Check out Daily Fire Fix for today’s stories!

These Tunes Are ON FIRE!

A neighbor observed his 57-yr old neighbor listening to music in his BMW parked in the driveway of his home.  Shortly thereafter, the car was ablaze, and as was caught on police dash cam, responding officers noticed the man was still inside.  The Police officers are seen reaching into the vehicle and dragging him away from the intense heat and flames, clearly risking their lives .  The man, described as having been incapacitated, and he was transported to the hospital suffering only from minor smoke inhalation.  You gotta love the dash cam!

Injured CFD's Finest Rescue Carful of Criticals Who Pulled Out In Front Of Them

Alcohol is being investigated in the cause of an intersection accident in which Chicago Fire Department engine 62 struck an automobile on Monday night injuring ten including 4 firefighters.  3 children and two adults were critically injured.  According to initial reports, the automobile proceeded into the intersection after stopping, and the engine did not have enough time to avoid the crash.  Witnesses at the scene reported that firefighters injured in the collision immediately began to treat those in the automobile before other firefighters and paramedics arrived.  The 18-yr old driver has since been charged with DUI and other traffic offenses.  Check out the news report from MyFoxChicago.com :

9 Injured When Chicago Fire Truck Crashes Into Car: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

Patriots Send NH Fireighter to the Super Bowl

A New Hampshire firefighter will be unable to respond to calls this weekend because he is a volunteer.  Why?  The New England Patriots chose 10 “Super Persons” from around New England, police, firefighters, teachers, and military members, all a part of their Celebrate Volunteerism Campaign.  One of those winners is Somersworth NH firefighter Tim Wilder.  Tim is headed to the Super Bowl this weekend along with nine other public service workers.  Watch the video from WMUR TV :

Nom Nom Nom…..

Here's some secret recipes for firehouse snacks on this- the most glorious weekend to be on shift at the firehouse- the Super Bowl!  First up, an ultra simple idea that will make you look like you know how to make something- even though your partners will realize you can’t.  Get a brick of Philadelphia cream cheese, put it on a plate, pour some shrimp sauce over it.  Wallah- with a few triscuits, you’ve got a dipping delight! 

Now for a secret recipe from my firehouse that is sooo simple and soooo yummy, you’ll make it even during the off season.  Pop a blob of beef roast into a crock pot at the beginning o your shift and cover it with a big jar of giardinara peppers.  Cook it on low heat til game time, open the lid, shred the meat with a couple of forks and serve it on some fresh French bread with a little mozz or provolone- and you’ve got some of the best Italian beef sandwiches you’ll ever taste. 

If you want to show some true effort with a quick, easy, and healthy Super Bowl food idea check out the video below from TheFirehouseChef.  In this episode, Ryan celebrates one of the most hallowed days at the firehouse- Super Bowl Sunday- with his famous Chipotle Chicken Salad Crostini.  Although it’s great all year long, this finger food combination of chicken, garlic, and chipotle is sure to be a crowd pleaser.  And here’s a secret- The full video recipe enables guys like me to shine in the most valuable position in the firehouse- the shift’s cook. 

Bon Appetit!

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As reported on DailyFireFix.com:

It’s the 5-second rule practiced in fire stations all over the United States and, indeed, all over the world. 

You drop something on the floor and scoop it up.  Firefighters and paramedics do it everyday, although many won’t admit it.  Unless they can’t deny it, as was the case in Mexico City last week.

Exiting a helicopter in what was called “a rapid precision maneuver”, a couple of paramedics “dropped the ball”, or to be more precise, “almost broke a heart” on camera as the precious cargo rolled out of it’s cocoon cooler and tumbled onto the street.

From CBSnews.com

As you can see, the paramedics immediately employed the “rapid scoop” maneuver well within the five seconds allowed, and continued their race to the hospital where the package was dusted off and successfully implanted into its anxious recipient. 

I began to wonder what the paramedics first said to each other once safely out of the camera’s eye in the back of the ambulance?

Doctors are cautiously optimistic on the outcome saying the heart is doing fine. 

The paramedics? 

Well, they'll endure the wrath of their peers for years to come, constantly being reminded that "their heart was in the wrong place."

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I’ve been sharing with you a story of humor, yet it is also a story many of each of you have been apart of in your own experiences.  You get on a department, and you grow close to each other as you begin your journey developing your second family.

There are many other stories, as I’m sure you can imagine.  Some can be related, some are better left untold.  But each story are singular threads that we share to create the fabric of life- the truly special one which we all share as Brothers and Sisters in the greatest profession on earth.

I began my career with Buzz, and was fortunate enough to have him as a part of our company when I suffered my injury a few years back.  From beginning to end, Buzz has been and continues to be my Brother.

Buzz has a beautiful wife and three fantastic young men for sons.  Throughout our Brotherhood, Buzz has always had the support of both his families.  Buzz also serves his country in the Global War on Terror, having been in the sands as a Navy medic saving the lives of his other Band of Brothers, our heroes in the Middle East.

When he is gone on his tours, the Brothers back home make sure his family is never in want for anything.  From simple chores to assistance with major issues we all made sure his wife, Maria, and her three sons could count on us to have their backs just like if Buzz was there for them.  We treated his family just like they should be treated, and how we would expect they would treat ours. 

Today, our Brother faces a new crisis, and we are all stepping up for him.  For those of you who are unaware, his eldest son Ken was unexpectedly diagnosed with brain cancer this last March. After 2 brain surgeries 5 weeks of radiation and countless medications, Ken is looking and feeling better and better. He still has a long road to recovery and many months of chemotherapy ahead, but things are looking positive.

This unfortunate medical issue came at a time when Ken was off of a health insurance plan between graduating college, and trying to get a small business up and going. His medical expenses are staggering and overwhelming.  Now, this is something that will dealt with over time, but we all can have an impact now.  Why?

Ken will be unable to work for at least a year.  But in this, the greatest country in the world, Ken can also receive a higher level of healthcare treatment IF he can pony up certain percentages out of pocket.  In other words, if he has more money, he can get better treatment.  God Bless America, right?

Anyway, us Brothers are not going to let a lack of finances hold Buzz’s son to a lesser standard of care without a fight.  We’ve put a party together and want everyone to join us the weekend after the Fourth of July at Arlington Park Racecourse. 

Join us as we bet on the ponies, break some bread, share some pop, enjoy pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting, 50/50 raffle, silent auction, other raffle prizes, and a demonstration by our very own Chicago Fire Professional Soccer Team.

A Day At The Races runs from noon until 6pm (post time at 1pm) on Sunday, July 10^th at Arlington Park Racecourse.  Tickets are $40 for adults, $20 for children 4 years old and older.

Your ticket includes food, non-alcoholic beverages, and entertainment, and all proceeds will be donated to Ken so that he can get the level of treatment he deserves.

Now I realize that many of you are geographically unable to make it to suburban Chicago for this mega-party, but you can still help out in several ways.  First, visit “Ken Krull Fundraiser” on facebook and “like”  the page.  It will help get the word out to the world.  Secondly, we’ve set up a PayPal account to which you can donate by using the email address “kenfundraiser@gmail.com”.  Local 3481 will also be graciously accepting checks mailed to Local 3481, PO Box 1683, Barrington, IL 60010. 

Finally, contact me below for any further information on how you might wish to get involved.

This is one of those situations in life that happens all around us, but you never really grasp the impact until it happens to a loved one.  

Buzz is my buddy.  Buzz is my brother.  He was there when I started, and he was there on my last day.

Join me now as we stand right beside him today, as we know we will for the rest of our lives.

Stay stoked!

-J

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When you last left us, the two hapless FNG’s had amazingly escaped a potential situation in which something got broken.  Remember, if something gets broken, we’d have to endure the Wrath of the Lieutenant- that unimaginably obscene and cataclysmic display of sound and spit-spray.

But just as things looked like they were going our way, the rising railroad crossing gate snapped off the lens of our rotating light sending it high up into the air.  Oh no!  What if it gets broken?  AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!  We watched in amazement as it arced about forty feet into the air then began its descent toward the line of traffic stopped at the light.

But the Gods were smiling down upon us on that memorable day as the lens came down hard- into a landscaping truck filled to the rim with grass clippings.  It bounced once, then twice, then finally settled on top of the pile in the back of the truck.

The light turned green.  Nooooo! 

I bolted (I know smart-asses, not so much bolting these days anymore) for the landscaping truck as it began to start forward with the traffic.  I yelled STOP! and with one leap (well, OK, I stopped, put my cigarette out and coughed, cinched up my pants, then heaved myself up attempting to get up into the back of the truck).  My third attempt was successful. 

I grabbed the lens and looked it over in wide-eyed amazement.  Just a scratch!  Well, we could get that out.  In the words of Spicoli, “my Dad’s got an awesome set of tools.”

Down I sprang (well, climbed laboriously- HEY enough from you guys already, huh?) and skipped my way back to the ambulance holding the lens with both hands above my head like the Stanley Cup (Go Bruins!) as Buzz waited dutifully with the patient.

“It’s not broken, it’s not broken!” I screamed, ecstatically incredulous.  I gently placed the lens on the front passenger seat like a majestic crown on a velvet pillow, buckled it in securely, then retook my position as driver/operator of the mobile intensive care unit.  As we made our way to the hospital, tears again, this time tears of joy and re-relief. 

Me and Buzz on our first call together.  We had successfully avoided the Wrath of the Lieutenant.  We would not be so successful in the future.  Things would get broken, Wraths be unleashed.  But today….sweet victory.

To be continued…

This story has been told and retold countless times

and may or may not be a wildly exaggerated account of utter fiction. 

As we used to say on black shift,

never let the facts get in the way of a good story. 

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I'm traveling this week.  Here's a rerun from last year.  Enjoy!

To all my brothers and sisters who start out your radio transmissions with “Breaker, breaker..” of have the naked lady mud flaps on your apparatus, I offer these nuggets for entertainment purposes.

Or suggestions.

* You have ever been dispatched to a working “cow” fire
* You ever put out a cow chip fire
* Your PASS alarm goes “Yeee Haw”
* You dispatch center ever said “Y’all can’t miss it”
* You used your rescue air bags as furniture at the fire station
* You refill your air bottles at the local gas station “Free Air” hose
* Your department has a Rescue Bubba and a Rescue Cow for training
* You only wash down the floor in the station to “keep the dust down”
* Your radio call signal is “Wheee doggies”
* You have to mark the department out of service two weeks during deer season and every Sunday during the Winston Cup Race
* You bought a computer so you could get NASCAR Online on the Internet
* You count reading fire magazines in the bathroom as training hours
* Your last four fire department raffles were for a shotgun…and a member won it each time.
* You borrowed the department’s quick dump tank so you could have a neighborhood pool party
* Your safety officer is the person who broke his arm at the last house fire
* Your rehab consists of a cold beer and a pack of “nabs”
* Your last serious fire was your fire department BBQ
* You used your “good” fire house as a bumper on your boat dock
* You have a shotgun rack in the back of your fire truck….and got two bucks on your last call
* Your Hurst tool is on loan to the local body shop
* You use a hanging noose knot for all your rescue operations because it’s real adjustable
* You don’t allow a person to join the department unless they own a pickup
* You wore a hole in your fire boots….while wearing them at your full time job
* You keep 2 packs of “Red Man” in your turnout gear for “emergencies”
* Your departments brush truck doubles as your hunting truck
* You voted against the last person for chief because he was a Jeff Gordon fan
* You painted your new rescue truck to look like Earnhardt’s race car
* You borrowed the fire truck to use the spotlights for deer hunting
* The directions to your last house fire was “Go down past the last house you burnt up”….and you know exactly which house they are talking about
* You ever went diving in a swimming pool with your SCBA equipment…..just to see how it would work
* You must take the battery out of your tractor to put in the fire truck before you go on calls
* Your preacher borrows your PASS alarms each Sunday for church to keep the congregation awake
* You consider “2 in and 2 out” to be two guys in the cab and two on the tailboard of the truck
* The last girl you kissed was named Rescue-Annie and you enjoyed it so much you are thinking seriously about asking her out
* Your department has ever had two emergency vehicles pulled over for drag racing while going to a scene
* Your firehouse has wheels
* You’ve ever got back and found you’ve locked yourself out of the firehouse
* Fire training consists of everyone standing around a fire get’n drunk
* You’ve ever been toned out on an out house fire also if that out house fire was with entrapment
* You’ve ever let a person’s house burn down because they wouldn’t let you hunt their ground
* Your personal vehicle has more lights on it than your house has lights in it
* You’ve ever walked through a Christmas display and walked away with at least 3 new ideas for a light scheme for your truck
* Your rescue truck can smoke the tires
* Your department’s name is misspelled on your equipment
* The nurses and doctors turn out the lights and hide when you show up at the hospital to get your equipment
* Dispatch can’t mention your name without laughing
* The local news crew won’t put your department on T.V. because you embarrassed them last time.
* You’ve ever locked the keys in your trucks
* You’ve ever referred to a light bar as sexy
* Your defibrillator consists of a marine battery, a pair of jumper cables, and a fish finder
* You’ve ever taken a girl out in a pumper
* Your pumper has been on fire more times than it’s been to a fire
* Your pumper smokes more than the house fire
* You’ve ever been arrested for indecent exposure at a house fire
* You’ve ever called it quits on a house fire when the beer got hot
* You’ve ever been late to a house fire because you had to stop and get the guy who fell off the truck
* You’ve ever stopped in route to pick up a road kill
* You hand out spit cans before each meeting
* You have a sign out front of your station that says will fight fires for beer
* Your equipment has chew stains down the sides of ‘em
* Everyone on your department is related in some way or another
* Your annual vacation plans depend on where the state EMS conference is held.
* You have as many ambulances in town as you do EMTs.
* You thought your first ambulance ” run ” would be a 5K.
* You think that the ABCs stand for ” Always Being on Call. ”

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On Wednesday, Firefighters in Vallejo, CA rescued a cat from a tree.

They also had to rescue the man who went up after the cat.  The man apparently became stuck about 40 feet up, according to a report in the Times Herald by Rachel Raskin-Zrihen.

“His name is Joey, and we talked to him for a moment or two and he cooperated long enough that we were able to grab him, like his mother would do, by the back of the neck and bring him down the ladder,” Fire Captain Arturo Gonzales said.

Was he speaking of the cat?

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I had one knee-jerk caption for this photo sent me this week.

But, with deference to my good friend, FireGeezer, I’m much more interested in captions you may have to offer!

Submit your caption!

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On the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, many of us in and around the Chicagoland area are gearing up for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Remembrance Night at Toyota Park on October 8.

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation will host a hospitality area at the game.  Here is your chance to participate in one of our area’s biggest fund raisers for the NFFF.

Here’s what you get:

• Ticket to see our champion Chicago Fire play the Columbus Crew!

  

• Admission to the special NFFF Hospitality Area for two hours prior to the game!

• All inclusive of food and beverages!

• Silent Auction with proceeds to benefit the NFFF!

• $10 of each ticket is a donation to the NFFF!

• Camaraderie with the best group of people- your fellow firefighters, their families, and friends!

Get your group together, check out renting a bus or two, and come down and party with your fellow firefighters, watch a great soccer match, and support a fantastic cause- the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation!

Click the picture below to purchase your tickets. Be sure to use the promo code “nfff”

Click here for tickets. Use promo code "nfff"

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Want to know what might be talked about in firehouse recliners this weekend?

She’s Inez Sainz, (pronounced OMG) former model and current sports reporter from Mexico’s TV Azteca .  Reports surfaced earlier this week in which players New York Jets players acted with “unprofessional conduct” when Inez made her way into their locker room for an interview with quarterback Mark Sanchez.

Here’s a picture of Inez waiting for something.

demonstration of good posture

Where was I?

Oh yes.  The NFL has apparently opened up an investigation into the conduct of the players in the locker room (calling out to her) ass well ass an incident during practice, in which defensive backs coach Dennis Thurman began throwing footballs in her direction so players could end up closer to her.

Jets coach Rex Ryan eventually joined in, ass did veteran defensive lineman Jason Taylor, who asked (and I’m paraphrasing) “May I participate in this drill?”.

BTW, here’s another picture of her.

Who's the guy who clips on the wireless microphone transmitter?

She’s a sports reporter.  Yes.

Where was I?

Right.  Anyway, the NFL announced Friday that it would also roll out media training to all 32 teams on proper behavior in the workpla…

Wait, here she is again.

A rare shot from the front.

It’s a more rare shot.  From the front.  Take a good look.

My guess is this story will be brought up in firehouse recliners over football all weekend.

Stay stoked!

-J

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September 29th from 8-11pm at Gators Croc & Roc, 1714 North Market Street, Dallas TX

I haven’t been home to “the big D” since the days of good ol’ number 79, Harvey Martin.  But I’ll be venturing into the Lone Star State to join dozens of my closest friends at the EMS Expo in just a couple of weeks.  I need to be in Emmitsburg that weekend, so I’ll be in and out quickly. It will be just like going to Wisconsin- or Czechoslovakia!

JEMS.com and FireEMSblogs.com are hosting The Meetup in Dallas, where some of the most influential EMS (and fire) bloggers from across the universe will break bread (‘tizers) and share some sodies (beverages).

At the end of the night, I’ll be walking (or crawling) away with either an iPad 16GB 3G, or one of the highly-coveted first copies of MONOPOLY: Emergency Medical Services edition which are available in the free raffle.  Geez, my friend Rhett (hiccup) won’t be there to run the raffle!

* If you are in the greater Dallas area or traveling to the Expo, be sure to stop in.  I’m buying the first 300 attendees a brewski.  Actually, that’s not true- but the event sponsored by Physio-Control will offer the first 300 a free beer or wine.  See you there!

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