In Depth and Personal

This is where the action is.  This is where your reputation is earned.  This is what you see in the paper the next day.  This is what is talked about years later.  But this is just the "Reader's Digest" condensed version.  What is the Real Story?

In 1952 a chief was dressed down by his Council for having the audacity to ask for help from another fire department at a large house fire outside of town.  Within a few years the county boasts a Firemen's Association that has standardized requests for help, radio frequencies, and apparatus numbering systems in three counties.
Everyone uses the same hose thread, the same dispatch procedure, takes training at the same time at the county fire school.  Everyone shares any new way they come up with to make the job easier.  Five inch hose is specified, pump sizes are increased, a new dispatch center is born.

Local level instructors are used for in house and county wide training.  Train the trainer is used to bring in new ideas.  Firefighters begin to certify their abilities and promulgate new training opportunities.  EMS, Rescue, Haz-Mat are all added to the list.  The mantle is slowly passed from father to son and new recruit.

That makes it possible for:

Dispatching a commercial fire
E2-2 and Ladder 2-9 responding.

"Chief 2 requests a second alarm."

"Station 1 and 4 responding, and 7 and 9 covering."
Command to E1-3 take side A, provide your own water supply.

4 provide manpower for attack.

Second Rescue and Truck stage at scene.



We've come a long way.  Longer than most of us realize.

But just like here, we can't see the water supply, but we can sense the job required to pick up, drain, and repack 1300 feet of hose.  We can appreciate the firefighters that stay and do the scut work to be ready for the net call.

And the men that came before us that made our job just that much easier, efficient, and better for our communities.  Thanks for all your hard work.  Yeah both the tired guys today and the nameless brothers that came before.  A great and growing family.