Day 28, April 9, 2009

It was kind of a crazy day in the Dallas-Fort Worth area today. It started out very overcast and started to rain shortly after 0800 hours. I got a call on my cell phone from local buff Robert Knowels. Robert had just got off duty at the hospital he works at (7PM to 7AM shift). He had just gotten home and was about to go to bed. He works tonight again, but is off Saturday & Sunday. After he gets off work at 7AM tomorrow morning, we will meet up for breakfast and then buff Dallas. I told him I’d like to get to the Dallas FD shops, if possible. I also called local buff and Dallas FD EMS Supervisor Ronnie Tocci and left a message on his cell phone. He runs out of Dallas Station 5.

It rained off and on until around 0930 hours, when radar showed that it was starting to clear up to the west of Fort Worth. I finally hit the streets around 0945 hours and headed to the Fort Worth FD shops to see Captain Robinson, in charge of the FWFD apparatus fleet. I was disappointed to find out that Captain Robinson was on vacation. Luckily, the secretary called the captain to talk about something else and got permission from him to print me a list of apparatus.

The list she gave me had only the department number and the company it was assigned to. When I asked a couple of the mechanics what year a couple of the pumpers out in the yard were, one of them went back inside and had the secretary reprint the list and had the secretary add the year, manufacturer, pump capacity, and tank size. When I asked about manufacturers serial numbers, she said they didn’t have any manufacturer numbers in their database. It lightened up quite a bit after that, but clear skies didn’t come around until the afternoon.

I did catch overcast photos of new Engines 13 and 38 (not yet in service), and Engine 17 and Quint 17 when they stopped at the shops for some minor work. I headed to nearby Station 21 (both engine and Quint had reserves) and got a shot of the station and the reserve Quint. My next stop was new Station 8, which is also a division headquarters. I met a very friendly battalion chief that was just leaving the station and he walked me inside the station and introduced me to a couple firefighters. They were very nice and showed me around. Engine 8, Truck 8 and the new Mobile Command unit are assigned to the station. The command is only three weeks old, and the driver was happy to pull it out for photos. I already had photos of the engine and truck from a previous trip.

I went by Station 2 (and headquarters) downtown, but after driving around the area I could not find a parking spot within two blocks of the station. When I had driven into the area earlier, I had seen Squad 2 head out I-30 (headed west). I headed to nearby Station 5, one of the busiest companies in the department (4000+ runs last year). The guys there asked me if I was there to “ride out” and I told them “Sorry, but no, and thank you for asking.” Great guys there pulled the engine out for photos and showed me some of their equipment and how they hook up to a hydrant.

My next stop was Station 14, also a fairly busy station. Stationed there are Engine 14, Truck 14 and Rescue 14 (a heavy rescue). The truck, a 135” E-One rear-mount has been there for ions and I had taken photos of it and the engine before. They pulled the heavy rescue out (just six months old) for photos. It is cross-manned by the truck crew.

I headed to Station 20, home of Engine 20 and Quint 20, but no one answered the door. Finally, someone walked around the side of the building and a city electrician doing work at the station told me that they “went out for lunch.” I waited for a little bit, but when didn’t return I left and got some lunch myself.

As it was after 1430 hours, I decided to head east the 30 miles to Dallas, to find the Studio 6 motel that I had called earlier in the morning to make reservations at. I’ve stayed in this area before and have been able to pick up Fort Worth’s trunked radio system. I wanted to get to Dallas before rush hour started and get checked in. Traffic was already very busy as I approached the downtown Dallas area and it took me awhile to get to the area where I was going to stay for the next three nights.

After I checked into the Studio 6 motel (not far from Dallas Love Airport), I headed out to pick up some groceries. I had a heck of a time locating a grocery store (twice I was given incorrect information). I eventually found an Albertson’s a ways east on Northwest Highway (on my own). I should have gone west on Northwest Highway as I may have been able to hear Fort Worth’s fire.

I had my scanner on the entire time I was out shopping. When I came out of the grocery store with my groceries, I heard the Fort Worth I/C tell the Fort Worth dispatcher that the fire was now under control and the dispatcher replied that they had now been working for 45 minutes on the incident. Oh no!. I must have missed a working fire in Fort Worth!

When I got back to the Studio 6 unit with groceries in hand, I turned on the local TV news and they reported that around 1630 hours Fort Worth had a “Four Alarm” fire in the River Ranch apartment complex (I have absolutely no idea where that is). It looked like a pretty good fire that had broken through the roof of a long two-story apartment complex. I must have been out of range (probably some 40+ miles away) when I was out looking for a store and then in the store shopping. When I left the store, which is on a hill, I was apparently able to pick up the Fort Worth trunked system for the first time since the incident had begun.

I should have found a motel midway between the two cities. I even thought about it on the way over to Dallas. Robert Knowels had told me that he worked near the Studio 6 that I had mentioned to him on the phone when I talked to him this morning. He said it would be very convenient for him to meet me at the Studio 6 after he got off of work. And here I thought I’d have a much better chance of getting to an extra fire in Dallas than in Fort Worth. Quadruple Dang it!!!!

It got very warm here late this afternoon, about 90 degrees, and it also became very, very windy. You can’t see the blue sky anymore because of all the blowing dust in the area. There are also a number of grass fires going on around the metropolitan area, mostly to the SW of Fort Worth (in Montague County) and north of Dallas, in Collin County. Live helicopter shots from the Montague County brush fires were being shown live on the local news. There were a number of out buildings and a few barns shown that were fully involved.

I just found out (from the fire page I received on my cell phone) that the fire was in SW Fort Worth (42 miles from where I’m staying) not far from the FWFD shops (my first stop this morning). Now, I don’t quite feel so bad. Even if I’d heard the first alarm, it would have taken me well over an hour to get to that fire in rush hour traffic. If that fire had been last night, I was staying only a couple of miles away. You win some and you lose some. That’s the way she goes.

They’re also showing some serious grass fires in the Oklahoma City area on the local news here. There have been 50+ homes damaged there and they report that I-35 is closed in that area due to the fires and dense blowing smoke in that area. Many cities here (in the Dallas area) have sprinkling bans on because of the extremely dry conditions. I guess they could have used some more rain this morning, but it sounds like it's coming Saturday night and Sunday to both Oklahoma and Texas (so says the weather channel).