Day 2- March 14, 2009

Last night around 2200 hours the Wichita FD had an attached garage fire, which extended into the house in Quint 4’s district. I missed part of it as was out of the room when the run initially came in. They worked on it for a good 20 minutes before it was declared under control. While that was winding down they had a rear porch on fire on the 3rd floor of an apartment building at 405 E Marion. One company must have been sent on smoke and they requested a full assignment. I heard Engines 2 and 11, Quint and Squad 19 and a few other rigs (I couldn’t remember) sent on that fire.

I checked the Weather Channel this morning before I left. It had snowed overnight in Amarillo and was still raining in OK City. I thought about going the southern route (through Dallas-Fort Worth), but it was raining there also.

It was 40 degrees and the sun was just breaking on the horizon as I left the motel around 0730 hours. It was quiet as I drove around Wichita on the I-35 toll-way. I saw some activity at the WFD training tower just east of the tollway, but the sun wasn’t even up yet, so I didn’t stop. There are actually a number of older rigs parked outside near the tower also. Access is very limited on the Toll-way as it circumvents most of Wichita. Then I saw a WFD Quint and Squad (I believe) headed towards the tower on the opposite side of the toll-way a few miles down. Too bad it wasn’t sunny yet, or I would have got off somehow and figured out how to get back to the tower.

It stayed sunny until I got near the Oklahoma border and then got very dark. When I got near OK City it was misting off and on. I decided not to try and get any photos in the dreary weather there, so I gassed up and got on westbound I-40 and headed towards Amarillo. Just as I finished gassing up, OKFD Engine 24 stopped at the red light in front of the service station. I took a shot, but there was a car in the way. I’ve shot that rig before under much better conditions.

I’m sad to report that about noon I got a call from Bob Vigliaturo of the Extra Alarm Association who informed me that Joe Water’s mother had died. I wish Joe and his family members my warmest condolences at this very trying time.

Around 1300 hours, my phone received a text message noting a 3rd Alarm in Dallas, Texas. If I had gone that route, I might have been arriving there about that time. Oh well, you never know!

It warmed up to about 46 degrees as I was approaching the Texas border. Then it suddenly got very dark again and soon most of the ground was covered with a light snow. Luckily, none of the vehicles coming at me were covered with snow. The temperature dropped back down to 40 degrees in about 20 more miles. I was thinking that it doesn’t look good for me for picture taking in Amarillo either.

Then, about 50 miles east of Amarillo, the weather started to warm up and the clouds began breaking up here and there. There was still some hope. I got off the I-40 near Amarillo Station 5 and took a station photo in very overcast weather. Then I heard AFD Engine 11 say they were going to be at 45th and Bee. The dispatcher came back and said he had a medical run for them at 51xx S Bee. I headed over that way to try and get a photo of Engine 11. They were still there when I arrived, but they were parked between rows of cars. I got a few shots anyway. Engine 11 is typical of the last six or so pumpers purchased by Amarillo. All are on Freightliner M2 chassis with the last four being built by Ferreara and the first two being built by American LaFrance.

I headed from Engine 11’s medical to nearby Station 3 (where Engine 11 is assigned- they are building them a new station to the west of Station 3). I got a shot of Engine 3’s M2/Ferrara. Then I headed back towards the center city and stopped at Station 9. Ladder 9 was out on a run. I got photos of Engine 9 and Ladder 9 after they returned. Luckily the sun was out when Ladder 9 returned.

I had enough daylight left for one more station. Luckily I picked Station 2, which had a Quint, a brand new Wildland rig and the departments HazMat/Communications truck. The sun was not good for the Quint (Ladder 2) or the wildland rig (Wildland 3), but they pulled the HazMat into the sun for a great shot.

As it was after 1700 hours, I decided to start looking for a motel for the night. I found a nice Quality Inn motel just off I-40 and got a super room with a full-kitchen, living room area (with couch, desk and easy chairs), and the room is huge. I was a little disappointed when I found out that my Verizon G3 network wouldn’t work here. I purposely try to avoid OK City for overnight stays as it was the only area that I travel that I couldn’t access the internet through my cell phone. Now I can add Amarillo to that list.

I called the front desk and they have an Ethernet connection in the motel room, but I didn’t bring my Ethernet cord. Luckily she found one at the front desk and that’s what I’m using to send this. Amarillo currently has 9 Engines and 4 ladder trucks (two of them operating as Quints- replacing the Engines at those houses. They are currently building two new stations (11 and 12) and are remodeling Station 1 (gutted down to the walls). Station 1’s equipment is currently in a rented property nearby while the station is being rebuilt.

I’m not really sure yet where I will end up tomorrow. I’m four hours from Albuquerque, but then I would have a 520-mile Monday to get me into Phoenix. I may stop briefly in Albuquerque and then drive another four hours to get into El Paso for the night. Then, I’d only have 400 miles to drive from El Paso to Phoenix on Monday. I’ve shot a lot recently in other trips through Albuquerque. El Paso is a little out of the way, but I’ve always had good luck there. The other possibility would be staying in Las Cruces, NM (not quite as far as El Paso). I’m not sure if Las Cruces has Verizon 3G or not (I doubt it).