Fire Fighter For A Day!
Trip Start
Aug 16, 2007
1
13
61
Trip End
Apr 07, 2008
McMurdo,
Antarctica
Friday, October 12, 2007
I had the exciting opportunity of being a fire fighter for a day yesterday! Aaron was also going to join me, but was feeling a little under the weather so he decided to take it easy instead.
I wasn't too excited to get up at 7:30am on my day off since I usually don't have to be at work until 11:00am, but the effort was totally worth it! Although it would have been a bit more fun if we hadn't been in a condition 2 storm all day! It was VERY cold, windy and snowy all day! Oh well, that's the price you have to pay to be a fire fighter!
I showed up at the fire house and instantly became one of the crew! After our morning shift meeting I was taken upstairs to get fitted for all of my bunker gear. We then attended the shift change meeting and did some stretching to get pumped up for the day!
I got a full tour of the fire house with some instructions on how things worked and where to go when the alarms went off. We then did a walk around and took inventory of the fire engine we would be on for the day. I got to look in all of the compartments and even climb up on the top of the engine to check the hoses!
We had a bit of spare time before attending our next crew meeting so I challenged one of the fire fighters to a race of putting all of the bunker gear on. The fire fighters have to be able to put everything on in less than 60 seconds. Having never done this before I impressed everyone by doing it in 73 seconds! (And yes, I did lose, my opponent did it in 43 seconds!)
During our next meeting I was given a location test with the rest of the fire fighters. The test contained a map and 10 blanks in which you had to identify the buildings and building numbers of the highlighted buildings on the map. Since I had researched a lot of this information on my own for the previous blog entry (Around Town) I did amazingly well on the test! I blew the Chief away by getting 7 out of 10 right!
We took the engine out for a tour around town while waiting to pick up a tanker that had just been repaired by the Heavy Shop. After getting the tanker we went to the nearest fire hydrant to refill the 7,000 gallons it needed. Unfortunately we found out very quickly that the valves were frozen and that we would have to wait until it had a chance to thaw!
We took a quick break for lunch and then went out to deliver lunch to the fire fighters that were stationed at the Ice Runway. A Kiwi C-130 had broken down the day before so it had to be watched by the fire department in 24 hour shifts until it was repaired and back in the air. The drive out to the runway was very intimidating since we couldn't see anything but white due to the storm. Once we arrived I got a quick tour of the small station and got to go up in the "bubble" which is a round glass globe like window out the top of the building for watching the runway and the flying planes. Hopefully I will get to go out there again some day when there is a better view! On the way back to the station we stopped to take a quick picture by the 'Welcome to McMurdo' sign. Even though we were only out there for 2 minutes my eyelashes we almost glued shut by the time we got back into the truck!
After returning from the runway we had some training class time for about an hour before accompanying the fire inspector on 2 building inspections. Since there were so many of us going on the inspection I got to ride in the ambulance instead of the fire engine! We went into 2 different storage warehouse buildings looking for the fire extinguishers and testing the smoke detectors. It was fun to roam all over the building hoping to be the first one to spot one of the fire extinguishers!
When we returned from the fire inspections we attempted to once again fill the tanker with water. We got it all hooked up to the fire hydrant and put about 2 minutes worth of water in it and found out that it obviously hadn't been repaired since water was pouring from the bottom of the tank! We drained out the water we just put in it and had to take it back to the Heavy Shop for them to fix it again! (I say 'we drained it', but actually I was sitting in the engine trying to get warm while watching them do it!)
At this point my shift was almost over so we headed back to the fire station so I could learn how to use the oxygen tank! I was already in full bunker gear so I got the complete training on how to turn the oxygen on, throw the tank over my head and onto my back (without giving myself a concussion!), put the mask on completely sealed by my baklava and helmet, and insert the oxygen tube and begin breathing! It was totally fun and yet a bit scary as you transition from your oxygen to the tank since their is a second of a delay. I was then handed an ax and pry bar to pose with in front of the fire truck for my glory photo!
We took a few group photos and then I said goodbye for the day! I was a bit saddened that we didn't get any actual calls for the day (like a few other of the Fire Fighter For A Day people did), but happy that we were able to do so many exciting things!
The funny part came in that after dinner, which was right after I left the station, they received a call! I saw them running out the door of the Galley and was half tempted to follow them to see if I could go along! I learned the next day that I could have gone along because my gear was still next to the engine ready to go! Oh well, next time!
Since I did so well and all of the fire fighters had such a great time with me there I have been nominated as an Alternate Fire Fighter (with the hat to prove it!) and am welcome to ride along at any time!
