River Rat Redesign

My fire department, Great River is affectionately known as the “River Rats.” Where that name originated from and why, I have no idea. I also don’t know who drew the caricature of our aquatic loving rodent. I think it’s pretty cool, but is a little behind the times. You’ll note the long turnout coat, day boots and the now antiquated pick-headed axe. He’s also looks a little out of shape. We all know that all firefighters are in peak physical condition, thus our rat should follow suit.

I don’t have the drawing skills needed to bring the Rat into 2009, so I’m putting this out as a side project for anyone who’s interested. I can’t pay you, this isn’t sanctioned by the Department, and I have no idea if they’ll adapt the redesign.

What you’ll get out of this:

• A new project to enhance your skills.
• Another piece for your portfolio.
• A way to kill some time.
• A t-shirt or anything else we put the logo on, if anything. (And no, if we slap this on the side of our first due engine, I’m not giving you an engine.)
• Bragging rights.

What I’d like:

• An updated River Rat in a high resolution digital format.

I’ll let this run for a while, if I pick a winner (or if I even get a single response) I’ll post it. Comment with submissions or contact me via Twitter @pvliii. Thanks for checking this out!

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My Last Two Calls with Shaker Road

Truck 9 responding to an alarm drop at the Albany County Nursing home.

Truck 9 responding to a reported oven fire in Menands.

I’ll miss ya Shaker Road.

Siena College Live Burn

I found a YouTube slideshow of Fire Safety Day at Siena College in 2008 with the Shaker Road Loudonville Fire Department:

NFRO Foundation Goes Live

The National First Responders Organization Foundation has gone live, and is accepting donations to support First Responders of all types in their time of need.

Head on over and donate. [www.nfrofoundation.org]. Also, if you are a first responder, check out their membership site. [www.nfro.org].

Update on our table.

We’ve made some changes to our kitchen table since the last post.

Here’s the rundown:

• 4 feet by 8 feet
• 2×6 side walls
• Lexan top
• 4 25 foot 2.5″ hose from the Albany Fire Department with brass couplings 
• Out of service bunker gear from the Shaker Road – Loudonville Fire Department
• Old Scott SCBA Mask
• Antique Hydrant Wrench

Great River Vehicle Fire

Great River was activated at 4:03pm on 1-17-09 for a vehicle fire adjacent to field 10 in Heckscher State Park. 3-9-94 confirmed fully involved. The crew of first due engine 3-9-2 under command of 3-9-31 and direction of 3-9-50 immediately pulled 1 3/4″ jump line and extinguished the blaze within minutes. Other apparatus on scene included engine 3-9-6 and mass personnel carrier 3-9-8. [via Great River Fire Department]

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The Importance of the Engineer

One of my department buddies sent me a video of a collision between E-10 and E-122 from St. Louis. It got me thinking of the importance of the engineer, and how everything can change in seconds.

The incident at St. Louis, E-122 is driving towards you:

It makes me angry. The majority of firefighter injuries and fatalities occur en route to the scene, these are preventable by making small changes to your SOGs. Just because you’re responding priority 1, you can’t assume others will yield the right ow way. Remember the pledge to start wearing seat belts in apparatus? It’s time for a pledge to stop at red lights. Take a second, wind up the Q, lay on the air horn, look and go. 

Red Light plus Red Lights does not equal Green Light.

 Stay safe, stay low.

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Around the Fire House

Decided to run around the firehouse with my camera. Gallery’s on the next page. 

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Pong Table

We built this Pong table for the Town House showcasing some antiques from the fire service.