To cause grief, or honor? What do you think about this?

In one of my previous posts, I talked about the Worcester 6. There has been a great debate over the years that have gone by as to whether a movie should be made about them, and I thought I'd just throw my two cents in, not that it really matters. After the incident, there were several magazine articles printed and one that points out in my mind is when Esquire had a commemorative issue for them, and a book was written entitled 3,000 degrees. I have searched for this book over the past year or so, only to find out it is not available via bookstores, or online. Come to find out, it can only be obtained by sending money to an organization in memory of them. Anyways, rambling now and trying to get back on point.....

Film companies have tried to make a movie about them over the past several years, with the objection of the families, the Worcester Fire Department, and the City of Worcester. Now, I can definitely see both sides of the story here. For one, the families, friends, fellow firefighters, and the City do not want to go through the pain of reliving this tragic event, especially for the children. I have no doubt that they are still grieving and healing from the empty hole left behind, years later, and undoubtedly never will. I see the opinion that these film companies are possibly trying to make money off of this. However, I can see that if these companies are only trying to tell their heroic story to honor them, and if they were to donate all the profits to the families and the Worcester 6 memorial fund, I believe it's a story that should be told.

This film would have to more realistic, and better portraid than the cheesy, sometimes played up, inaccurate movies, such as Backdraft, or Ladder 49. It's a catch 22 situation, is it disrespectful? Some might think so, would it cause more grief for the families, quite possibly and most likely, but would it be inspirational for the families, especially for the children, and fellow firefighters to see them get the respect, honor, and remembrance for their courage that they so much deserve? I know I don't have the right to add my opinion, and I'm torn either way, but I think they need to be remembered and honored in some way, so that people never forget. That's just me.

Much like people have put 9/11 in the back of their minds, and forget why we went to war in Afghanistan. Some people agree with Iraq, some don't, and that's to everyone's opinion and a totally different topic. But I bought a commemorative DVD of the Naudet brothers documentary on 9/11. It was the special aired on t.v. where two french brothers approached a long time friend, and FDNY firefighter about making a documentary on a probationary firefighter, straight out of the academy as a young rookie, during his first year towards becoming a "firefighter". They didn't plan on filming 9/11, they just happened to be there. And one of them was with the station members in the lobby of WTC 1 when WTC 2 collapsed, and barely made it out when Tower 2 collapsed.

So every once and a while I take it out of the stack of DVD's and watch it, to remember what it was like that day, to remember what that date did to our nation, and the sacrifice that was made by all, whether emergency service workers, or everyday people going to work in those two beautiful buildings, the Pentagon, or in the sky over PA. I think the Worcester 6 also deserves that type of recognition, but needs to be done with the permission and respect towards all parties involved, especially the families. What do you think?

"Teaching is not just a profession, but a life skill that everyone can use in their interaction with society"

I apologize for not having posted at all for the past week or so. Things have been crazy at work, home, possible major changes coming up(stay tuned), and quite frankly, I really couldn't think of anything to write about. I have seemed to misplaced my relatively big list of stuff that I wanted to blog about when I first started this and seemed to have come down with a case of writer's block. Sitting here in dispatch on a relatively slow second half of a double, I figured I better write about something before I'm forgotten about by those few readers... ;)

One thing I'd like to talk about tonight is two people that have had a major influence in making me the firefighter I am today. I believe that everyone has the life skill of teaching others, whether they realize they are doing it or not, in everyday life. When I first joined the fire department in Sept. of 1994, I was placed into Rescue Company, because my friend Scott, whom I had mentioned before as my high school and college buddy, and I were put in that company to learn from two great guys. Rescue Company was lead by Captain Scotty Lefebvre, and Lieutenant Mike Viens. These two guys started out in the mid 80's when they were in high school and placed in Co.#3, the "junior members" company. These two stayed very active with the department and believed in continuing education and training in the fire service, and eventually moved their way up to those positions as I came in.

I can remember my first rescue company training, as clear as yesterday. They had set up an obstacle course in the back parking lot of the station for SCBA(self contained breathing apparatus), ground ladder station, swinging an axe, crawling through large tires, over picnic tables, and up the ladder truck. Being originally scared of heights, they didn't force me to go up the aerial the full 100 ft. Scotty said, "just go up to where you feel comfortable, and we'll work from there." They told me, we do not force people to do something they don't feel comfortable with, and we will help you get used to it to the point where it won't bother you anymore, over time. I spent numerous meeting and training nights, staying behind with most of the younger guys, just listening to them talk about their experiences, going over situations that might occur, and you could tell, they wanted us to be prepared for anything. They believed that the way to learn was through doing it hands-on, not by the position of sit back and watch me do it. If we were at a fire, they would check out the situation and if they knew we could handle it they would hand us the nozzle. If it looked to dangerous, they would do what they had to do, and once it looked good, they'd let us go to town.

Now to briefly describe these two will be difficult but I'll try my best for you. Scotty is a short statured, small spark plug of a guy, who is always the guy to go up through the attic space or confined areas, has tons of experience and is in shape like no one can imagine. He runs two miles a day, and takes a lot of pride, and works hard for the fire department. He works for the Water Department in town and could probably tell you where just about every hydrant is in town and what size water main it comes off of. Mike is a big burly mechanic of a guy, very knowledgeable in the fire service, who you would not want to upset, and is a self proclaimed country boy at heart, and he loves swap meets and fixing things.. These two, still young, and experienced officers have trained and help mold most of the fellow officers that have come through the ranks of the Putnam Fire Department as former members of Rescue company. Pretty much, the younger guys watch, learn, listen, and want to be like these two...... that's if you can keep up with them. I've had them blow right by me inside fires and left me wondering to myself, "that must have been Mike and Scotty, that rush of wind and smoke."

One of the stories that our department has never forgotten about involving these two, was the 1992 Valentine's Day Henry's fire. I can remember the fire as I drove back into town from my high school sweetheart's house in Woodstock. Those of us who are familiar with Putnam, can remember Henry's variety store, the barber shop, and the sports cards store, that were in the bottom floor of a taxpayer building at the intersection of Providence and Marshall St. Three stories from the Marshall St. side and two stories from the Providence St. side. At the time, Scotty was rescue lieutenant, and Mike was a firefighter in rescue company. The original call came in as a smoke investigation, and upon their arrival in the first truck, they were sent up to the third floor, along with firefighter Tom Terjack from ladder company to the Providence St. side of the building where there were numerous apartments on the second and third floor, where the majority of the smoke was coming from, and the seat of the fire was assumed to be. Scotty reached the third floor landing and began to work his way down the hall toward the front of the building to search for the seat of the fire, while he left Mike and Tom at the top of the stairs with the hose line a few feet away. As they were waiting for Scott to let them know what to do, their knees began to get hot and they felt the stairway carpet was melting to their bunker pants, and the paint on the stairway was bubbling and smearing in on their gloves as they moved around.

As Scotty reached for the door knob to the first apartment, it went from zero visibility to bright orange light and the second and third floor flashed over on them. Unbenouced to them, the fire had been intentionally set underneath the stairwell on the second floor long ago, and had built up in intensity as the smoke and heat went up to the third floor of the balloon-framed building, hence the smoke was the reason why they went to the third floor to look for the fire. As they were surrounded by fire, Scotty yelled to Mike and Tom to get the "F" out! Now when people talk about Scotty, he's a very respectful person that doesn't get frazzled, or curse very much. Mike and Tom took that remark, and the intense heat to be an order to leave, and figured Scotty would be right behind them, and proceeded to dive down the stairway head first to the second floor landing as the flames chased them down the stairs. Scotty fell backwards in the hallway and was briefly disorientated, luckily landed on the hand line, opened it up on the ceiling, which darkened the fire down and he proceeded to look for a way out as visibility was back to zero. He originally was going to continue to the front of the third floor to the exterior porch, but decided to go towards the stairs in case Mike and Tom needed help. Meanwhile, Mike and Tom were piled up on top of each other at the bottom of the stairs in front of the exterior door. Just as our department video photographer showed up, got out of his truck and turned the camera on, he captured this moment from just before the flashover till late into the incident. As the backup teams were trying to help Mike and Tom out of the house, the two were trapped behind the exterior door, as flames were blowing out the front door and all windows, during which, in the video you can hear them screaming and shouting from the heat burning at their gear.

The camera follows the back up crew leading Mike and Tom down off the porch and to street level to the left as you can see the steam and smoke coming off their gear and equipment. Suddenly, the camera pans back to the entrance as people are yelling, "Where's Scotty?!" In the right corner of the screen, at the bottom of the front yard at street level, you can see this small statured steaming blackened silhouette of a firefighter sitting in the snow, exhausted and relieved to be outside the building. He somehow managed to get himself out of the building, and dropped in the snowbank to take a breather and gather himself after what had just happened. All three were transported to Day Kimball hospital, where Mike and Scotty had first and second degree burns, and Tom had first, second and third degree burns to his arm, neck, and face. This video has been used for our trainings and classes ever since, at which I have seen the shock and astonishment in experienced firefighters from all over CT that have watched the video for the first time, and can't believe they made it out. They still have their old burnt gear, and melted helmets. Scotty's portable radio was lost in the incident and was never found, and we all thank God that they made it out o.k., as do their family and friends.

I'm just glad that I have had the honor of being trained and molded by these two great teachers, and wanted to point out what excellent, professional, and proficient job these two do. I can only hope to turn out to be as good an officer, and teacher as these two have. Hear-Hear to Rescue Captain Scott Lefebvre, and Captain/Engineer Mike Viens.

Practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect

Above is a comment that one of my instructors said to us during a class and I have never forgot it. What he was saying is that, you can practice doing something all you want, but if you're not doing it correctly, the practice is pointless. This is something I try to remember every time I teach a class. Throughout the years I have obtained a good amount of certifications through the State Fire Academy. One of those is Fire Service Instructor-1, meaning I can teach classes in which I am certified in myself. It was an interesting class, not really covering the fire service, but audience behavior, lesson plans, and presentation. People laugh when I tell them my "mid-term" was a 5 minute presentation on the correct way to set a dinner table, and my ten minute final was about the usage of overhead transparencies. Luckily, I was allowed to use an overhead projector, or it would have been a fun time trying to present that lesson plan....

This was back around 1999 I believe, and over the years, I taught small classes here and there for my department, as well as some neighboring departments, but what I really wanted to do was a Firefighter 1 class. This is the class that teaches the basics, and the class that everyone seems to have the most fun being in because it has a lot of hands-on training. After I had met my ex-wife, I had married and moved out of town, and unfortunately had to resign Putnam Fire and my position of lieutenant. I never really got back into the fire service, other than a brief stint out in a department in Windham, CT., but it didn't feel right, and I was busy with work and family. After the divorce, I had moved back to town, rejoined the Putnam Fire Department, and was back in as a firefighter in Ladder Co. My friend Shawn had also obtained the certification as Fire Service Instructor, and we started discussing about teaching a FF-I class in the Fall of 2005. I was excited that finally I was going to teach a class that I had once loved and always wanted to teach. FF-I is the basics, it is the NFPA(National Fire Protection Association) standard for professional qualifications as a firefighter, meaning, it is the minimum that a firefighter should know, who plans on doing any kind of interior structural firefighting. Plain language, if you want to go inside a burning building, it is recommended by NFPA, and OSHA that you have this certification. Obviously, with a majority of the departments across the nation being volunteer, with limited schedules, there are some members out there that have a hard time finding a class schedule to fit theirs, but they are strongly urged to get certified as soon as possible. In the mean time they are usually trained by department officers in other basics, through department trainings, etc.

Anyways, I apologize for rambling off. So Shawn and myself decide to start it in Sept. of 2005 and running Tuesdays and Thursdays for class time, and occasional Saturdays for more hands on training. We decide to go and post it on the Quinebaug Valley dispatch website discussion board, and the interest was overwhelming. It went from 20 student slots, to 30, to can we do a favor and fit a couple in from this department, and that department. We finally said no, and did a tally and found we had 42, yes that's right, 42 students on the list. This is a huge class, we didn't have room in our meeting room to fit 42 students!! Luckily, when class started we were down to 38 students, which was tight in the room, but manageable. So it started, department organization, personal protective equipment, self contained breathing apparatus, fire behavior, fire suppression, ground ladders, ropes & knots, forcible entry, salvage and overhaul, etc., etc., etc. Finally, in early November, the part that everyone had been looking for..... the "Live Burn." Some classes choose to go to the Academy at Windsor Locks, some choose to go to the "burn house" in Willimantic at the Eastern CT Fire Academy, but the Willimantic building was out of service, and the Windsor Locks burn building is very expensive to rent. It is rather time consuming to prepare a local abandoned house to have a live burn, so we had a friend and fellow instructor contact Auburn, MA fire department training division. They have an outstanding burn building off of Route 12 in Auburn at one of their sub-stations, so we booked it. It was a great day, and a great class over the few months, with a few problems encountered, but no one got hurt, and when it was all said and done, everyone passed the state practical exam, and everyone passed the state written exam, with the exception of one. Again, as I said before in a previous post, I met a great bunch of guys, at a class, that I consider good friends or acquaintances. I know they were trained the right way, the NFPA standard way, and now it's up to them to continue to practice it, the right way, because perfect practice-makes perfect.......

Now that I think of it, who does protect me?

Station 78- Putnam Fire Department

So seeing that most people do not realize that their local fire department is most likely a volunteer department, I thought I would give some info on my department and it's members. The Putnam Fire Department was originally established in 1875. During the earlier years, there were two stations in town, the headquarters, was formerly located at Union Square in downtown Putnam, located somewhere near where Putnam Savings and Someplace Special is. This station housed the Eagle Hose Co.#1, and Hook and Ladder Co.#1. The other station was located on Smith St. in the north end of town, in the area of Smith and Cleveland St., which housed Motor Hose Co.#2. Apparently, from stories I've heard from older members and retirees, these two stations did not necessarily get along. In 1966, the current station was built on Church St. and the companies were housed together. Back during these days, the company members had to belong to a local organization(i.e. V.F.W., American Legion, Rod & Gun club), and if you wanted to join, you pretty much had to be a member of one of these, and to get accepted, you had to be voted in by the company members, not the chief. This is quite different from when I first joined. I just had to fill out an application, have a background check done, and attend a brief interview before I was placed on 6 months probation, before being accepted as a permanent member. Although we came close to being fully staffed a few and select times, we have always been below full staffing, until recently after 9/11 and two major gas explosions in town. We are now up to full staff minus 1 lieutenant, and there is a waiting list. That just so happens to be my lieutenant spot that is open, which I'm hoping a short while, an eligible candidate will be promoted from driver/operator to lieutenant, and then we will have 1 spot open for a new member.

In the 1980's, there was also two other companies added to the department, which were the Rescue Company, and Hose Co.#3, which was a company of Junior members that were under 18. Over the years, the interest by high school students had dropped, so they disbanded Co.#3, and reduce the department to 4 companies, with 11 spots each, and two student slots per company. Currently, there is Hose Co.#1, Hose Co.#2, Ladder Co., and Rescue Co. The command chain is currently this; Chief of Department, 3 Assistant Chiefs, a Dept. Engineer being in charge of Driver training, holding the rank of Captain, and a Safety Officer holding the rank of Captain. Now each of the four companies have their own Captain to run the company's every day operations, i.e. meetings, training, work details, and truck maintenance. To assist the Captains, each company has a lieutenant. During each month, there is a department training where all members train together as a dept., a drivers meeting where the Engineer meets and trains with all of the drivers throughout the department, an officer's meeting where department issues are discussed and voted on between officers, to be brought back to the company meetings, and company trainings. Although the department operates at the company level for meetings, trainings, and work details, i.e. truck cleanings for parades, hose washing, etc., during calls, the trucks get filled as people come in. For example, usually Engine 1 is the first truck out for most types of calls, and is cared for by Co.#1, but for a call there could be a Ladder Co. driver, Rescue Co. captain in the officer's seat, and any combination of 4 spots in the back, depending on who got to the station first and got dressed quicker. However, we always try and make sure there is at least 1 officer on each truck going out the door.

Currently, we have 6 trucks, Ladder Co. is responsible for the care/maintenance of Ladder 1, Rescue Co. has Rescue 4, Hose. Co.1 has Engine 1 and 3, and Co.2 has Engine 2 and 4. All that means is that my company is responsible to clean, restock, and have ready-to-roll Engine 2 and Engine 4, but if a call comes in, you bet I want to be in the officer's seat of Engine 1, if not, I'll find the next available seat on Engine 1, or if there is a lot of firefighters showing up to the station quickly, I'll grab the next officer's seat in the Ladder. We are lucky enough to have a public water supply, those yellow funny looking things popping out of the sidewalk every few 500 ft. or so, and our district is rather compact in an approximate 1 square mile, so we do not have tanker trucks or what have you. I would say approximately 90% of our district has hydrants, so our engines are designed to be an attack engine with only 750 gallons of water in the tank. We do not have Engine-tankers, called ET's or Tanker trucks, and we rarely draft water holes, because we have hydrants that can feed up to 100-110 gallons per minute. Therefore, we rarely get called mutual aid to some of the surrounding towns, unless it is something big, because they need "water" or tankers to either do a tanker shuttle or hit a drafting hole, pond, stream, lake, etc., which our trucks are not designed for. Now, that other 10% of our district, is West Putnam, where other than Route 44 past Day Kimball Hospital, we have no hydrants. NOT GOOD. If we get toned out for a possible fire in that area, if there is any indication from dispatch that this might be something, or the Chief or a Captain that lives out in that section of town sees a header of smoke, right away, we are calling for mutual aid tankers from East Putnam, Pomfret, and Woodstock. These are the guys that know what to do with limited water, have trucks that are designed to draft and to shuttle water, know how to set up a good tanker shuttle, and have the water that we want and don't have, and lets face it, we are used to having all the water we want with hydrants. On the other hand, we tend to be more of an aggressive fire department, whereas, rural departments have issues with limited water supply, when we have a fire in the public water supplied area, we do not have to worry about water supply, just tying the hydrants. Our in-town response time is low due to the fact that most of us live in the Special Services district, again only approx. 1 square mile, so we are close to the firehouse, and we do not call mutual aid at a majority of our fires, unless a chief officer arrives and determines it's a pretty big fire, and they will call for mutual aid. We do not respond to medicals unless there is entrapment or some need of specialized rescue, Putnam EMS, which is a seperate entity, takes in the medicals, and we do not keep our gear in our cars, all gear with the exception of the chiefs are kept at the firehouse. Everyone lives relatively close to the station, and our reasoning is that the equipment is on the trucks, and the members need to fill those trucks to respond and to do the appropriate tasks, we do not need personal vehicles cluttering up the small side streets of Putnam trying to get the trucks through, etc.

So now that I've brushed over our chain of command, our apparatus, and some of our department history, I thought I'd let you know who makes up our department. Out of the 50 current members there are:
5 People that work in maintenance work in some way
4 Production workers, i.e. Staples Distribution, Lowe's Distribution
4 Army National Guard members, 4 full-time employees at armories, 1 other member
3 Machinist/Tool & Die or Injection Molding
3 Electricians
3 Dept. of Public Works employees
2 Water Dept. employees
2 Truck drivers
2 General contractors
2 Construction laborers
2 full time emergency dispatchers for different agencies
2 part time emergency dispatchers for the town
1 Salesman
1 Civil engineer
1 UPS driver
1 Sheriff's officer
1 Auto mechanic
1 Financial specialist
1 Cardiac nurse
1 Bus driver
1 Professional photographer
1 Putnam housing dept. employee
1 Retiree
1 Unemployed

Out of these members, there are 6 college students, 3 EMT's, and 2 MRT's. I just hope this shed some light to those out there that do not realize that their emergency services may be volunteer. We have jobs just like everyone else, we just choose to spend our free time, hot dinners, holidays with the family, and warm beds at night, out there serving the community, practically free of charge(minus the budget).

Worcester 6

In my last post, I had mentioned "The Worcester 6," and this will most likely be my longest post. For those of you who either never heard of them, or had forgotten over the years, this refers to the six Worcester firefighters who died on December 3, 1999 trying to save what they thought were 2 homeless people trapped inside the Worcester Cold Storage building. Come to find out these homeless people left the building in the early stages of the fire, failed to report it, and proceeded to go their separate ways for the night. Much like major events in the past where people can remember where they were when these events happened(i.e. Elvis' death, Kennedy assassination, Challenger tragedy, 9/11) I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing.

On that night, I had gone up to the West Thompson Fire Dept. to hang out with one of my best friends, Rene(pronounced Rainey, not Renee cause he'd beat me if I didn't point that out) and a few of the guys from his firehouse to hang out, watch t.v., and play cards. Now even though the West Thompson Fire Dept. was only about a mile up the road from Putnam, they had a different cable company that just so happened to have some of the Boston news channels. During the time that we were hanging out, having a good time, the broadcast was interrupted with a breaking news of a major fire in Worcester, MA. Now, having spent a year going to college in Worcester, I new exactly where it was, and anyone else that would frequent I-290, knew where it was as it was adjacent to the Interstate in the area of the Worcester Factory Outlets. The first report was that of 2(two) firefighters had gone missing and they were actively searching the building to help their brothers. Footage began to show the fire starting to break through the roof, and being a firefighter, I started to think about the situation. An abandoned cold storage building, limited breathing air, and the fires starting to come through the roof. I hope they find them quick. Do the have the adaptors for buddy breathing on their air packs, etc.? So I thought a little prayer and we went back to playing cards.

Not really paying attention to how long it was, but soon after they broke in again reporting that is was now possibly 4-6 firefighters that were now missing, and a feeling of dread came over me. Even though none of us even met these men, "the brotherhood" starts to kick in. I felt like I knew these guys, knew what they do on the job, like it was one of ours. That's when all the cards were packed away, and we all sat there and stared at the t.v. They continued the coverage for quite some time and then cut to regular programming, so I decided it was late and I'd go home to bed and catch up on the story the next morning.

The next afternoon, a few of us from my department met at the station, including our Asst. chief, who was a civil engineer employed in Worcester. We found out that there was a memorial set up at the site of the fire with one of the fire trucks, and people from all over the area were going there and placing cards, flowers, fire dept. patches, t-shirts, etc. We decided we'd all pile into two cars and head up there with a dept. patch, and a t-shirt from each individual company in our fire department, to not only pay our respects, but to show our support to the Worcester Fire Department. We took several more trips over the next few days, as the engine was now totally covered with items left. It had now hit national news, and the recovery progress was still going on, heavy equipment was now there to help with the search, although they were still doing the majority of work by hand(much like 9/11). This was one of the first things in a very, very long time that brought into public eyes, the dedication and danger of firefighting profession pre-9/11.

Then came the notice of the memorial. Scanner land was inundated with tones and messages for fire departments throughout the area, as to what time and where to meet the shuttle buses to go to the memorial. Our spot to meet was at the Putnam Wal-mart around 0430 a.m. that morning. On our buses, we had departments throughout northeastern CT, as there was buses also picking up departments from the Plainfield area, also. It was the quietest bus ride to Worcester, and as we approached Worcester, the CT state police escort broke off and turned it over to the MA state police. This escort guided us up I-290 and past the scene as the highway was still officially blocked off now, due to the memorial. We were led down side streets till we arrived at the staging point. Stepping out of the bus, we were met with a sea of firefighters, most of them huddled together as it was a bitterly cold day. We happened to be next to some firefighters from Toronto, Denver, and Florida. They had vendors set up giving out free coffee, hot chocolate, soup, etc. Hours later the line up started, Worcester Fire first, then local departments from the area, then Boston, FDNY, Providence, and then everyone else fell in. Eventually we started the procession towards the Worcester Civic Center, which is now the Dunkin' Donuts Arena. In all the time I spent in Worcester, I have never heard the city so quiet. You could hear traffic noise from the highway, but other than that, all you heard was people walking, children on the sidewalk whispering to their parents, the sniffles from people crying, eventually people clapping, and church bells. Being rather tall in height, occasionally we would stop, and I would stand on my tiptoes looking forward and back with nothing to see but the dress uniform bell hats of firefighters in their class A's uniform.

The procession led past the Grove St. station, where a salute was given as we walked by, down into the city, past W.F.D. headquarters to the Centrum. There were rumors of a security clearance needed for entry due to the President being there, but they eventually just opened the doors and let the lines in. Those who were in the back of the procession that weren't able to get in, were able to watch the memorial on closed circuit big screens outside, and some actually walked over to the site, as they were still trying to locate the final two victims. We were lucky enough to be rather close to the front of the procession and made it into the arena rather quick. We walked around the concourse until the crowd lessened and headed up the stairway to the second level. We just so happened to pick the area that was directly behind the stage, looking down onto the floor where the family members were, which was rather uncomfortable and emotional to look at their faces, either dull with numbness and shock, or strained with pain and anguish. I was fine throughout the memorial and got to listen to some great speeches, especially by the Worcester Fire Department Chief, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and President Clinton. I got a little emotional when Taps was played, but totally lost it when the bagpipes began to play Amazing Grace. Mind you, my paternal grandmother was a Scot, straight from Mourkirk, East Ayershire, and whenever I hear bagpipes, I get emotional. But the bagpipes and Amazing Grace mean something to every firefighter, emt, and police officer due to the fact that it's more of a tradition, much like Taps is for the military. After the long, emotional day, we all walked back to the staging area for return buses and spent a long, quiet ride home thinking about these six men, BROTHERS, who made the ultimate and supreme sacrifice. I make it a habit to never forget these men, and to remind everyone of their story, especially to my students when I teach a class. I was shocked the other day when I stopped in MA to get some gas at a convenience store, and a person walked up to me and said, "What does that W6 sticker stand for on the back of your truck?" Thinking to myself, that's like a New Yorker asking what a 9/11 sticker stands for, I calmly bit my tongue and explained what it stood for. Apparently people have already forgotten about the Worcester 6, and some people have forgotten about 9/11, until you remind them about it, but I will never forget Thomas Spencer, Joe Mcguirk, Jerimiah Lucey, James Lyons, Tim Jackson, Paul Brotherton. God Bless the Worcester 6,

It's a wonderful life," Remember, no man is a failure who has friends"

I have to say that being in the emergency services has brought me several friends, and many, many acquaintances. These are people that now looking back, I never would have met in a normal situation. I have met friends not only through my fire department, but through going to calls involving other fire departments, my previous employments, running EMS in a different town, taking state fire classes, teaching state fire classes, and through conversations with other dispatch centers in the area.

It's not that I've spent tons of hours with these people. I've never really, personally, hung out with many of these people or had a set night that we went out to the local pub for a couple beers, etc. Just like everyone else I have my select few, best friends, however. There is an association that is much like the military, or law enforcement, that is referred to as "the brotherhood." Believe me there are some women that I would have just as much confidence being with in a fire with, so I guess to be politically correct, should I call it "the hood?" There are several poems that were written, that explain the brotherhood of fire/ems. The trainings, meetings, good calls, bad calls, close calls, early calls, late calls, false alarms, fundraisers, classes, refresher classes, time spent hanging out at the firehouse, parades, etc, etc, etc. You come to feel comfortable with people in your department and have spent so much time with them, that you know they are going to be there when all heck breaks loose. It truly is a second home, and a second family. Yeah, there are some people that you have doubts about, but you get to know their habits, or what tasks they are good at, etc. Even people that you necessarily do not like, but you know in a fire, they would be right behind you, and if they were in front of me in a fire, I'd be right behind them. In a fire, you are a team, and you don't split up the team. It is always a minimum of two person crews, and there is a Rapid Intervention Team saying, "Two in-Two out," meaning, for every two person team inside, there should be at least two people ready at the door to go in and either relieve them, or help them if needed. You trust your life with the person you are with, and they do the same. Think about it, you're inside a burning building...

Then you get to know members in other departments, whether it's from going to mutual aid calls, state classes, through mutual friends, work, whatever. You get to hang out during calls, breaks in class, what have you, and you get to know them by chatting and watching them after calls, and you start thinking, this guy/gal knows their stuff, and he/she is pretty cool. And much like the military, or police, you feel that you know or have a bond with someone that lives across the country and have never met. That's why there were so many firefighters at the Worcester Memorial, and why thousands of firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics drove down to Manhattan on 9/11. Just as anyone in the U.S. can remember what they were doing when 9/11 occurred, I can remember exactly what I was doing when the Worcester Cold Storage Fire happened. I'll make that my next post for those that don't know about that, but when I went to the Worcester Memorial with my department members, as did thousands from CT, I have never been so proud of all my brothers and sisters in uniform. This ceremony was happening, while our Worcester brothers and sisters were trying to recover the rest of their brothers. I can remember walking in the procession, and hearing a woman on the sidewalk watching, say,"Wow, I can't believe how many firefighters are here." Part of me was shocked, but then again, how could she understand......

New at this blogging thing

Seeing that this is my first post, I figured that I should tell a little about myself and how I came to here, that is sitting at home starting my own blog about who I am what I enjoy to do. Hopefully, I can entertain my friends, coworkers, and cross my fingers, other people that I may have met, or never met. I suppose I owe this pleasure to Linda O., my com padre on the day shift, Monday through Wednesday, (and blogger with the Norwich Bulletin) in the white building turret(referred to by us as the black hole) we call dispatch overlooking the Norwich Harbor at American Ambulance Service, Inc. Thanks Linda.

So here it goes,
I was born at Backus Hospital in 1975 and spent 12 wonderful years growing up in Norwich, at which time, my mother and I moved to Putnam. Having the all too famous boy dream while growing up, to be in law enforcement, I graduated from Putnam High and started attending Becker Jr. College in Worcester, majoring in criminal justice. Due to unforeseen financial reasons, I was forced to drop out of college and join the work force, thinking my life long dream was over. In all actuality it was the best thing that happened to me. My high school buddy, who I also went to college with, was dating at the time, a daughter of one of the Putnam Fire Department's Asst. Chief, who had been trying to talk him into joining the department. My buddy asked me if I wanted to join with him, seeing that I wasn't going to college any more and was in workforce. "Join?!!" What do you mean, join?" I was under the impression that all fire departments were paid/career. A common mistake that all too many of us make, assuming that you call, and they come, it's their job, right? Thus, started my adventure in the fire service, which lead me to joining the Putnam EMS, originally as a Medical Response Technician/Driver, and also lead me to the dispatching world. The FIRST, first responders. Now, years later, I find myself, a divorced father of 1, juggling time with my daughter, a busy and stressful career, responsibilities of being an engine company captain in charge of two engines and a group of 11 firefighters and drivers, a state fire service instructor, and an EMT. So, I hope I've got your interest perked and interested in my world of Public Safety and Service. We'll share some laughs, and enjoy the adrenaline rush, red lights flashing, siren-a-blaring ride, called my life...