fairly close to where I am staying in Dallas. I’ll be staying about a mile southwest of Dallas Love Field. Luckily, I am not even near the flight path.

I have to tell you a couple things I noticed on my way down. The first exit on I-35 when you cross into Texas is a small dirt lot of a dirty magazine store- nice first-impression as you enter Texas! The other thing is that I-35 is NOT a freeway as you come through Texas into the Dallas area. In many areas there is no fence along the interstate and there is unlimited access in most areas. Cars pull off a side street onto a 30-foot long ramp and are in the middle of 60mph traffic! I have to believe they kill off people on a pretty regular basis along this stretch of road. It is scary driving if you ask me.

I got off I-35E at I-635W and took the Mc Arthur exit. My first stop was Irving, TX Station 10- I got photos of their engine and station. The Irving FD is running with all three-man crews on their engines and ladder trucks. It has been this way for some time. The department is almost all Pierce fire apparatus. The department runs medic from (I believe) all 11 stations. They also have at least one paramedic on every company. They operate on a trunked EDAC’s radio system (possibly digital).

I then went to Irving Stations 11 and 9 on the far north end of town, which includes thousands of new housing developments, town-house complexes, limited access townhouse and apartment complexes and a lot of new high-rise buildings. Station 9 is in a very heavy industrial area (nobody to talk to on weekends). I could not believe all the huge new complexes that have popped up in this area in recent years. Much of this area used to be vacant land. I got photos of Engine 9 and Ladder 9 and Engine 11a.

I headed south to Station 7 and just missed Ladder 7 as it went down the street. I found out they were going to training and I headed there after stopping at Station 7. Engine 8, Medic 4 and Ladder 7 were at the training complex at Station 6. I got photos of the rigs there. Engine 6 was not in quarters.

My next stop was Station 2. Ladder 2 was using a reserve ALF and I got photos of it and Engine 2. I headed towards IFD Station 4 and ran into Engine 4 as they turned into an apartment complex. They were servicing hydrants. I was told they open all hydrants in their areas during the months of March and April. I got a nice shot of Engine 4 and then went by Station 4 to get a photo.

I headed to Station 8 and got lost- more than once! There are no straight streets anywhere near that station. Station 8 is located in what I would call a very up-scale commercial area of fairly new buildings with beautiful greenery and some picturesque ponds. When I finally found the station, both the Engine (at drill school) and Ladder were gone. I got a station photo.

As I was not too far from the motel I had made reservations with, I decided to head there and unload some luggage from the car. I came across a Sam’s Club on the way (I’ll check that out later). I got to the motel around 3:30 and checked into my room. I am staying about five miles northwest of downtown Dallas. I asked for a west-facing room so hopefully I can also receive Fort Worth from here.

I tried to set up the scanners so that I’d have different departments on each radio (even though they are both programmed for all the major departments. It will take some monitoring to determine what will combination in each radio will work best together.

After freshening up a bit, I hit the streets again. I stopped at nearby Dallas Station 43, home of Engine and Ladder 43. I got photos of the engine, but the truck was using an old reserve piece. I was nearby the Sam’s Club and went there to get gas and check out the store. I love browsing through Sam’s Clubs and Costco’s. After leaving there I headed in a little bit further towards downtown Dallas.

As I past my exit to the motel, I thought I noticed a loom-up towards downtown Dallas. I decided to keep heading in that direction, even though it could have been a locomotive or an auto fire. It was just before 5pm and somehow I must have missed the alarm being dispatched (maybe the scanner was on another department at the time). It’s actually hard to miss a Dallas alarm as the tones are loud and long. The next thing I hear on the Dallas radio is Engine 11 reporting heavy smoke in the rear of the building.

I kept heading in Harry Hines Boulevard until it looked like the smoke was just east of me and then turned left. Sure enough, the companies were just a few blocks up, but the smoke was already starting to dissipate. I parked a block down from the corner of Knight and Brown (the reported address). I didn’t get any fire shots as it was a small shed in the rear and it was all but out.

Engine 11 had backed into the parking lot and laid an attack line and Engine 18 hooked up to feed them. Engine 1 also pulled into the back lot to assist Engine 11’s crew. Ladder 11 pulled parts of the sheds siding and roof off. Ladder 3 and Battalion 1 had been sent as RIT, but they were cancelled. Medic 11 and Medic 70 were also on the scene, along with a couple chiefs of some kind. There was a very large crowd of residents on the scene. I got the best photos I could of the rigs in the late afternoon sun.

After leaving the scene, I headed back towards the motel. I picked up some carryout for dinner and came back to start my report and check my e-mail. The Verizon wireless computer hookup through by cell-phone works very good here. I’m trying to monitor all I can in the motel room, but some departments have very weak signals here (Fort Worth and Arlington).

Tomorrow, I will probably stop at the three Irving Stations I missed today and then visit Grand Prairie and maybe some of the newer Arlington stations. When we come back through here in about 16 days, we’ll be staying up near Plano and Richardson and I’ll save them to then.

By the way: I am staying in the “Major Accident” capitol of the world. I have heard at least 100 “Major Accidents” on the Dallas fire radio today. Drivers here must be nuts!

That’s all for today. It was 76 and sunny here today in Dallas.

Your roving reporter.

P.S. I just got two workers on my cell phone, one from Wichita and another from KCMO. I better change those settings right now. Before I could log onto the internet (8:58 my time) Dallas came out with a “Let’s roll em, Let’s roll em” to 1800 N Washington on Box 848. Engines 8-3-11, Ladder 3 and Bn 3 responded. Engine 8 arrived and reported heavy smoke from a brick dwelling and then somebody said “Pull yer boots up!” Engine 3 is supplying Engine 8 with water. Ladder 11 and Bn 1 are the RIT companies.

Day 5 - In Dallas area

Day 5- March 31, 2004

I was up until late last night trying to get my MSN e-mail account to work. I finally gave up around 2:00 am. I am going to be sending everything through Juno “Speed Band” from now on. Hopefully this will work better than the Juno Platinum, which kept dropping the e-mails half way or more through the transmission. Please don’t send anything to my MSN email- it don’t work!

It was sunny and a little cool here (so they said here- it was in the 50’s) this morning. I slept in rather late because of the frustrating evening before. I finally hit the streets just before 10am. My first stop was Dallas Engine 47 (about sox blocks from my motel). They received a new engine recently (one with an extended cab). I got a photo.

I headed into Irving to complete the three stations I missed yesterday. My first stop was Station 3. I got lost trying to find it. I eventually realized I’d turned off the freeway too soon and figured out how to get where I was supposed to be. I got a photo of Engine 2 and then headed to Station 1 a single engine house. Engine 1 is one of the few rigs is Irving to ride with a staff of four. I met the neatest Captain as they were heading out to open hydrants. He has 48 years on the job with the Irving FD and still loves it. I wished I had more time to talk to him.

My next stop was Irving Station 5. I got lost again. This time it was the maps fault! You see, the map divides the city of Irving in two and Station 5 does not show up on the map with the rest of the stations. Then I drove right by the station, not realizing it was a station (they were out). They have a habit here of building fire stations to look like houses from the main street. The apparatus doors are on the back of the building and there is a driveway that wraps around the house and allows the apparatus to get to the street. Well- it fooled me.

I had a long drive through a lot of empty land and swamps to get to Grand Prairie Station 2. Grand Prairie runs all three-man crews. They have nine stations with nine engines, three ladders and four ambulances. The City has a population of 135,000 and hey expect this to triple as there is so much land left undeveloped. The south end of town is booming right now and Station 9 was recently added there. The department has paramedics on all the rigs. The department operates the four medic units and has three backup medic rigs that can be cross-manned by the ladder truck crews. This poses a problem as I was told that on more than a few occasions, there have had working fires with no ladder crews available.

I stopped at downtown Station 1 in what looks like a small-city downtown area with farmer-style parking. There are no hi-rises in downtown Grand Prairie. I got photos of Engine 1 and Ladder 1. Nearby GP Station 2 is one of those stations without a front side on the street. But I found it anyway.

GP Station 5 is at the small city airport. They operate an engine, have one assigned to the air truck and have an small old Crash Rapid Intervention vehicle that was donated to the department by a helicopter service locally (when they decided to discontinue using it). I met a very friendly firefighter who was on the radio committee. Grand Prairie is probably going to go to digital on their trunked radio system.

GP Station 6 was a real son-of-a-gun to find. It’s behind some school complexes, not even near a major street and it too faces off the street. I came upon a new Crimson fire truck on an International 4400 chassis on the same block as the station. It probably belongs to a salesman that lives there. It looked like a Minneapolis-style pumper, but that chassis is not real pretty if you ask me.

I had heck of a time finding new Station 9, as none of the streets goes straight through. I didn’t get lost, but it was close. The station was built by the local NASCAR racing track here, using profits from it’s successful operation to fund it and a few other community donations. It is a very nice house in an area full of new developments.

My last stop in GP was at Station 7, on the cities far-southeast corner. It again was one of those backward-facing stations that can throw you. I got a photo of their reserve engine (they have one of three new Pierce Sabers) as their engine was in the shop.

I headed to Arlington to see some fo their newer stations on the far south side of thecity. I didn’t know at the time that you couldn’t get there from Grand Prairie. The only way I could get there was to head back north to I-20 and then come south again. Even my DeLorme map program shows streets that supposedly go through) that actually DO NOT go through in that area.

Eventually I got to Arlington Station 12. It is located at their small city airport and they also have a small RIV rig in their station. Just as I had introduced myself to the crew, the Medic and Engine got a run. I caught a photo on the ramp as they responded.

Arlington Station 15 is relatively new station that I’d never seen. I got lost trying to find it because my map was missing most of the streets in the area (time to buy a newer map). It is a very nice station in another rapidly developing area of large new homes. I asked for directions to get to new Station 16 in far southesat Arlington. They were out, but I got a station photo (a sign on the front of the station says they had 543 runs last year).

A firefighter at Station 15 had told me that there was a new Station 14 on the departments training sight. Engine 14 used to run out of a small single-door garage on the training site, but they have not built a large new complex of offices and a two-stall station. The engine was out and I tried to get permission to go into the training area. I was told that “No one can be inside the training fence when training is on-going.” So I took a few photos through the fence on Engine and Ladder 6, Engine 8 and their Haz-Mat Squad who being trained in confined space rescue.

I headed north as I still had two Grand Prairie stations on the north end to get (Stations 4 and 8). I found my way through an area that had no streets showing on my old map and got myself to I-30 to travel back east towards Grand Prairie. It wasn’t exactly Lewis and Clark exploration, but it was kind of like exploring for me in uncharted map exploration.

Arlington fire rigs were dispatched to a reported “Major Accident” on I-30 nearby to where I was. I saw AFD Ladder 8 as they turned onto the freeway going in the opposite direction. I don’t think they ever found the reported accident (must not have been too major). I eventually got to Grand Prairie Station 4. That station was a really hard one to find, and again I drove right by it as it was one of those responding out the backside onto a side street. I got directions from af firefighter there to GP Station 8.

The directions were great and I didn’t even get lost. I got photos of the engine and ladder there, as crews were busy setting up their volleyball court for a big match after dinner. Firefighter’s told me that it’s rougher than the NFL when they play!

It was already 5pm when I finished my intended itinerary for the day. I asked firefighters for the best way back to the motel as I-30 was very slow moving. They gave me great directions and I took a fast route back into Dallas on the “Airport Freeway,” right past Irving Stadium (home of the Dallas Cowboys). We moved at full speed all the way back to my exit. I-35 heading north however, was a virtual parking lot for motorists leaving the downtown area.

The apparatus that I saw in the last few days was kind of boring, as many of the departments in the area are buying Pierce, and they all look alike. Firefighters said they are very happy with their Pierce apparatus wherever I stopped.

Tomorrow I will head over to Fort Worth and catch up on their new apparatus. The blue and white will at least be refreshing. If I have time, I will hit a few suburban departments bordering Fort Worth. Fort Worth was very busy on the radio today, but I don’t think they had any lines-laid fires. They did have a working fire overnight that was text-messaged to my cell phone. Arlington had a small working fire early this morning that they dispatched a second alarm assignment to reports of people trapped. It turned out nobody was trapped and the fire was quickly extinguished. Second alarm companies were cancelled in route.

That’s about all for today folks. It was about 75 here today with a little breezed that felt good. It should be nice here tomorrow also. They are talking about possible rain on the weekend. There is a big NASCAR event here this weekend also.

Your roving reporter.

Day 6 - Dallas and Fort Worth

Day 6 – April 1, 2004

At 4:21am, I heard Dallas Engine 39 report that they had a “three story wood apartments with lotta fire showing”. A few seconds later, Ladder 39 gave the same report and said “give us a second alarm.” The fire was at 10700 Woodmeadow Parkway, the last block of Woodmeadow, within a block of the Mesquite, TX border. The fire was initially reported by room 110 of the Green’s Crossing Apartments.

An IPN text message came across my cell phone at 4:25 am reporting the 2nd alarm in Dallas. I was unable to monitor Fort Worth last night at all. The night before I had heard some broken up transmissions. The motel is probably 32 miles from downtown Fort Worth.

It’s now 7:45am and I’m watching local news coverage of the fire. The fire reportedly started on the first floor and flames quickly spread through the wood-frame complex and were showing through the roof. At least one Dallas ladder had a ladder pipe going. At 4:33am Woodmeadow Command stated something like “we need another alarm on this” and the third alarm was transmitted. When dispatchers notified companies of the third alarm, he ended with “Let’go now!”

That is common radio expression used by Dallas dispatchers for even first alarm assignments. Many times you will hear “Let’s roll em, Let’s roll em!” before the information after the tones go over the radio and before the address and box number are given. On most occasions you will not hear who is responding unless the companies are on the street or unless dispatchers are adding an ambulance to the response, they will be announced to respond on the assignment.

I heard the I/C on the Woodmeadow fire ask dispatchers for his 2nd and 3rd-alarm assignments. I figured out the first alarm response from this information. The Box 3921 assignments were very similar to this:

1st Alarm Engines 39-31-53 Ladder 39 Bn ? Rescue ? The RIT assignment, an extra ladder and battalion chief was probably RIT Ladder 53 and Bn 3 and might have been dispatched initially from reports

2nd Alarm was Engines 48-57-32 Ladder 57 Bn 3 Rescue 57
3rd Alarm was Engines 29-55-19 Ladder 17 Bn ?
When the I/C asked what chiefs he had on the fire, dispatchers listed five battalion chiefs

The I/C reported at 5:40 am that primary searches were completed and to “Tap out” the Box (same as “fire under control” back home). Morning news shows reported there were no injuries to any residents and that 12-units were burned out by the fire. Dispatchers responded with “Tap out Box 3921, Tap out Box 3921.”

You can not hear any of the fireground traffic here unless you are close to the fire. Dallas is still using 400 Mhz repeated and non-repeated frequencies. The fireground freguency is a non-repeated frequency.

I left the motel this morning just after 9am. It was a long drive across I-30 to Fort Worth- it seemed like I drove forever. While on I-30, Arlington had a “Major Accident” somewhere in their jurisdiction that turned out to be multiple trapped, eight transported and two D.O.A.s. They must have worked on that incident for over an hour. They were using helicopters to transport back and forth to the hospital.

I exited I-30 into downtown Fort Worth. My first stop was FW Station 1. The ladder truck was out, but Engine 1 was parked outside. I got a few shots before they took off for an appointment. I went to Station 2, a massive block-square headquarters building with apparatus doors on two sides. Engine 1 was there and within a few minutes of my arrival, they responded on an alarm.

As I was talking to a very interesting firefighter, Rescue 2 returned to quarters and I got photos of it. Rescue 2 is to be replaced by a Spartan/SuperVac unit this fall. We talked about the Fort Worth Firefighter’s Union’s involvement in trying to educate local politicians on the need for four firefighters per truck. The department has had a number of units running with three firefighters. Stations with an engine and ladder were usually running with four on the engine and only three on the ladder truck. Many outlying stations only had three firefighters on duty.

As of a Fort Worth City Council meeting yesterday, the department was authorized to immediately hire back off-duty firefighters to maintain a minimum of four at all the outlying single company houses. By my count, that’s at least 17 stations that go from a three-man to four-man crew. Congratulations to the Firefighter’s Local here for their efforts.

Fort Worth sends two and one on most reported fires unless they are in commercial businesses, hospitals etc. There are 39 stations now open in the city with about 35 engine companies. There are three stations that only have a Quint. Most of the city’s 14 ladder companies are Quints that run with an engine company.

Fort Worth will be adding a seventh battalion chief in the near future, but no one is sure where it will go. The Lake Country FD on the northwest side was recently taken over by the Fort Worth FD. I believe that’s the second department they have taken over in the last few years.

I left Station 2 with the intent on stopping at Station 8, home of Engine 8, Truck 8 and Ladder Tender 8. As I was driving down the street, I saw a FW fire truck in my rear view mirror. It turned right a few blocks behind me. I turned right and started looking for the rig. Sure enough, parked a couple blocks away was Truck 8, opening fire hydrants. I was told they have a month to check all the hydrants in their district. They split it between companies and shifts to cover their entire first-in area. I got some good photos of their tower.

I proceeded on to Station 8, which was vacant. I gave up on stations for the moment (as all the rigs were probably out doing hydrants) and decided to head to the fire department shops on the south end. Most of the apparatus comes into the southern shops on Bolt Street. That facility equips the vehicles with all the firefighting equipment, radios, etc.

There is another maintenance facility on the north end that does the normal service work for all city vehicles. I had one heck of a time finding the Bolt Street shops. I made the mistake of not transferring the location to my new Fort Worth map when I transferred all the stations. I was within a block of the place twice and didn’t realize that the street ended and then re-started in three different places because of two sets of railroad tracks that divide up the area. Finally, in frustration, I waved to a passing local police patrol car and asked for directions. Thanks to the FW Police I finally found my way.

I entered the shops and spoke briefly with the shop foreman I’d met about three years ago. He had taken me on a tour of the facility, provided me with an entire apparatus roster and given me all kinds of information. As he was busy on the phone, I was introduced to Captain Robertson who invited me into his office and took the time to chat fire apparatus with me.

Captain Robertson was full of information. He told me about all the on-going orders for apparatus and how the department purchases its apparatus. I was not aware that in tExas there is a Houston Galveston Acquisition Cooperative (HGAC). Instead of various government agencies taking putting out bids and taking the low bid, there is an agency that accepts proposals from companies that wish to be available for sales. The companies will submit a type of vehicle, however they want to put it together and submit a price. That is to say that any fire apparatus manufacturers may submit plans for any number of styles of vehicles with a listed price. One might be an all-aluminum, another model with stainless steel, etc etc. They may submit as many proposals as they wish.

The cities then have the ability to go “on line” and search for the type of vehicle they are looking for. They can choose from any that are submitted, but may only make change orders that amount to a 25% increase to the original apparatus manufacturer’s submission price. Interesting! Captain Robertson says HGAC works really well, and agencies get what they want and not just what is the low bid.

We toured the shops area where two new Spartan/General Safety engines were being equipped. One of the more interesting features on their engines is the series of four colored lights between the apparatus doors. The lights are green, blue, yellow and red top to bottom and signify the amount of water in the rigs tank. All of the recent engines have 750-gallon tanks. Other rigs pulling up to the fire scene can rapidly determine just how much water is left in the first-arriving apparatus and determine if a supply line is needed. All of the last 15 engines delivered have been with rear compartment pumps. I also found out that with the five new imaging cameras that have just arrived, all but four stations have cameras. Battalion chiefs one and two now have new SUV’s with seats that face the rear and have a small command center that can also pick up the images from the thermal cameras. Wow!

Captain Robertson told me that because the department did not buy any engines between 1990 and 1995, they are playing catch-up with their engines. But, the average age of the ladder/quint fleet is only four years old. Along with recent purchases, many of the older ladder units have been totally rebuilt in recent years on the ALF Eagle chassis.

I asked if I could go out in the back yard and take some apparatus photos (most of the departments reserve fleet is kept there. I was told that there were few pieces out back at present because five engines and eight brush trucks were assigned to the motor speedway in northern Fort Worth for this weekends NASCAR event. This is one of the cities largest events, attracting over 250,000 people. Off-duty firefighters are called back to man the rigs for the three-day event at the expense of the City of Fort Worth.

Captain Robertson gave me a complete up-to-date roster FWFD equipment that even includes lawn mowers for you lawn-mower buffs out there. I felt that I had taken enough of Captain Robertson’s time and thanked him for all his help. He really impressed me with his apparatus knowledge and even remembered meeting Minneapolis FD Captain Walt Lee.

6:40pm: As I work on this report, Dallas just sent out Box 5744 for 8110 Skillman (at Fair Oaks) on the city’s northwest side (not too far from this mornings 3rd alarm). My IPN cell phone message reports heavy fire and smoke showing on arrival. 6:46pm: The I/C just requested a 2nd alarm assignment on Box 5744. 6:55pm: The I/C reports the building description is a 2-story apartment building with a peaked roof, still have heavy smoke showing. It’s too bad you can’t hear any of the fireground activity here. I miss that. There was never an assignment of apparatus mentioned for either alarm. I did not hear the “tap out” on this box either.

I left the shops around 1:00pm and caught a quick lunch. I headed to the near northeast corner of Fort Worth that I had not visited before. I stopped at Haltom City’s new Station 1/Headquarters building, a very impressive $3.5 million facility. I got photos of their Quint and rescue. I was told not to miss HC Station 3, the first-ever fire station built into the base of a water tower.

Station 2 was built in 1981 by the city when the city needed both a fire station and water pressure for expanding north end of town. To save money, the then-mayor suggested a combined facility. The tower and base were built with 3/16” corrugated metal. The station was only a shell at the time and firefighters built the interior walls and finished off the station. You may have seen photos of this station before. It is different, to say the least.

My next stop was North Richland Hills FD Station 2 where I ran into a firefighter that was raised in Minneapolis near the VA Hospital. A small world it is. They were using an older reserve piece as their brand new rig was in for a small problem.

Just down the road a mile or so is the Richland Hills FD. I ran into the Chief of the Department there who was just back to duty after suffering a stroke. He showed me around and pulled out two rather unique pieces of apparatus. Their engine is a large Freightliner Classic, over-the road chassis with a four-door crew cab and a 400 hp diesel engine. The Quint was supposedly the last vehicle, a 65-foot TeleSquirt, built by Grumman before they were sold. It has a new cab (following an accident).

I stopped at Hurst Station 2 (yellow fire apparatus- one of only two departments in this area with chrome yellow apparatus). The ladder truck was out and they were using a reserve piece that I got indoor photos of (ramp is short and uphill). I asked them about Fort Worth Station 27, which is actually located in the City of Hurst. The tow departments have a working agreement. Fort Worth covers their eastern end and they respond in to the small area of Forth Worth on mutual response.

I had a heck of a time finding the station. I must have driven around the same 200 block of Holloway four times. I was told it was the first street beyond the stop light. I even stopped in a local store and no one knew of the station. I looked at the map again and found another 200 block on the other side of a church complex (one was W Holloway and the station was on E Holloway). The rig was out so I just got a station photo.

My next stop was FW Station 33, way out on a narrow stretch of the city’s eastern flank by themselves. It took me at least ten minutes to get there from Station 27. Quint 33 operates alone in the house, but recently they were given a small mini-pumper to take some of the brush and auto runs with. I got a photo of their station and the Quint. This station works closely with the Euless FD, usually their first back-up units to arrive. First-due Battalion 4 is 16 miles from this station.

I was now 4:00 and very hot (my temperature gauge on the car showed 85 degrees). There was not a cloud to be seen all day long. I decided to call it a day and head back to Dallas before the rush hour started. Traffic moved pretty good as I made my way back. I-35, near the motel, was a parking lot again as people left the downtown area and headed north. It has been a very interesting day for me.

Tomorrow morning I will head for Shreveport, Lousiana to spend the night. Shreveport has 21 stations. I’ll probably be lucky to get to half of their stations by the time I arrive after the 200-mile drive. I have never been in Shreveport before so I have no idea what to expect.

Until next time, take care.

Your roving reporter.

Day 7 - Fort Worth to Shreveport

Day 7 – April 2, 2004

I didn’t hear any overnight fires in the Dallas area. There was one that showed upon my cell phone that happened around 4:25 am. It was very smoggy or overcast (not sure which) this morning when I got up. I checked out of the motel a little before 9am and headed towards Shreveport. Traffic wasn’t all that bad as I’d probably missed most of the morning rush.

My AAA Triptik said to go south on I35E, East on I-30 and then East on Texas 80. I followed those directions and ran into terrible traffic along Hwy 80. Both lanes were full of cars for miles and miles. When we merged into I-20, it got even worse. It was rather frustrating as it seemed like more drivers than not got into the passing land and didn’t pass. This went on for quite a while.

Finally, when we reached Canton, Texas, most of the cars exited the freeway were lined up a mile long waiting at the intersection to turn into Canton. When I stopped at a McDonalds down the road, some old dude asked me which way I was going. I said east and he said “That’s good, cause that huge flea market in Canton sure brings in a lot of traffic on weekends.” That explained what all the cars got off there for. Apparently Canton has one of the largest flea markets in the country. See- you learn something new every day.

The rest of the drive into Shreveport was very easy and the sun was shining bright when I arrived. As the motel I was staying at was on the west side of town, I checked in to see if I could off-load some luggage. My room was ready and I dumped a load there before heading off to visit fire stations.

My first stop was Shreveport Station 18 on the northwest end of the city. Engine 18 is one of the oldest rigs still in service and still is painted in the departments old white paint scheme. I got a photo of the engine and was just about to leave for Station 8 when I realized my map did not show Station 8. I walked back to ask the firefighters where the station was on my map, and an alarm was given out for 260 W 80th Street- on the south end of the city.

One of the firefighters grabbed a portable radio out of the engine to listen and see if they had a fire. Engine 9 arrived to report heavy smoke showing. The firefighters showed me on the map where Station 8 was (I had missed it somehow) and then showed me where the fire was. I headed to the fire. I got there fairly quickly as there was a freeway that circled around just south of the fire scene.

The police had it blocked off for blocks around. I drove around the fire and came in from the north end and got to within a half block of the fire scene. There was very little smoke showing on my arrival. Engine 9 had laid a 5-inch feeder line in from a hydrant 1000 feet west of the fire (they just about ran out of hose). Ladder 9, Squad 9 and Engine 15 were on the scene along with District Chief 4 and a Medic rig. The fire had started in the rear of a small home and got up into the attic. A good Samaritan driving by, had seen the smoke, notified the feeble elderly female resident, and then carried her out of the building.

I made the 6:00 news here. The news was just on and they filmed me while I was talking to the driver of Engine 9. No autographs please! I got the best photos I could at the scene as many of the rigs had open cabinets and gear hanging from the rig. After I left the scene, they dispatched a medic back to the scene to assist the elderly woman.

Shreveport has 21 stations with 21 engine companies, 8 truck companies, five district chiefs and two heavy rescues. The normal response for a house fire is two engines, one truck, one heavy rescue and a district chief. All but eight engines run with three men on a fairly regular basis (due to vacations etc). The truck companies are only staffed with a captain and a driver. The heavy rescues run with four men and split the city of all fire runs.

The department operates a number of large paramedic-staffed medic rigs built by Excellance on fairly new Freightliner and International chassis. All the medics I saw were in extremely good condition. In fact, all the fire rigs I saw were in extremely good condition.

After the fire, I got photos of Stations 9 and 15 before heading to Station 14. When I arrived at Station 14, the rigs were outside being washed. Just as I left, I noticed a captain coming on duty. At my next stop, Station 8, there were a lot of firefighters pulling up as I got photos of Engine 8 and Ladder 8 parked outside. It turns out that they change shifts here at 3:00pm. I was told by more than one firefighter that they prefer this as many firefighters have second jobs and they work their shifts there before coming on duty at 3pm.

Station 8, built in 1926, is the oldest station still in service. It was built near the LSU Campus when there were mostly farms surrounding it. The station has historical preservation designation and is in the process of being remodeled on the inside. It originally had one door facing east. A second door facing north was added later on. The “L-shaped” apparatus floor is kind of neat. Both rigs were out and I got photos.

Station 7 was my next stop. I got photos of Engine 7 and Truck 7 out front in a shady setting. Station 10 is in a very nice area of town with huge mixed old and new homes with shady streets and well-kept lawns. It is the where the more affluent city residents live. Station 10 also has historical designation and is very similar to station 8 with an “L-shaped” apparatus floor for Engine 10 and Medic 10.

Station 11 was my next stop, and if the engine wasn’t out front, I might have missed it. It really looks like a home and blends in well with the neighborhood. Station 5 was one of the newer stations I saw and is the home of Engine 5 and Medic 5.

I headed down to headquarters (Station 1) in downtown Shreveport. It is a large older building with Engine 1, Ladder 1, Squad 1, District 1, and Safety Officer. I got a photo of Squad 1. Ladder 1 was parked behind the district chief’s car. Most of the engines here are Spartan/Quality, with the exception of four 2003 Ferrara Inferno’s delivered last year. The outlying trucks are mostly Spartan/Quality/AI with 75-foot rear mount aerials. Ladders 1 and 7 have 100-foot rear-mounts with tandem axels. Ladder 16 has the oldest aerial, a 1985 Spartan/LTI 106-foot and is still painted in the old white paint scheme.

I was just notified of another working fire in Dallas at 5231 Mission with a civilian burned at 8:01 pm as I work on this report.

I headed across the river into Bossier, LA. That department has nine stations. I stopped at Station 6 and got a photo of their engine. Then I went to headquarters (Station 1), which has a Heavy Rescue, Tower Ladder and a Medic rig. Three houses in Bossier are Quint houses. Heavy Rescue 4 covers the south end of the city and Ladder 1 runs citywide on structure fires. Bossier firefighters change shifts at 5:00pm.

As the sun was beginning to set I was about doen for the day. I stopped at Station 16 (on airport property) on the way back to the motel and got a photo of Ladder 16 (the engine was out). I arrived here on something called similar to “Hog Weekend Louisiana.” There are thousands of Harley bikers in town for an annual weekend event (and here I am without my Vespa). It was sunny, 77 degrees and very nice here today

Tomorrow morning I will head to Baton Rouge. I should be able to get to a number of stations there. I’ll spend Saturday night there and then arrive in New Orleans on Sunday. The Minnesota Gopher Women’s Basketball team will be playing in the NCAA Final Four Tournament held there. Maybe I’ll run into some hometown folks there.

That’s all for the first week of my journey. Tomorrow starts week two. Take care.

Your roving reporter.

Day 8 - Shreveport to Baton Rouge

Day 8 – April 3, 2004

I heard on Shreveport overnight run that sounded good, companies reported smoke showing, but it ended up being food on the stove. In yesterdays report I forgot to mention Shreveport firefighters work 5 shifts on and off (24 hours on, 24 hours off) and then get six days in a row off.

I left Shreveport around 8:30 am and headed down I-49 towards Baton Rouge- about a 240 mile drive. There were very few cars on the roadway and no trucks whatsoever on I-49.

When I got about 30 miles outside Lafayette I, started hearing reports of an acetylene tank fire in a commercial building. Companies were trying to cool the tank, talked about protecting exposures and allowing the tank to burn off. The rig numbers did not match Lafayette’s numbers, but they do have other departments operating on their trunked radio system. I had no idea who it was or where they were except that they were “Drexel I/C.”

Just outside Lafayette I-49 ends and I got on East I-10 for the last 60 or so miles. I was curious when I saw signs stating that the bridge speeds were only 60 mph and that trucks must use the right lane only. What kind of bridge was this. I soon found out. The bridge was 20-miles in length over rivers and bayous and Opelousas Bay. I couldn’t believe how long we were over water. There’s sure is a lot of water in these here parts.

When you cross a high bridge over the Mississippi River, you get an impressive view of downtown Baton Rouge. I got off an exit into the downtown area and fumbeled my way around until I stumbled across Station 12, the big house here. Station 12 has an Engine 12, Aerial 1, Rescue 82, the Haz Mat rig and Service 91 (an air truck). All rigs are manned. The engines in Baton Rouge usually are assigned four, the aerial ladders three, and three also on the haz mat and rescue truck. Ladder trucks are referred to as aerials in Baton Rouge.

There are 19 stations in Baton Rouge with 19 engines, 8 aerial ladders, two rescues, a haz mat rig and five battalions. The city operates the ambulance service as a separate entity, but stations some of the ambulances in fire stations.

The normal dwelling response is usually two engines, an aerial a battalion chief and one of two rescues that divide the city. The busiest company here does about 1800 runs a year. All fire apparatus, with the exception of a few specialized rigs (that are red) are painted white.

Most of the apparatus here is manufactured by Ferrara Fire Apparatus. I was told that Ferrarra is the preferred manufacturer in Louisiana because they are local to the state. Except for Aerial Tower 1 (a 1982 Duplex/LTI/FMC 100-foot tower), all of the aerial ladders here were assigned 1998 to 2002 Freightliner FL-80/Ferrara/RK 100-foot rear-mounts with tandem rear axels. These rear-mounts are very long.

From what I heard from firefighters, there will not soon be a Ferrara Fan Club made up of department members. One aerial company that was using an almost 30-year-old ALF rear-mount said the ALF is still much more dependable today than the other rigs.

Firefighters at Station12 told me I should see new Station 11 next, so I headed there. The station was opened on 2003. I got photos of their aerial, engine and the new station. I drove south through the very impressive LSU Campus on the way to Station 9. This is a gorgeous area of the city with a large lake near campus and many large older homes with large yards and gorgeous over-story trees shading the homes and lining the streets.

Station 9 is one of many stations where both the engine and aerial ladders are mounted on Freightliner FL-80 chassis. I got photos of both rigs as firefighters pulled the rigs out for me.

After Station 9, I headed to the motel to check in and off-load some luggage. My next stop was at nearby Station 13 (only about 1.5 miles from the motel). Both Engine 12 and Ladder 6 are on FL-80 chassis. I also got a photo of Rescue 93 (a smaller two-man vehicle), which covers the east and south ends of the city. This area also has many large homes with large and nicely manicured yards

Station 8 was my next stop. Normally an FL-80 house, Ladder 4 was using a reserve piece. Station 7 was my next stop. It is located in an area that is getting a large new Community College campus. Firefighters there told me that their station will soon be remodeled to match the new campus building design. I found myself talking too long to a very interesting crew there about apparatus, manpower, shifts and politics. I politely explained to them that my daylight was running out and I had to move on.

I drove by Station 1 twice before realizing it was a fire station. It looks like no other station here. It was built in 1926 and is very similar on design to Shreveport Station 8. Their engine had to be manufactured without a rear step as the apparatus floor is so short. I got lost looking for Station 6. A firefighter at Station 1 had warned me that the area by Station 6 is a tangle-town and “you can get lost going in any direction” from that station.

I gave up on Station 6 and headed to Station 2, getting a station photo only. Station 3 was my next stop and their engine was a Ferrara on an Inferno chassis. I got photos of it. I headed to Station 14, which is home of the fire shops (closed up) and the training academy and tower. It is located next to Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airfield. Engine 14 was out and I got an indoor photo of their FL-80 aerial ladder.

I got gas and headed back towards the motel. I went by Station 19, just south of the motel and got a station photo only as they were yet another FL-80 pair. I headed back to the motel as the sun was setting. I should have stayed in New Orleans tonight (it’s only about 70 miles from here to the city limits of New Orleans). IPN just notified me of a three-alarm fire in a warehouse in New Orleans. They just had a 4th Alarm fire last week and Austin, San Antonio and Houston had 4th alarms or greater also.

That’s all for now. Cheer for the Gopher Women tomorrow!!!!

Your roving reporter.

Day 9 - Baton Rouge to New Orleans

Day 9 – April 4, 2004

I left Baton Rouge just after 9 am and headed east on I-10 to New Orleans. I heard a reported house fire in Baton Rouge just as I was getting far enough away that the radio was starting to break up. I thought, “Oh no…I’m leaving and they’re gonna have a fire!” Luckily, my fears were comforted before I got out of radio range. I heard the first engine on the scene report they had food on the stove. I forgot to report yesterday that Baton Rouge is a Class 1 fire department.

The drive to New Orleans covers a lot of area that is covered in water. It seemed like I was driving on bridges more than on land as I traversed the 70 or so miles between the cities. While studying the map on the way in, I decided to start with the western suburban area (where I would be entering first anyway) and work my way slowly east towards New Orleans.

Before I start the station tour for the day, let me explain to those unfamiliar with this area that most suburban fire departments are part of either the East Bank Consolidated or West Bank Consolidated group of fire departments. All the departments use the same numbering system for the consolidated groups. Rather than try and explain the system here, I will enclose one of my quick fire station location sheets that I prepare for each area before I travel. You will see that the department is the first number of the three digit designation, followed by station number (second of the three digit numbers) and the last number stands for what type of unit (“7” is an ladder, “8” is an engine, “9” is a rescue). Anyway, click here for the list:

As you can see, I am still missing some information on some departments. The list I carry has two columns (so all of the above is on one 8-1/2 by 11 inch sheet). I already filled in some of the missing Kenner FD info.

In planning the trip, I had a great deal of difficulty finding many of the suburban fire station locations. In doing a search, I found that some of the station addresses were listed under “polling locations” for many of the municipalities involved. Kenner, a northwestern most suburb, had only two of its stations listed as polling places. I got off I-10 near the first station I had listed.

I stopped at Kenner Station 35. I met a couple firefighters who explained that Kenner is a little uptight about photos. He said he’d pull the rig around back for me, but asked that I not take any photos out front. That’s what we did.

I also visited Kenner Stations 38 (it’s between tow one-way streets with no ramp at all) and Station 39 (nice apparatus, but absolutely “no photos”. So I just got station photos as I left. I did the same with Stations 36 and 37. Too bad. Kenner had a very interesting Quint, a 1979 Mack CF 1500/450/75-foot TeleSquirt with tandem real axles. I wish I could have got a shot of it.

One firefighter in Kenner told me a story about them fighting a fire one day and somebody with a home video camera was filming the incident. A department officer asked the firefighter to tell the person to stop filming them. Talk about paranoid!

The 3rd District Fire Department has a few paid firefighters, but most are volunteers. Their apparatus is painted white (they told me the only department suing white in this area). There wasn’t a soul at Station 31. I got a nice photo of a reserve piece at Station 32. Parked in a lot near the station was an old Harahan snorkel. I got a photo of it.

I headed to Harahan Station 25. I met a young firefighter there who pulled out their Engine and ladder fro me. He told me that the department recently sold the snorkel to a private collector. The rig was a 1976 Mack CF 85-foot snorkel formerly at Station 27.

I headed back up to 3rd District Station 33 and came across Engine 318 and 328 at an oil spill outside a commercial building. They were trying to get a hold of the business owner as there was some type of oil seepage from the building. I waited a few minutes as the chief told me they were bringing down their squad with some soak-up powder. I got a nice photo of their heavy rescue. The chief also told me that Station 33 had been leveled in order for a new station to be constructed. He gave me directions to Station 34. I got a station photo of it.

I headed into the jurisdiction of the Jefferson Parish Fire Department, a fully paid department. The department is Class 1 and protects Metaire and a number of other cities between Kenner and New Orleans. The department has nine stations with nine engines, four ladders, and a heavy rescue. The manpower is better than most. They have five on their engines and four on the ladders.

My first stop was Station 17 where they have a brand new engine and an older aerial, both Pierce. I went to Station 16 and got photos of their Quantum engine and Pierce Lance heavy rescue. I stopped at Station 18, and knocked on the door. I felt bad when a firefighter came walking out in bare feet. It was their rest period. I decided to come back some other time when I do the other JP stations.

I headed down to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, a 26-mile floating bridge that crosses Lake Pontchartain (near its mid point) into St. Tammany Parish. It is so eerie to look out onto the causeway and see it disappear into the lake. It is so far across, you can not see the other side. Sorry! I will NOT be traversing that one-lane bridge on pontoons- anytime in my lifetime.

I headed towards the motel out on the east end of town (not far from Six Flags New Orleans Amusement Park). I was told my room wasn’t ready yet and to come back in an about an hour. That gave me some time to visit stations on the far-east end of town.

I stopped at nearby New Orleans Station 36. The rigs were out front and there were cars parked everywhere with people coming and going. It turns out that today, 18 NOFD Stations were host for free pet Rabies shots between 1pm and 5pm. I got photos of the rigs and talked to firefighters out back. They said that last shift they had 18 responses. While the area is very nice, the station covers a huge area packed with multiple-occupancy dwellings. The ladder covers the entire upper east side of the city.

I went to Station 37, the furthest station east in the city and got a photo of their engine and an older Salvage rig inside. Station 10 is the station furthest northeast in the city and they have a little wait for back up. I couldn’t get any photos as there were so many people and their pets at Station 10. There was almost a big dog fight out front of the station.

From monitoring New Orleans on Firefeeds.com, I’ve heard them often fill companies into this eastern area on first alarms dispatched so that there is some coverage left in the area. The same is true of Battalion 508, south of the Mississippi River. Fill in companies are started on the first alarm dispatch to cover the area. Both areas have only four engines and a ladder truck.

That’s uncanny! New Orleans just put out an alarm in the 500 block of Diane in the 8th Battalion (south of the river), a reported dwelling fire. Sent were Engines 20-40 and 33, Ladder 6 and District 508. They just moved two engines and a ladder south of the river to cover that area. Engine 20 arrived and reported they can handle with Ladder 6. The rest of the companies responding and the fill-in companies were cancelled at this time.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day here, 75 and sunny with a very nice breeze. I saw many very nice areas with large homes and shady streets. There are canals all over the area. Many of them run down the middle of parkways here. Everywhere you go, you run into drainage canals. There are also levees all along Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River here. To see the water, one must climb to the top of the 15 to 25-foot levees.

That’s it for now. Tomorrow, I’ll probably work my way west from here in New Orleans. I’m told that all the departments south of the river are volunteers. If that’s the case, it could be difficult getting any rig photos there. Where is Paul B when I need him? Sorry, but that’s an inside the club joke that is another long story in itself.

Your roving reporter

Day 10 - In New Orleans

Day 10 – April 5. 2004

I was not aware of any overnight fires in New Orleans. They did have a couple big accidents, one on this end of town that prompted change-of-quarters companies to fill in again.

I started on the east side of New Orleans where I had left off, with Station 4 (which has a plaque for “Station 52”. About 20 years or so ago, the department re-numbered the stations, filling in all the voids in numbering. They still have some voids as budget cuts have taken some engines out of service in recent years.

Engine 4 had a reserve piece. I was told that approximately 40% of the first line engine fleet is using reserves because of accidents. . Engine 7 was struck by an ice cream truck and rolled over about a week ago, totaling the apparatus. Four firefighters went to the hospital but have since returned to duty. The department is working on a lease agreement with American LaFrance to replace much of their older fleet. I was told the department is expecting four Squirts and four ladders in September of this year.

On the way to Station 6, I came across the Rescue Squad parked on the street and got a few photos. There are two squads in New Orleans. One is the “Rescue Squad” and the other is the “Flying Squad.” The two split the city on working fires. Each squad has an eight-man crew assigned per shift (two four-man crews. The engine companies here run with four men and the ladder trucks run three firefighters.

When I asked why they call the one “Flying Squad” I was told that they got the terminology from Chicago as for some reason they didn’t want Squad 1 and Squad 2. Each unit does carry a few different rescue tools than the other.

I arrived at Station 6 and Ladder 3 was in the shop. I got a photo of Engine 6. Station 12 was my next stop and I got a photo of their Pierce engine. Both Stations 21 and 18 were vacant, but I got station photos. Station 13 was my next stop. They are the home of “Quint 13,” the only such rig in town. A few years back they closed the ladder at Station 13 and the engine became a quint.

I had heard earlier than a few companies were going to be at Station 26 at noon, so I headed there next. Parked outside were Engine 3 and Engine 35. I got photos. There were a number of insurance meetings held in various stations today. This was one of them. I got a station photo and didn’t bother to check out the rigs in the station, as there is absolutely no ramp in front of Station 26.

I went by Station 35 and got a photo of it. My next stop was Station 25. I got a photo of Squirt 25 (actually a Redi-Tower-one of three still in service), but the department refers to them as Squirts on the radio. The station is so short that the driver has to jump up on the bumper to get around the front of the rig to get in the cab. The ladder bay is longer. Ladder 7 was one of the few ladder trucks I saw that was still using an old Seagrave. A firefighter at another station told me that Ladder 7 was the fastest rig in the city.

I got a photo of Engine 38 (just returned from a medical run) outside their quarters as the street in front of the apparatus doors was torn up. Just as I about to pull up to Station 5, I saw Ladder 5 leave the station. I got a station photo and headed towards Station 1.

When I pulled up at Station 1, both Ladder 5 and Engine 15 were parked outside. They were attending a meeting about insurance. As I was getting photos of the rigs, Engine 11 also pulled up. I went into Station 1 and was talking with a firefighter on the apparatus floor when Engine 1 got a medical run. I tried getting a photo of them when they pulled out.

Up until a few years ago, the New Orleans Fire Department did not take any medical calls. They have become a lot busier since taking on the medical runs. I heard a ton of medicals today and not one fire assignment. I did find my radio volume low a couple times, so I might have missed a run here or there.

I went by Station 11 and got a station photo. My next stop was Station 16, home of Squirt 16 and Ladder 8. A firefighter told me that much of their first-in area has burned out over the years. He said that most of the vacant lots in the area had been fires. I got a photo of their Pierce Squirt and the station. I drove by Station 3 (on a very busy street) and got a station photo.

I was now in the downtown area, with lots of traffic and a ton of pedestrians. I stopped at Station 14 and got photos of their 1987 Seagrave (still in great shape compared to most) and Ladder 2, a Pierce Dash 105’ rear-mount. Firefighters told me how to get to Station 7, home of Engine 7, the Rescue Squad and the Haz Mat rig. Engine 29 was parked out front and I got a photo.

Engine 7 is currently using a spare 1985 Seagrave. In place of where the number usually goes on the drivers door is a “Blue Bell Ice Cream” sticker. At least they can laugh about the accident and one firefighter told me that they also have a lifetime supply of ice cream for the crew. I had taken photos of the Rescue Squad earlier. I wish I could have taken a photo of the haz mat rig, but there were a couple chiefs cars blocking the doors.

I stopped at Station 2, the home of the Flying Squad and Battalion 2 (Engine 2 was one of those companies taken out of service by recent cuts). A firefighter from the squad directed me how to drive through the French Quarter to get to Station 29 (headquarters). In fact, Station 29 is in the middle of the French Quarter. My station photo has lots of people in it. The quarter was absolutely packed with visitors.

I went to Station 9, on the opposite end of the French Quarter and got a station photo (they have no ramp either). I drove by all kinds of outdoor entertainment, a number of horse-drawn carriages and blocks of vendor tents in the area.

I headed east from the French Quarter into what I was told was a very rough area. I got station photos only of Stations 24, 39, 22 and 8. I headed back northwest to Station 27, which to my surprise, was the last station I had left to visit north of the river. There are still four stations south of the river that I will try and get to tomorrow. I also plan on finishing up Jefferson Parish sometime tomorrow.

It may rain here on Wednesday. If the forecast is for rain, I’ll probably head towards Houston a day earlier than planned. I’ll play it by ear.

That’s all for today’ report. Take care.

Your roving reporter.

Day 11 - In New Orleans

Day 11 – April 6, 2004

New Orleans had a working fire last night at 11:05 pm. Engines 27-7, Ladder 11 and District 503 were dispatched to the 1900 block of Onzaga in Zone 3005. Engine 27 arrived and reported a one-story dwelling fully involved with exposure on the east side. Engine 7 fed Engine 27. District 503 arrived and said “Gimme a squad.” The Rescue Squad was dispatched. The fire was quickly knocked down. The fire involved 1914-16-18 Gonzaga. The Red Cross was called to assist displaced residents.

It was very nice out this morning. There was a light breeze blowing and it was 65 when I hit the streets. I drove across New Orleans into Metairie, which is protected by the Jefferson Parish Fire Department. I headed back to Station 18, where I had left off on Sunday. The driver of L187 was washing the tower out back and I got photos of it. This rig was rehabbed by Pierce in 2000. The rig was a former Grumman 102-foot Aerial Cat and the aerial was placed on a new Pierce Dash chassis in 2000. The driver told me I might be able to catch a few rigs still down at Lake Pontchartrain at the foot of Bonnabel Boulevard.

I drove the short distance to a nice park area where JPFD was conducting water rescue drills. I got photos of Engine 158, Ladder 177, Engine 168 (again) and Squad 159 (again). I headed to JPFD Station 15, which was undergoing rehab work. I then fumbled my way to Station 14 (in the middle of a tangle-town with some nice homes). Somehow I found my what back to civilization (major roads) and Station 13 (crews were repairing the front apparatus door).

My next strop was Station 19 very near Harahan. I was told they are going to get a ladder truck in that area. That area is full of industry and the department is determined to keep their “Class 1” rating. I headed back east to Station 11. The rigs had just left the station and I got a station photo.

I headed further east to Station 12, who’s area borders New Orleans. I passed Engine 118 and Ladder 117 returning to their station, so I turned around and got photos of Ladder 117, a 2000 Pierce Dash Tower. I headed east again toward Station 12 and got a station photo. That completed the Jefferson Parish Fire department.

I headed towards I-10 and eventually the Greater New Orleans Bridge to the “west bank.” As I got off the bridge on General Degaulle Drive, I noticed what looked like a prison on my right side. It was a four-story block-long brick building surrounded by fences. It turned out to be a huge public-housing project- a very large complex. I found Station 40 after a little search and got a station photo. I headed to Station 17, the furthest station south on the west bank.

I headed back in towards Station 33. I got photos of Ladder 6, one of the few ladder trucks still assigned an older Seagrave rear-mount, and Station 33. My next stop was Station 20, also on the west bank. It was a hard station to find in a very historic area of the west bank. Many visitors take the ferry boat across and walk around this area on foot, visiting historic dwellings, business etc.

I decided to take the ferry boat back across onto the east bank and New Orleans proper. I had to wait about 10 minutes as the ferry was on the way back from downtown. The bottom deck of the ferry boat is for vehicles. You drive onto the ferry in one corner and then circle all the way around the deck until you end up back to where you entered. You park your vehicle and I got out to take photos and some video during the short trip across the Mississippi. Pedestrians enter the boat on the upper level ferry station bridge onto the boat. The fare was only $1.00 for the car. That’s pretty reasonable, I thought.

I drove around the French Quarter, stopping a few times when I could find parking (which is very rare). I also took some video as I drove through the area. When I drove past NOFD Headquarters (Station 29) there was an ALF Metropolitan 100-foot rear-mount aerial parked out front. A number of chiefs officers and firefighters were looking the rig over. I was told it is a loaner from American LaFrance. I took a few photos.

It started to cloud up in late afternoon. It got up to 78 here today. It is supposed to start raining here tonight and continue into tomorrow. I was sure treated great while I was in the New Orleans area. The firefighters I met were very friendly, knowledgeable extremely helpful. I thank them all for a great three days.

I will head for Houston tomorrow morning, with a possible stop in Lafayette (if it’s not raining). Houston just had more flooding from the most recent rains. They’ve had a lot of flooding in the last couple of years. I hope I will not be there to experience that. I will most likely be in the Houston area for three nights, before heading to Austin.

I had a great day. I hope you did too!

Your roving reporter.

Day 12 - New Orleans to Houston

Day 12 – April 7, 2004

It started raining last night around 8pm. By 10pm, thunder and lightening were rocking the New Orleans area. I thought the fire radio would be jumping with a lightening storm in the area, but it was relatively calm. I didn’t hear any working fires.

I’m not sure how much rain New Orleans got, but there were puddles everywhere in the morning. Luckily, it wasn’t raining when I loaded up the car this morning. It was still very overcast when I left New Orleans. I ran into a lot of traffic through the area. Eastbound I-10 was backed up for miles and miles (glad I was going west).

I passed through Baton Rouge around 9:45am and heard a couple fire runs that turned out to be minor incidents. The sun came out as I got off I-10 in Lafayette, LA around 11am. I stopped at LFD Station 4. Just as I got in the door of the station, Engine 4 got a medical run. I caught a photo as they were responding. I took an indoor photo of Ladder 24 in the station and then headed the few blocks to where a firefighter said the medical run was to. I got better photos of Engine 4 at the scene. The clouds came back, so I headed back to I-10 for the remainder of the journey to Houston. I wanted to beat the rush hour there if possible.

When I got about 40 miles east of Houston I started hearing the robotic-like dispatcher that the Houston Fire Department now uses. First you hear what sounds like a phone ringing, then you hear the warble tones sound for a couple seconds and then the female voice synthesized dispatch gives out the 1) type of call, 2) companies responding, 3) address or intersection, 4) Key map coordinates (a map book they utilize here), and 5) the assigned Tac channel to operate on.

The Houston FD operates eight (my count in December of 1991- unless they’ve added more since I was here) repeated and non-repeated channels in the 450 mhz range. The radio traffic in Houston is overwhelming. All the way into town I heard solid radio traffic. Much of it is for the medics. The medics and medic supervisors seem to talk almost constantly about medic incidents. Houston doesn’t have nearly enough radio channels if you ask me. There is so much radio traffic that they could probably use at least ten more repeated channels- just for medical runs.

I heard some companies clearing from a funeral detail as I approached the city. Houston lost a firefighter here Sunday when a roof collapsed on four firefighters. KEVIN WAYNE KULOW, age 32, and the crew of first-due Houston Engine 50 responded to a reported truck fire after 5am Sunday at a ballroom at 7610 Kempwood. The fire had already spread to the ballroom and crews were inside clearing patrons out when the roof collapsed on Engine 50’s crew. They were all transported to a local hospital and Firefighter Kulow did not survive. The fire was caused by inordinate amounts of accelerant and at least one suspect has been arrested so far. I’m not sure how many alarms were sounded, but news footage tonight showed flames coming through the roof.

ifty Dallas firefighters were in attendance at the memorial service today along with firefighters from all across the state. The church shown on TV was huge and it was packed with firefighters, friends and relatives. The news report said there will be a private internment tomorrow. Firefighter KULOW was the 58th Houston firefighter to give the supreme sacrifice.

It’s 8:20pm as I am doing the daily report- Houston Hobby Airport companies just notified dispatch that they had an Alert 3 at the airfield. I am staying less than a mile from Hobby Field. The Houston FD operates crash protection at both Hobby and Bush Intercontinental Airports. Ambulance 35 was just dispatched by the female robot dispatcher. Crash companies arriving report smoke showing out of the left engine of the aircraft. Passengers are being evacuated. Battalion 26 is in route. 8:28- The fire was just tapped out (Signal 7-1), AR26 and AR27 report they are handling at Hobby Field.

I stopped at Station 53 on the far eastern end just off I-10. I took a station photo of their temporary quarters. Firefighters said it has been there for 20 years, but the dorm area is fairly new. I missed the exit to Station 44 and decided to head directly to the motel before the rush hour started. I arrived and checked into the motel around 3:30.

headed out to do a little buffing in the area. The problem was, I had just visited most of the nearby Houston stations in December of 2001. I went by the South Houston (Volunteer) FD and it was locked up tight. In 2001 I went by a number of Pasadena Volunteer FD stations without catching anyone at the station. The Pasadena FD operates nine stations in the City of Pasadena, TX. They cover an area of 65 square miles. It is reported to be the largest city operated volunteer fire department in the country. There are larger volunteer departments (like Cy-Fair in this area), but their stations cover a number of cities.

I drove to Pasadena Station 4 and was pleased to see Engine 41 parked outside. They also have Engine 42 and Ladder 4 quartered there, but I couldn’t find anybody in the house (although there were a couple of pickup trucks parked outside. By the way, while I am on the subject. What is the easiest way to spot a fire station from it’s back side? Answer: Look for a bunch of pickup trucks parked together. It’s a sure way to spot a station.

I finally gave up and headed to Station 3, home of Engine 31, Engine 32 and Ladder 3. A few firefighters were talking outside as I pulled up. They had just returned from three consecutive runs. A very gracious firefighter pulled all the rigs out so I could get photos.

I headed to Station 5 and found a very nice firefighter who had 35 years on the department. He pulled out Engine 52 and Rescue 5 so I could get photos. I headed to Station 8, who had just returned from a working brush fire. I talked to a couple firefighters there who were kind enough to pull out a couple of the rigs for photos.

I was told that Pasadena has very good 24 hour response because many of the departments members work different shifts at nearby refineries. Many of the Pasadena volunteers are also trained firefighters at the refineries they are employed at. I was told that the rigs ride with full crews at all times of the day. Some of the engines are set up to ride as many as eight firefighters.

I went by Station 7 and it was locked up tight with no pickups parked nearby. I looked in at the rigs and they too were almost new. Pasadena has a very up-to-date apparatus fleet. I didn’t see a rig older than 1998. They operate ladder trucks at Stations 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8. Almost every rig I saw was built by Quality on Spartan chassis.

I doubt that I will be able to monitor Houston with an earplug tonight as they are so gosh-busy. Either I’d sleep through everything, or I’d get no sleep. Houston can be monitored on the internet (last time I cehecked). They also have a computer aided dispatch system that you can view on the internet. The site updates itself every minute or so. You can see all the current calls with rig assignments that are still current. The system only gives you intersections (there are no actual addresses listed).

I guess that’s about it for today. Tomorrow I will most likely head out to Houston stations that I have not visited (mostly north and west). I probably got to 20 or more stations while here in December of 1991. It was 85 herein Houston today- plenty hot for me.

Take care. Until next time….

Your roving reporter.