Day 15- March 23, 2007

It was partly sunny when I got up this morning. It had rained a good portion of the night. We got .84 inches in this area, but Gilbert (only four miles east) had 2.6 inches. I didn’t even bother to monitor the last couple of nights. The fire in Mesa yesterday was due to a lightening strike. The resulting fire burned the roof totally off the house. The elderly woman inside thought the house next door was on fire until firefighters came in to rescue her.

We had breakfast in the hotel again at their Express Breakfast. After that I headed to close-by PFD Station 43. I got photos of the Ladder, Ladder-Tender and Engine. We were looking for something for the kids to do as they had postponed the afternoon double-header and instead scheduled a 7pm 9-inning game. I asked the driver of Engine 43 if there were any fun places to take the kids in the area. He said yes, on Elliot Road about a half mile east of I-10. I headed down to check the place out. It was great.

They had a very nice driving range, miniature golf, bumper boats, two go-cart tracks, kids rides, batting cages and a big indoor recreation area with all kinds of video games. I called back to the hotel and told them to head on down. They said it would be a half hour or more before they left. I went to Tempe Station 3 (73) and talked to a driver there. They have the same rigs as the last time I was here so I only took a station photo. Tempe is ordering three new engines (CAF’s units) and a new ladder truck for Ladder 273.

I dropped by Tempe Station 4 (74) but it was empty. I headed back to the recreation place and waited for the family to arrive. We played video games first, then the kids rode on the kids rides and Brett got to drive on the small go-cart track. Then the kids got on the bumper boats and had a ball trying to get each other wet. We hit two huge buckets of golf balls at the driving range (Brett got a blister) and then played more video games.

We had amassed over 550 points on the video and bowling games and turned them in for prizes for the kids. It was after 1300 hours and we were all starving. We found a nearby Red Robin Restaurant and had a nice meal. We all headed back to the hotel as it started to drizzle again.

When it let up around 1430, I headed out to visit a few stations. I got photos of Chandler Engine 289, Reserve Engine 289 and CFD Station 9. I headed to CFD Station 3, but everyone was gone except for a captain. He was nice enough to pull the ladder truck out for me. The rest of the crew was in north Phoenix on a training mission as the crew there is part of the hazmat team.

I went by CFD Station 1 and found it empty. I then went by Station 5 and it too was empty. As I was leaving it started to rain again pretty good, but only lasted five minutes. I checked out the fields where Augsburg will be playing tonight at 7pm. They looked pretty good actually. I scouted the area for restaurants as we plan to pick up some food to being to the game. I drove by Sun Lakes Station 1 and it too was empty. I headed back to the motel to work on this report, as I’m sure we won’t be back until after 10pm tonight.

I didn’t hear any fires today, although it was pretty noisy at times with the go carts screaming, the bumper boats roaring and the video games dinging and ringing. I would have liked to visit a few more stations, but the time I spend with my nephews kids, their family and my brother is priceless. The kids are just a hoot and seeing the looks on their faces having a great time is very rewarding.

I’m going to have to change my itinerary. Tomorrow it will still be storming along I-10 and up along I-25 in New Mexico. There are some nasty storms circling the gulf and Texas until mid-week. Dallas may see rain until Thursday. I’ll probably leave here Sunday morning and go back through Albuquerque, OK City and maybe spend a day or so in Tulsa if the weather is OK. I’ve never been there before and the department has about 30 stations. I’ll play it by ear.

Paige Van Vorst called me this morning to tell me about CFD Truck 51 colliding with a school bus while responding on a run. The bus knocked Truck 51 over and sadly the driver, a 20-year veteran of the CFD died in the LOD.