Ice storm

Beginning late Thursday evening, and on into the early hours of Friday, an ice storm came through the northeast, covering everything with ice. Some areas had as much as a 1/2 inch. Everything from trees to power lines and poles were falling, creating a mess. An estimated 450,000 residents lost there power, and as of today, three days later, there are still a couple hundred thousand residents still powerless.

Between midnight and 7 a.m., battalion 2 responded to 24 bells, and when battalion 3 releived them we answered another 41 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oddly enough, there were very few mvc's. A majority of the calls were for wires down, transformers burning, and water in the basement. I think the two day total for responses from the storm are somewhere around 150. I didn't get any pictures, but WMUR 9 news has a slide show with some very impressive photos. Here is the link

http://www.wmur.com/weather/18255928/detail.html?widgetId=55963

If you have any pictures, please forward them to me, and Iwill post them on here.

Flashover demo video

This is probably one of the better flashover videos I have seen, and now tha I know how to embed videos (thanks to our resident Senator), I can now post it. Enjoy the show.

Top Secret info!!!!!!!!

SHHH!!! If you decide to read this article, you have to promise not to let anyone know what you know after you are "in the know"'. Especially the ones who know, cause' they don't know that we know. You know?

While working at the Manor station today, we were privy to a sneak peak at the future of the fire service. What we had seen will undoudtedly change the fire service forever (we think). We were kept in the dark for the most part, but were able to put our collective thinking caps on, and theorize about this "NEW and IMPROVED" way of fighting fires.

When fighting the beast the most important weapon in a firefighters arsenal is water. If that water is applied incorrectly, the thermal balance will be disrupted. But WHAT IF we were able to use cold AND hot water. The cold water being applied at the base of the fire, while simultaneously applying hot water to the ceiling. The possibilities of this new attack could be endless (or not), one of which could be a minimal agitation of the thermal layers. Now this is just our theory. After all, we were not permitted to hear the in-depth discusions between those involved with the experiment.

If this new technique somehow takes off unexpectedly, and you find yourself sitting in a classroom nodding off during a powerpoint presentation on the "Proper Techniques of Hot and Cold Water Firefighting", you can say that you saw it here first.

This is a look at the preconnects.



For those of you who can't recognize humor, or understand mine, that was my feeble attempt at it.

Second fire of the tour

At about 0200 hrs, Engine 5 was dispatched to a single engine fire. After we had left the barn, dispatch notified us of a change in address. We quickly made a u-turn, but the extended length of our response would turn out to be costly. Upon arrival we found a single family structure with heavy char markings. Lt. Robidas had me pull the 1/2" line with a smooth bore plastic tip, which turned out to be ample enough water for this particular fire. We managed to save the support members of the structure, and the home owners will be able to rebuild with little aggrevation to their daily lives. This was Lt. Robidas's first fire as an officer, and after seeing him in action, I have no doudt he will make a fine line officer. He kept his decision makings simple, and relied on his keen instincts and expertise to mitigate the incident. Keep up the good work Lieu.


They say fires typically come in three's. If true, we can expect another one during our last night on tonight. I just hope it's a little bigger than this one.

BB's anyone?

We had a fairly interesting shift today. As a whole, I think each company had at least 3 or more runs. Some of them more interesting than others obviously. I think there were a few EMS runs, four FAA (fire alarm activations), two MVA's, one being a head-on, and another on the inter-state involving a tractor trailer and a house, and last but not least, a drive by shooting.

I wasn't there for the accident on the inter-state, but I was told that the house looked like mine. Apparently a semi was taking an exit ramp a little too fast and tipped over, dumping his load in the process. The load on the semi was a modular HOME. Or at least part of one. It wasn't mine though. My house is already on a foundation, and the wheels and axels have been removed. I am hoping to get a skirt for it someday, but they are just too doggone expensive right now.
The other accident was a head-on collision with one passenger sustaining a broken arm. One of the vehicles ADMITTEDLY ran a stop sign. Imagine, someone who actually owed up to their mistake. You have to admire her for that.
The drive-by shooting in the north end involved some members of two local gangs. While members of one gang were walking along the road, members from a rival gang drove by and shot one individual in the upper lip. The weapon of choice was a BB-GUN. HA! Like I said. Some runs were more interesting than the others. I'm just not quite sure where this one fits in.

Motor vehicle fire

After taking a few weeks off because of the birth of our second child, I came back just in time to see FIRE. All the rumors I've heard about fire are true. It is still hot, smokey, and allergic to water.

A father was driving with his infant son in the back seat when he noticed the car overheating. By the time he made it to parking area the vehicle was on fire.