On With The Show...

Reporting from on Scene
Incident: Residential Fire


There I was, startled awake in the middle of the night by the tones dropping... "Engines 12, 4, Truck 4, Rescue 12, Safety Officer 1, etc ... report coming in of a house fire." Threw myself from my bunk, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, making my way to the bay quickly.

Pants on, nomex, jacket now on... everything is zipped, buckled up, and tightened down leaving no room for fire to sneak through. We're rolling out, SCBA on, air on, mask, helmet and now gloves. Another report comes in "...lots of smoke in the air!"  From in front me I hear "Shit, we've got one!"

The pounding in my chest speeds up a little faster. Adrenalin starts pumping.  Finding myself making a mental check-list, because I know we're going to be the second engine on scene. Thinking to myself, gotta catch that hydrant!

Report now coming in from first engine on scene "... we have plenty of smoke and fire showing from C/D corner. I was correct, second engine to roll in. From beside me I hear a shout "You've got this Shadow ... go, go, go!"  Just as the engine rolls to a stop, I take that leap of faith. Grab the hose, hydrant bag, hydrant assist. Time to go, go, go because we gotta get the water flowing. The hydrant's on!  Back with the crew and jumped on a line. Air is flowing and I'm headed into the black unknown because it's on with the show!

Fast forward about an hour and a half later, we're rolling back to the station.  Silence in the cab. Then out from no where my ears perked up to hear "Probie gets to pick the ice-cream!" Yesssss!  The fact that I got to pick the ice-cream, made for the perfect curtain call.

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       Shadow
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There's a Reason They Don't Teach This in Boy Scouts

Reporting from on scene

Incident: Residential Structural Fire

First, get some wood. Second, go buy a bag of Lays potato chips (...other ships will work, but not as good.) Now, place your bag in the centre of your fire pit. Set up your collection of small pieces of wood around your potato chip bag but be sure to leave the corner of the bag completely exposed. Now, light the bag on fire.

This folks, is how you build one hell of a roaring fire over just a few minutes.

The saturated oils in the potato chips are very flammable.  The bag will quickly disintegrate and you will be left with a roaring fire. Lays plain potato chips do work best because they are thin and they have a high concentration of fat compared to other brands.

If you are someone that is going to try and do this because you were warned not to do this, please do so in a safe manner.... unlike a call we took where a young teen saw this video on how to start a fire with potato chips on YouTube... he decided to use a book, half a bag of cedar shavings for his hamster cage and a large bag of chips... in his basement!

Which brings us back to our number one rule: Don't play with matches/lighters!

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      Firegeezer
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Odd Fellows They Are

Reporting from On Scene
Incident:  Fire Hall Conversations


So, here I am sitting in my office, across from our day room where the crew have decided to take a break and grab some down time.  I am sitting at my desk thumbing through some reports when I hear:

(While reading a magazine) "Have you guys not noticed that taco cat spelled backwards is still taco cat?" (FF #1)
"I am not sure what to do with this info." (FF #2)
"And that dog food lid spelled backwards is dildo of god?" (FF #1)
"I don't know what to do with this info either!" (FF #2)

I went to the kitchen shortly after, and walking back to my office with a hot cup of tea, I hear from the men's washroom:

"Why the hell do you do that?" (FF #3)
"What?  Have you never seen a curling iron? This chest air isn't going to curl itself!" (FF #4)

Done my reports, I head to the day room to join the men, I sit down as they are in the midst of a conversation, which I am not sure how it started:

"It's not just bacon, it's a pig." (FF #1)
"It's not veal, it's a calf." (FF #2)
"It's not steak, it's a cow." (FF #1)
"It's not delivery, it's DiGiorno." (FF #3)
"It's not a scene, it's a g*d damn arms race." (FF #1)
"It's not leviosAR, it's leviOsa!" (FF #2)
"Maybe it's Maybelline." (FF #4)

**Everyone looks at FF #4 with a WTF!!! look!**

"I am Sparta! Better?" (FF #4)

Needless to say, I guess these were just a few of those 'you had to be there' moments. I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

These men certainly do make the time go by quickly.

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        captain
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Fire Hall Bread Sticks!

Reporting from On Scene

Incident:  Fire Hall Cooking

What's on the menu you asked? 

How about easy, fast... 

 Fire Hall Bread Sticks!

Have to say, that these Fire Hall Bread Sticks are perfect for making at the fire hall as they are quick and easy and very addicting!  

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup of butter

1 1/2 cups of warm water

1 package of quick rise yeast

2 tbsp sugar

garlic salt

Parmesan cheese

Parsley for garnish

Mix together the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Next, add your warm water to the mixture.  If the dough remains sticky, try adding 1/4 or 1/2 cup more of flour. If you are going to knead by hand, you will need to do so for about 10 minutes.  Otherwise, I recommend using the dough hook on your Kitchen-aid mixer.  FYI:  If you plan on using your Kitchen-aid mixer to mix the dough, I would suggest that you place your Kitchen-aid mixer facing the wall - the damn thing has a mind of its own and it will go for a walk about on your counter.  Once you have finished mixing/kneading the dough, let the dough sit for a few minutes before rolling.

In a smaller bowl, melt the 1/2 cup of butter. Pour half of the butter onto the bottom of your pan. On a floured surface, roll our your dough so that it's the same size of the pan. Transfer the rolled out dough to the pan.  Try to roll the dough out to the very edges of the pan. Pour the rest of the melted butter on top of the dough. Now that the butter has been spread across the dough, sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese, Parsley and garlic salt to your liking.  We like lots!  Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into bread stick sizes.

Place the pan in your 'unheated' (as the oven heats, your dough will rise) oven and bake at 375 for about 15-20 minutes. 

Once done, let cool for a few minutes and serve!

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       Shadow
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