classes

i am proud that i am able to go through fire school. it is really hard not the academic stuff. screw that. im tlaking the practical stuff. this was and is a whole new ball game to me. stuff that i do in fire school, i most likely havent done before. i remember when i was in my exterior class we had to do things like ladder carries, ladder climbs, rescuing people (dummies) out of a building (not on fire). you learn to use extinguishers, hoses, how to roll hoses, which sucks! i hate rolling hose and God forbid you dont pack it tight enough in the truck you have to take it all out and start all over again. unfortunetly, ive had personal experience with that. -___- the first time i had to climb a four story extension ladder. it was horrible. i did heavy ass ladder carries all day running in my gear and now the wind was blowing, the ladder was shaky and i was scared shitless. i wanted to be the last one to climb it because i knew it would take me forever to get up there let alone, get down. as im about to be up for my turn, i start crying because im dreading this. my gear is so heavy and weighing me down im CERTAIN im fallin off of that thing. im a quarter of the way and my instructor was at the top coaching me up as im bawling my eyes out. all the guys at the bottom were telling me i could do it but i cried even harder being the only girl there and being a little bitch. haha it was horrible but i made it up and down without falling, which is a plus. the next day we had to carry a 14 foot ladder up a two story ladder with us. it was so heavy i could barely do it and it took forever but whatever, i got it done right?

the next series i have to get done is my interior. im kind of dreading it though, its going to be twice as hard as stuff ive already done. but, i have to do it to get to the next step. not to mention, im tired of getting booted off the truck. yea, i think im ready. the picture on this blog is pretty much what a 14 foot ladder carry is.

feeling of a fire call

I'm sure many firefighters can relate to me when I say the feeling you get when the pager goes off. this emotion comes over you nothing else matters, but what you're about to go do. You get this rush of adrenaline that takes over your whole body. You rush to your car not thinking of your own safety, just getting to the help of others and what they need. That's if you're going straight to the scene. Riding the truck is a similar feeling. I know when I ride the truck my mind goes blank. We jump in as fast as we can and some of us are getting dressed, some of us are putting on air packs ready to play and some of us are listening to the sound through our headphones giving us a size up of the scene. I know alot of the guys at my station, and i would imagine at other stations, we get so mad when we get a page of one thing and when we get there it's a whole different story. we get mad and curse to ourselves about the dispatchers and how dumb they are. when really, we can't even be mad at them because they only page to us what people tell them, so really we should get mad at the callers. ha ha. anyways, getting back to the feelings, we make these jokes about firefighters who get woodys when they hear sirens. And , I'm starting to think it might just be true. ha ha firefighters, we live for this stuff so when we get a call, it's the adrenaline rush that gets us going at 4am and the fact that we just like to play with our tools. :) It's a really cool feeling. That's all there is to it.

9/11 343 brothers and sisters. REST IN PEACE

Sunday was 9/11. It is always one of the most emotional days for me. this year was the ten year anniversary and we were supposed to be at ground zero. Unfortunately on Saturday night my cousins in new york called me and told me I couldn't come because New York City was on a lock down due to terrorist threats. Why would Americans, especially Americans, make threats when they saw how New York crumbled, came together as family and neighbors, watched our country go to war, and the whole nation mourn? I just don't get it. But, point being, 9/11 is an inspiration to me for what I do. I do this because they gave their lives when they didn't have to and that is exactly what I want to give back to the 343 firefighters who lost their lives. I could not even describe my gratitude towards every emergency service or volunteers who stayed when everyone else was able to run. 9/11 means so much to me and God forbid, that would happen today, bet my ass I would be there doing all that I can.

exhaustion but still pushin through.

Its 12:40 am and I'm sitting at my fire house. I've been here only since 5:30 tonight but still I'm exhausted. Some of the guys have been here since 8 am today. I feel so bad for them, you can just see how exhaustion has taken over them. They keep pushing themselves though, all the way. We have had so many calls tonight for ATR, (advanced techical rescue), and people stuck in water, at least a hundred flooded basements that we have to get to by sometime tomorrow. I'm just so tired and as soon as I got home I had to get right back up when my head hit the pillow for another rescue call. It's really annoying but when the pager goes off I always have this adrenaline that comes over me. But unfortunetly, when I get there and sometimes dont make the truck, I'm stuck wondering why I got out of my warm bed. Then I remember: people call us when they have no one else to turn to. And knowing I'm part of that special team that goes out there anytime dangerous or not, WE. HELP.