Day 13, March 25, 2006

Berkeley had a “working fire” last night, I believe it was on San Lorenzo around 2210 hours. It sounded like it involved a one-room fire in a single-family dwelling. The fire was knocked down fairly quickly Correction: Yesterdays’s working fire in San Ramon was in Alameda County (not San Mateo County)..Early this morning I realized that I had not done a scanner program for Marin and Sonoma Counties, the area I would be traveling through today. I checked out the Radio Reference site and made up a program using Win 96. I downloaded into my only vacant V-folder bank in my Pro-96 scanner and then re-loaded the SanFran/SanJose V-folder bank.

I eventually checked out of the motel around 0900 hours and headed to South San Francisco Station 61 to shoot their new heavy rescue. My luck, it was back at Station 62 again. The captain at Station 61 called Station 62 and told them I was coming over and “could you bring the rescue out” so I could get photos. I was greeted my an extremely nice acting captain at Station 62 that showed me almost every feature on the new squad, including the light tower. He positioned it for a sunny shot and was very accommodating and friendly.

After thanking him, I got on the 101 highway and headed up into San Francisco. I drove by Station 7 and most of the same companies from yesterday were there today. I got a much better shot of Squad 2 and also shots of Engine 18, Truck 7 and Battalion 4. While I was walking around their training yard, Assistant Deputy Chief Stragtusa (SFFD Training Chief) introduced himself to me and asked about an Assistant Chief from Minneapolis that he went to school with in Emmetsburg with about ten years ago. He described Rocco Forte to a T. He asked me to say hello to him. I told him he had been Chief of Department and now Homeland Security Director for Minneapolis. The battalion chief I met said their Ford F-150 chiefs buggies are underpowered for the hills of San Francisco.

I drove by a few SFFD stations on the way up towards the Golden Gate bridge. I caught Engine 6 parked outside of Station 6 and got photos. When I asked a firefighter how he liked the ALF- well, I can’t repeat what he said. He said its in the shop every other week. I caught a nice shot of SFFD Engine 21 shopping at a local Safeway store. I went by Stations 38 and 10 and they were both locked up tight as a drum.

I ended up going over the Golden Gate bridge at noon and stopped on the far side at the outlook to get some photos. I started up the 101 highway into Marin County. It is a beautiful scenic drive through hills, valleys and mountains. There are some spectacular views from high up above the picturesque City of Sausalito along the 101. Then you get more spectacular views across the bay of an island and the Tiburon peninsula. I wish I could have stopped along the 101 to take photos, but it is a very winding and very busy road. There were more scenic views as I drove into Corte Madera and then into San Rafael.

I stopped at San Rafael Stations 2, 1 and 7. Station 2 was empty. I got a fair picture of Engine 51 at Station 1. When I arrived ay Station 7, it was empty, but there was a battalion chief parked outside that opened the doors so I could see Truck 57. I took an indoor shot. The chief told me they operate six stations and have two ladder trucks (54 & 57). The firefighters at Station 57 either take the engine or the ladder truck, depending on the type of run and location. Just as I was leaving, Engine 57 returned and I got a shot of it. The two firefighters were very nice and pulled the truck out for photos.

Across the street from Station 57 is the San Rafael Civic Center, an enormously large and very unique looking Frank Lloyd Wright design. I took photos of it too. As it was after 1339, I decided to head up to my brother’s place in Cloverdake. I told him I’d be there by 1500 hours. I was surprised how much more building has taken place around the Santa Rosa. I’ll try and get down there one day while I’m in Cloverdale (about 22 miles away).

I arrived in Cloverdale at 1645 hours and was surprised to find the Verison’s 3G network available here. If not, my brother has a cable router system I can use. The weather today was absolutely perfect. I was 65 in San Francisco and 70 in Cloverdale. The only thing I can complain about was the fog around downtown when I was at the scenic outlook by the Golden Gate bridge. It was hard to make out the buildings.

Tomorrow my brother has some business down in Windsor. I’ll be going down there with him to see the Furth Center, where my brother does the catering. Ron says they have a huge fire station. I’ll be checking that out.

That’s all for tonight. I don’t expect to be chasing any fires while up here in Cloverdale, but then who knows. The last time I was here they had a working fire two blocks from my brother’s home.