Sunday I did a last minute trade and worked for a coworker on another shift. That morning after we finished our morning station duties, we went out and trained a bit on rig placement and walked a roof of a building in our first due. Rig placement is important because once an incident gets under way, more rigs arrive and hoses are put down and charged, it becomes increasingly harder to move the rigs. It's much better to set ourselves up for success from the beginning of the incident.
After figuring out the best spot for the truck, we raised the aerial ladder to the roof of the building. I and a few other members of the crew climbed the ladder to get a better look at the roof. We saw that one side had about a 5' drop from the parapet wall to the roof while the other side had a two foot drop. If there's a fire in this building we may have to take an additional ladder to the roof to climb down the parapet, depending on which side we raise the aerial ladder to. Additionally, one of the engineers pointed out a drainage pipe at the base of the building under the side of the roof with the bigger drop off. The roof was slanted to allow for water runoff, thus causing there to be a bigger drop on one side than the other.
Just when we were wrapping up our training, we dispatched on the 2nd alarm to a fire in San Jose's east side.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15860272?source=most_viewed
Once on scene we were assigned as the Rapid Intervention Company (RIC). Sometimes when people see larger fires, they don't understand why there seems to be quite a few firefighters standing around, apparently not working. Well, RIC is one of those jobs. RIC companies were established to be a readily available resource incase any of our personnel become lost, trapped or incapacitated inside the structure. If we were engaged in other activities at the fire when someone became trapped in the structure, that would delay our response to that person by precious minutes. Still though, standing outside the structure in full gear for two hours proved to be physically challenging in its own right.
Other reasons people might seem like they're just standing around is because we rotate crews throughout the incident, and also to allow for a "cool down" period once the main body of fire is knocked down. We rotate crews after about 40 minutes usually so that we can make sure the crews are staying properly hydrated, give them a chance to cool off, and monitor their vital signs. Working in superheated conditions while wearing 75 lbs. of gear for 40 minutes can be pretty arduous work, that can get your heart rate and blood pressure up in a hurry. At fires, all of us want to get in there, work and help out as much as possible, sometimes to our own detriment. Overexertion/strain was listed as the number one killer of firefighters from 1990-2000.
http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/fa-220.pdf
This is why they mandated rotating crews during an incident. The "cool down" period also allows crews to get a break, while letting smoke and fire gasses vent from the structure, and gives us a chance to reevaluate the structure for structural stability and any other hazards that we might not have initially seen while engaged in the firefight.
After close to 4 hours as the RIC, we were assigned inside the structure to salvage what belongings we could, and to overhaul (find and extinguish any hidden or smoldering fires).
Thursday, August 26, 2010
August 21, 2010 - Water Vac Day
Sometimes at work, the shifts tend to have themes. The theme for Saturday was flooding calls with us responding to 3 such calls. During a flooding call, we secure the water supply, do what we can to salvage personal property and belongings, and then remove as much water as we can from the building through the use of water vacuums and squeegees. We have two water vacs at my station. One is a backpack unit and the other is a larger one with wheels on the bottom.
On the second water vac call of the day I was wearing the backpack unit while the other firefighter on my crew operated the bigger vacuum. Luckily this apartment was unoccupied at the time so we didn't have a bunch of furniture and possessions to worry about. Good thing too, because there was a ton of water in this place.
Now, due to the amount of calls we were running that shift combined with cooking, I wasn't able to get in a workout. Still though, this water vac call just might count as a workout. The water vac I was wearing holds 6 gallons. When you figure 6 gallons of water weighs a good 50 lbs., and that I filled up and emptied the water vac 11 times, I removed over a quarter of a ton of water from the residence. Then bigger water vac no doubt removed much more than that, meaning "a ton of water" might actually not been that far off the mark.
On the second water vac call of the day I was wearing the backpack unit while the other firefighter on my crew operated the bigger vacuum. Luckily this apartment was unoccupied at the time so we didn't have a bunch of furniture and possessions to worry about. Good thing too, because there was a ton of water in this place.
Now, due to the amount of calls we were running that shift combined with cooking, I wasn't able to get in a workout. Still though, this water vac call just might count as a workout. The water vac I was wearing holds 6 gallons. When you figure 6 gallons of water weighs a good 50 lbs., and that I filled up and emptied the water vac 11 times, I removed over a quarter of a ton of water from the residence. Then bigger water vac no doubt removed much more than that, meaning "a ton of water" might actually not been that far off the mark.
August 21, 2010 - Healthy Firehouse Meal
Saturday was once again my turn to cook at the station. We were pretty busy with calls during the day so we had to eat out for lunch. For dinner I cooked curry coconut milk shrimp with mango couscous.
http://chefmd.com/recipe_display.php?id=46
and paired it with a spinach, tomato and cucumber side salad and whole wheat french bread.
There are two general rules when it comes to cooking in the firehouse 1) it has to be edible, and 2) there absolutely has to be enough. I was worried that it might be a little light for a dinner meal, or that quadrupling the portions might not be enough, so to compensate I cooked 5 lbs. of shrimp instead of 4. I also cooked 4 cups of couscous with 2 packages of dried mango. There are 10 of us per shift at my station. I probably could have gotten away with 4 lbs. of shrimp and 3 cups of couscous. The whole meal took about an hour and a half to prepare.
All in all the crew loved it, saying that this is definitely one to make again.
http://chefmd.com/recipe_display.php?id=46
and paired it with a spinach, tomato and cucumber side salad and whole wheat french bread.
There are two general rules when it comes to cooking in the firehouse 1) it has to be edible, and 2) there absolutely has to be enough. I was worried that it might be a little light for a dinner meal, or that quadrupling the portions might not be enough, so to compensate I cooked 5 lbs. of shrimp instead of 4. I also cooked 4 cups of couscous with 2 packages of dried mango. There are 10 of us per shift at my station. I probably could have gotten away with 4 lbs. of shrimp and 3 cups of couscous. The whole meal took about an hour and a half to prepare.
All in all the crew loved it, saying that this is definitely one to make again.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Thank Goodness for Small Favors
Recently I wrote a post on a bird/boy rescue.
http://nuffsaid6.blogspot.com/2010/08/no-we-dont-get-cats-out-of-trees-but.html
Regardless of who got the applause, at least I'm not known across the country as the "Bird Whisperer." My Department wrote a short piece about the boy/bird rescue in the department blog
http://sjfd.blogspot.com/2010/08/truck-13-crew-saves-man-and-bird.html
That's me on the ladder putting the harness on the kid. I found out the next shift that my engineer didn't use the plastic bag that owner had given to him, like I had originally thought. Instead he just grabbed hold of the bird and held on to it the whole way day down the ladder. Luckily he was wearing his structure gloves because the bird was biting the crap out of his finger as he climbed back down.
Well apparently a couple of newspapers across the country have gotten a hold of the blog post and have been reporting it as well.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2010/08/san-jose-firefi.html
Yep, thank goodness for small favors.
http://nuffsaid6.blogspot.com/2010/08/no-we-dont-get-cats-out-of-trees-but.html
Regardless of who got the applause, at least I'm not known across the country as the "Bird Whisperer." My Department wrote a short piece about the boy/bird rescue in the department blog
http://sjfd.blogspot.com/2010/08/truck-13-crew-saves-man-and-bird.html
That's me on the ladder putting the harness on the kid. I found out the next shift that my engineer didn't use the plastic bag that owner had given to him, like I had originally thought. Instead he just grabbed hold of the bird and held on to it the whole way day down the ladder. Luckily he was wearing his structure gloves because the bird was biting the crap out of his finger as he climbed back down.
Well apparently a couple of newspapers across the country have gotten a hold of the blog post and have been reporting it as well.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2010/08/san-jose-firefi.html
Yep, thank goodness for small favors.
Monday, August 23, 2010
August 20, 2010 Convict Conditioning, Vision Training and Rugby Skills
Friday I spent a good portion of the day watching the Women's Rugby World Cup online at the IRB website.
http://www.rwcwomens.com/index.html
I interspersed my training into the game watching. Initially, every time there was a scrum, I did a set of Convict Conditioning. My reps were as follows
Horizontal Pulls 3x30 using my dining room table
One Legged Squats down to my coffee table 2x20
I finally met the progression standard in the pulls. I'll stay here at least 1 to 2 more weeks before progressing to step 3 - Jackknife Pull ups.
Whenever a try, conversion, or penalty kick was scored, I did 1 minute of eye training using the near/far eye chart from the Z-Health Essentials course.
Once I had completed the sets for CC, I switched over to Rugby Skills practice - around the body passes, through the legs figure 8s, over/under the legs figure 8s, first with eyes open, and then a second set of each with eyes closed.
http://www.rwcwomens.com/index.html
I interspersed my training into the game watching. Initially, every time there was a scrum, I did a set of Convict Conditioning. My reps were as follows
Horizontal Pulls 3x30 using my dining room table
One Legged Squats down to my coffee table 2x20
I finally met the progression standard in the pulls. I'll stay here at least 1 to 2 more weeks before progressing to step 3 - Jackknife Pull ups.
Whenever a try, conversion, or penalty kick was scored, I did 1 minute of eye training using the near/far eye chart from the Z-Health Essentials course.
Once I had completed the sets for CC, I switched over to Rugby Skills practice - around the body passes, through the legs figure 8s, over/under the legs figure 8s, first with eyes open, and then a second set of each with eyes closed.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
August 19, 2010 - It's Good to Feel Like an Athlete Again
Thursday at practice we covered plays from the scrum, ruck and lineout. It's looking like my main position will be number 7, the open side flanker. This means that when there's a scrum I'll set up on the side left or right of the scrum that is next to the biggest portion of field. My main job on defense will be to get to the other side quickly and disrupt their offense. For me, this is great, because I get to run as hard as I can, and then tackle people. After never having played contact sports growing up, there's something really quite satisfying about a good tackle. As much as I love volleyball, I had always wished for a way to mix it up a bit more with the other team. Rugby definitely provides this.
In general, overall it feels really good to feel like an athlete again. This may seem like an odd statement to those who know me, because I've still worked out hard and maintained a decent level of fitness over the years. What I hadn't realized though, is how much I've missed the pure joys of sprinting, agility, and quick reactions. Firefighting and rock climbing require me to be fit and strong, but neither require any of the skills previously mentioned. Rugby is basically a big game of keep-away, combined with tag, where you get to tackle people. This is fun on a basic, almost even primal level. It keeps my brain engaged and motivated, and relieves stress, This, plus the benefits gained through the application of speed power and agility, has been the missing component in my workouts over the past few years.
In general, overall it feels really good to feel like an athlete again. This may seem like an odd statement to those who know me, because I've still worked out hard and maintained a decent level of fitness over the years. What I hadn't realized though, is how much I've missed the pure joys of sprinting, agility, and quick reactions. Firefighting and rock climbing require me to be fit and strong, but neither require any of the skills previously mentioned. Rugby is basically a big game of keep-away, combined with tag, where you get to tackle people. This is fun on a basic, almost even primal level. It keeps my brain engaged and motivated, and relieves stress, This, plus the benefits gained through the application of speed power and agility, has been the missing component in my workouts over the past few years.
August 18, 2010 - Stair Climb, Rock Climbing, Flying Trapeze Day
Whenever Mike Castrogiovanni and I meet up, the day usually turns into a crazy play day. Wednesday was no exception. This time he drove up to my neck of the woods and met me in Oakland. We started the day with a quick climb up the stairs at Joaquin Miller Park, one of my favorite places to train.
From there we cruised around several of the bouldering areas in the Berkeley Hills, including Indian Rock, Mortar Rock, Cragmont and Remillard Park. This is one of the great things about rock climbing in the Berkeley Hills; there are several spots with good variety, all within about 5 minutes of each other (and the sweeping views of the San Francisco Bay area aren't too shabby either). Two of the problems we climbed were a V3 which required balance, and core and grip strength, and a V0 which was a relatively easy climb with plenty of holds, but was mentally difficult in that it was 20' off of the ground.
Later that day we faced another mentally difficult challenge. We took a flying trapeze class at Trapeze arts in Oakland. This was the first time either of us had tried this. A video of what we learned to do in the class can be seen here on there website.
www.trapezearts.com
The trapeze platform for the trapeze was about 30' in the air. At the start of the class the instructors told us that on the platform once we had the trapeze, they would tell us "ready," which was the cue to bend our knees, and then "hep," which was our cue to jump off of the platform and swing through the air. They also told us that neither of these were questions. Something about that made it easier for me to not over think the movements, and to find my "flow" quicker than usual. The instructors would call out each step of the evolution. Our job was simply to do what they told us to do, when they told us to do it. Simple, but not necessarily easy. This gave me a great opportunity to work on staying in the moment and reacting to verbal cues. All in all it was a great class and ultimately felt like a giant jungle gym, making it feel both physically and mentally invigorating.
From there we cruised around several of the bouldering areas in the Berkeley Hills, including Indian Rock, Mortar Rock, Cragmont and Remillard Park. This is one of the great things about rock climbing in the Berkeley Hills; there are several spots with good variety, all within about 5 minutes of each other (and the sweeping views of the San Francisco Bay area aren't too shabby either). Two of the problems we climbed were a V3 which required balance, and core and grip strength, and a V0 which was a relatively easy climb with plenty of holds, but was mentally difficult in that it was 20' off of the ground.
Later that day we faced another mentally difficult challenge. We took a flying trapeze class at Trapeze arts in Oakland. This was the first time either of us had tried this. A video of what we learned to do in the class can be seen here on there website.
www.trapezearts.com
The trapeze platform for the trapeze was about 30' in the air. At the start of the class the instructors told us that on the platform once we had the trapeze, they would tell us "ready," which was the cue to bend our knees, and then "hep," which was our cue to jump off of the platform and swing through the air. They also told us that neither of these were questions. Something about that made it easier for me to not over think the movements, and to find my "flow" quicker than usual. The instructors would call out each step of the evolution. Our job was simply to do what they told us to do, when they told us to do it. Simple, but not necessarily easy. This gave me a great opportunity to work on staying in the moment and reacting to verbal cues. All in all it was a great class and ultimately felt like a giant jungle gym, making it feel both physically and mentally invigorating.
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