Yesterday our Fire Academy class covered two topics; Fire Extinguishers, and Rescue Tools. I quickly found out that when it comes to fire extinguishers, size does matter. I think all of our vehicle, home and office extinguishers are getting an …
Saturday’s class returned us to the location where we went through the maze before Christmas. Since I didn’t bring my camera that day, I went back through portions of the maze to take pictures of it. This picture shows the …
We were warned that this Saturday’s class was going to be tough and they weren’t kidding. Even though I passed on a few of the excercises due to my back, I still felt like I had been tossed around inside …
Company 4 of the Ferndale Fire Dept. is going to be raffling off a brand new Harley Davidson Fat Boy so today I went up to Redwood Harley Davidson to photograph the bike that is going to be raffled. After …
Just in case you didn’t think the first one was cute enough, here’s another one. Today we had our first hands on training session for the Fire Academy class I’m taking. After a short classroom session we proceeded to a …
After last years Christmas time fire and the way the call came over, I was expecting the worst. Fortunately the fire was in the rear of an outbuilding at the back of the property, and while it was burning pretty …
Engine 2 is the next engine that will be replaced, as it is almost 30 years old. Company 2 is currently in the process of designing the specs for the replacement and they wanted pictures of the current rig on …
Today our eagerly awaited replacement for our rescue rig finally arrived. It still needs radios and other equipment installed, but we did get our first look at it. Other than the red wheels, I really like it. It has a …
I’m going to be taking pictures of the Ferndale Fire Department members for the web site. So today I started on my own. It’s hard doing a self portrait, checking for focus and making sure you’re sitting in the frame …
With all of the fires going on in Southern California, there’s been a huge drain of resources from Northern California, so Ferndale and other local communities are providing coverage and support for tasks that CDF would normally be responsible for. …
I have no idea when this bus was manufactured, but it probably left the factory looking forward to transporting thousands of kids to school and back home. Throw in a few field trips for variety, and then maybe a happy …
My third day at the helibase, fourth day of working on this fire. The heat was much lower today, only getting into the mid eighties. The other days it had been in the mid to upper nineties, and other crews …
Day 21 of the fires and once again I was down in Redway with a crew from Ferndale to provide crash rescue support for the helibase. The second time it was a bit easier because we knew what to expect, …
Well my update to the 9/4 entry wasn’t entirely correct. Two fires continued to burn, and last week they both flared up again. The largest, the Honeydew fire has spread past 9000 acres, and is working its way towards Shelter …
Yesterday, going to work the weather looked like the fog was burning off and it was going to be another nice day. I had a meeting in Rio Dell and during the drive over it started clouding up and just …
In what little spare time I have lately, I’ve been working on a web site for the Ferndale Volunteer Fire Department. It’s not quite done yet, but I thought I would give you a sneek peak. Be sure to check …
Ahh, Sunday our day off. Sun’s out, nothing planned for today except go to the fair in Eureka to see the demolition derby and then maybe come home and do some chores. We got to the demo derby, and watched …
The gophers have taken a turn for the worse. They are now doubling back, in the direction of the house. Mom and Dad are in town today. Mom brought her new camera, so I’m leaving it to her to document …
I had better luck getting pictures of town including Main Street. Aesthetic Design & Photography is located in the yellow building with the plain front, next to the parking lot in the lower left corner of the photo. The fire …
Last night we had a medical call and during the call the assistant chief mentioned that there would be helicopter training this morning and they would page us for it. They set off the page about 5 minutes before we …
Caroline Titus of the Ferndale Enterprise captured my dunking quite well. On the front page of the Enterprise there is a Quote of the Week which is usually quite funny, especially when you know the person involved, which in Ferndale, …
I found out that we also came in last in the bucket brigade. The final “official” event is the jousting, which is really more like a tug of war in the air. Valley Lumber provides two forklifts, and a beer …
Here I am emptying the water out of my boots. Even after emptying them, they were quite squishy inside. So once again they are at home drying out. Hopefully the cats won’t be leaving me any presents this time, but …
The second event is the bucket brigade, where the company has to fill up a large tub, bucket by bucket. I wish I had video for this one, because when done right, it really looks pretty cool. When the tub …
Today was the annual Ferndale Volunteer Fire Dept’s Firemen Games, held on Main Street. Like all the recent Main Street events, this one was held in the rain. We had moments of warm sun, and moments of cold rain through …
nother day that I should have been out enjoying the spectacular weather on my motorcycle, but the fire department scheduled a work day for the barn at the fairgrounds. This little barn is where the antique fire engine is stored. …
This evening we hosted the Splinter Group, which is the Ferndale/Eureka old house group. We had them over at the shop to show them the restoration that we did, and Greg gave them a talk about old pictures. During the …
Not too much has changed since the last post, it’s still windy, wet, and wild. I think we’re setting a record for number of fire calls in one week. Yesterday’s action was a big rig that almost drove off of …
Today as part of my EMT class, I got to watch this Honda Civic be turned into a one of a kind, truly unique, custom convertible. In case you want one just like it, here are the steps to follow. …
Finally, at the end of the drill, we let it burn, and concentrated mainly on protecting the surrounding area, and working the fire so that the building collapsed in on itself. At this point you could roast marshmellows from about …
After we got practice fighting the fire inside the building, they let it build up and we concentrated on fighting it from the outside. This was to simulate what you might find if you arrived and the building was alread …
