Day 1- March 9, 2007

This morning I left the Twin Cities for a three-week journey to the west coast. I will be stopping in Kansas City, OK City, Albuquerque, Phoenix and end up in Los Angeles for a bout a week. On the way back I’ll be staying for five days in Phoenix and a night each in El Paso, Midland-Odessa, four days on Dallas-Fort Worth and a part of a day each in OK City and Kansas City on the return trip.

I didn’t get out of the barn as early as I would have liked. We had a museum trustee meeting last night which put my in a big hole (time-wise) to hit the road early. I was up until 11:30 PM last night trying to finish off packing etc. I actually got going around 8:30 AM and left with a Minneapolis temperature of 36 degrees. As I was traveling through the Owatonna area, a Pierce Telesqurt demo was going north towards the Twin Cities.

It was mostly overcast through Minnesota and Iowa, with some fog here and there. There as plenty of snow on the ground, but the snow was melting. It rained a little around Northfield, MN and again around Ames, IA. As I approached Des Moines it was 42 and very overcast. I heard a few medic calls being dispatched by the Des Moines FD as I traveled through the area.

I arrived in the Kansas City area around 3:00 with heavy clouds, but with a balmy temperature of 62 degrees.. I had intended to hit a few northern KCMO stations on the way into town, but the weather was extremely overcast. It was so nice out I actually rolled the car window down. I stopped to get gas on Front Street (parallel, but east of downtown KCMO) just off I-435 (it was $2.37/gallon).

As I traveled east around KCMO the sky started to clear and as I-435 turns west on the southern end of KC the sun broke out. I pulled off the freeway at Holmes and traveled a short distance to new KCMO Station 36 (opened in 2006). I got photos of a brand new Reserve Pumper and the Battalion Chief’s buggy. Truck 15 was broken down and they were using an old Squad as a spare (a 1998 E One squad-one of six the city got that year).

There are only three of the six squads still in service here- Squads 1, 9 and 31. There have been a number of company closings, moved companies and closed stations here in the last few years. Truck 8 had been moved to the new Station 41 for example and Truck 15 had been moved south to new Station 36 for better coverage.

The Captain that was working as Battalion 107 told me I should go see new Station 41. He and four other firefighters at the station received the Presidential Medal of Valor for bravery when some nut opened fire on the crews a few years back. One of the paramedics was wounded at the scene of their alarm. They work 24 on 48 off shifts here. Both new stations I visited are two-story with brass fire poles.

New Station 41 is only about a block north of old Station 41 (built in the 50s) and built inside a shopping mall parking lot. Firefighters told the mall developer paid for the new station. I took photos of both stations, new Engine 41 and Truck 8’s TDA (inside shot). The sun was beginning to set as I left Station 41. I got back on I-435 and drove into Overland Park, Kansas where I am spending the night.

It is supposed to rain here overnight. Hopefully it will clear up by morning, as I’d like to stop by a few area stations before I get back on I-35 and head to Oklahoma City. That’s all for now.