Thursday, December 01, 2005

De Kalb County had a very good working fire in Engine 20’s first due area last night. They sent three engines, a truck, a squad and two battalion chiefs to the fire. I had the address, but apparently threw the sheet it was on in the basket by mistake. Oh well. That fire lasted to well into the late evening hours last night.

There was frost on my windshield this morning when I took off around 7:30AM. I quickly was on the I-75 south and headed towards Tampa. There was a fair amount of highway construction in Georgia on I-75 and I had to slow down to 60mph in the construction zones. Otherwise the trip to Tampa was a breeze at 70mph with a lot less traffic than I am used to seeing on I-75.

There was a Memphis rear-mount out front of the E-One Plant in Ocala, FL as I passed by. I turned off at a Rest Stop just south of Ocala and a semi had missed the turn and gone down an embankment and flipped on its side. They had a number of large tow trucks on the scene trying to upright it and pull it up to grade. I got a photo of one of the larger tow trucks, which looked identical to Heavy Rescue 56 in Los Angeles City.

I decieded on the way down that I was going to stop at Tampa Stations 20 and 21 in far NE Tampa on the way into town. I arrived in that area around 2:30PM and got off the freeway and started looking for new Station 21 (opened about four years ago). The area is full of new housing developments and shopping centers. I knew about where the station was, but I couldn’t find it. I stopped four people and asked them directions. Every one of them told me something different- none of it right.

Finally, I spotted a U.S. Post Office truck down the block and stopped in front of the vehicle. I jumped out and asked the nice female mail carrier where the station was. I had circled within a block of it four times as it turned out. She set me straight and I was there in a minute.

I went in the station and one of the firefighters said something about its another one of them buffs here to get photos of our new Quint. A very nice firefighter took me into the apparatus bay to show me their month and a half old Quint (called Engine 21, by the way). He pulled the rig out so I could get a photo (or ten). When he pulled the rig back into the station, they got a run to an automobile accident. I should have grabbed my video camera, but I was parked in the back of the station.

Luckily, they’d given me instructions on getting to Station 20 before they left on the run. I headed in towards town and found it about three miles down the highway. I got photos of Engine 20 and Station 20. I ran into a firefighter at the station that was born in Minnesota. I headed into towards Busch Gardens, close to Station 13 and home to a large number of motels.

Tampa has been growing by annexing Hillsboro County unincorporated land, especially in the northeast area along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. The city opened one new station in 1987 (#20) and in 2001 (#21). A firefighter told me today that they are working on plans for a third station in the NE extension. As it is now in the northeast area, Engine 21 and Engine 20 respond along with Engine 13 and Aerial 13, which are located 10 miles SW. That’s a lot of running for Tampa Station 13, located across the street from Bush Gardens Amusement Park.

Just as I was crossing Fowler Boulevard, Engine 13 and Aerial 13 past me by Code 3 going the other way to a run up in the newly acquired area on Tamiami Trail. Engine 13 and Aerial 13 must have a lot of miles on them. When I arrived on Busch Boulevard, I started looking for a suitable motel. I’m afraid the area has deteriorated since my last visit here. I finally found a suitable place a block south of Tampa Station 13, across the street from Busch Gardens.

Tomorrow, Karyle arrives at Tampa International Airport around 11AM. I’ll do a little buffing on the way through town on the way to the airport before I meet Karyle. We’ll have to find a place to stay for Friday night, as the timeshare doesn’t start until Saturday.

That’s about all for today. I’m sending some additional photos from yesterday with the few I took today.

Your Roving Reporter is finally here!