Cars Go Smash

So it's been a while since my last post. I've been pretty busy lately and sort of lost track of this thing but i'm back in action and have a few good stories to share. I'm going to start with a few wrecks. We get a lot of car accidents in my area, granted most of them are bullshit like the typical "pulled over in the parking lot with a tiny dent on the car but all of a sudden have severe back and neck pain so they can collect insurance money scheme". We went to one the other day with these two fat ladies that bashed their cars upside each other leaving the smallest amount of damage and of course both wanted to go to the hospital. It was 90 something degrees outside and here we are pulling these two gigantic hypochondriacs out of tiny cars as they both are having massive panic attacks. We were all sweating our asses off trying to pull them out when in reality, they were probably fine enough to walk their fat asses over to McDonalds and grab a few cheeseburgers for the free government taxi ride. To make it even better, we had just come from ladder training so the heat was already taking it's toll on us. Lifting these two fat screaming women in the middle of a hot busy street was definitely not making it better.

The first winner on my car accident post is this guy who crashed into...well take a look for yourself.

Yep that's right folks.. Crashed into a truck parked in a driveway. A brand new truck at that. No one was hurt when we got there but the driver of that sweet Lincoln was high as a kite. He came barreling down the street, probably jamming to some thug life and went up on the curb, hit a little tree, and took out the pretty truck. Good job buckaroo, i'm sure the clique is proud of you. Hopefully it won't be hard to replace that fancy chrome over the wheel wells.

This next wreck was dispatched as an ejection over on a busy road near the station. We showed up first and found the driver laying face down on the sidewalk about 25 feet from the car. I get over to the patient who honestly looked dead and started asking if he could hear me. This guy picks his head up and hands me a phone then tells me to call some chick. I asked if he was alright and again he told me to call this chick. I told him I didn't care about his phone, I was trying to make sure he was ok. Apparently he was just fine after smashing the shit out of his car and flying 25 feet. We took him to the hospital as a precaution but damn, bones of steel. He wasn't even drunk that we know of. He was allegedly texting while flying down the road and lost control into the fence.

This last one may not look as bad as the fence wreck but had a completely different end result. As soon as we pulled up to this one, we realized that the two right side front and rear passengers were trapped in the car. To make matters worse, the 80 something year old woman in the back was slumped over and not breathing. We called for a rescue truck and we started pulling tools out of our pumper. We got the back door open and I grabbed the lady and yanked her out to the ground. Normally we do not do CPR on traumatic arrests but I had a gut feeling that this case was different. She was very old and frail with no visible signs of trauma so my first thought was that she may have had a heart attack from being in the accident. We got her on the ground and started CPR until the cavalry showed up then went to work on the other patient in the front. Her leg was actually caught in the door so we had no choice but to cut the door off and pull her out that way. She was banged up but was nowhere close to her family member in the back. That was another reason why I suspected heart attack, not to mention that the car really doesn't look bad enough to cause a fatality. 

I wasn't in the ambulance with the CPR but from what I hear, as soon as they tubed her, blood was violently coming out of her mouth. There was definitively internal injuries and it was not a heart attack as I first suspected. I suppose as old and frail as she was, her body just was not strong enough to take an impact like that. I was later questioned by the EMS supervisor why we elected to work her instead of calling her death but my theory is that I would rather have worked her with the slight possibility that it was a heart attack then not tried at all. She was already dead so I don't think working her really hurt anything. If it was my family member, I would be happy to know that the crews at least tried their best than just looked at her and said "eh, she's dead". Especially with no signs of traumatic injury. 

Trachea

A while back I wrote about a lady's house and a painting of "The Last Supper" she had hanging on the wall. Remember that one? Well this past week, we made another run to her house for breathing problems. She is an older lady in a hospital bed who has a broad list of medical problems including a few strokes which is why we were there the last time. This time it appeared that something was wrong with her tracheal tube and she wasn't able to breath properly. Our computer notes told us "Patient has trachea"!!!!!!! No shit? Does she have arms and legs too? Well that night turned out to be nothing as her tube was clogged and cleared up by the daughter before we got there. She told us that everything was fine and we went on our way.

The next day on shift, were were sent back once again and this time she had passed away. It looked as if she suffocated so I am assuming her tube was clogged again and could not get any air while she slept. Well it looks like someone will finally fill that empty spot at the table with Jesus.

Not Every Call Is Bullshit

It was nearing the end of my shift when we were dispatched to a motor vehicle incident. Usually wrecks at this time of night are pretty bad and 90% of the time are caused by drunks leaving the bar. This particular one involved a single vehicle and according to our computer notes, the victim MAY be trapped inside but the caller was not sure because he didn't want to get close enough. This accident was not dispatched as an extrication (meaning a rescue truck would have been added) so I radioed in to dispatch and inquired about what I was reading on the computer and why a rescue truck was not sent. They gave me pretty much the same information so I guess I would just have to wait until I got there to determine what what other equipment was needed. We pulled up and see an older model Lexus laying on it's roof and what looked like someone lying underneath it. I'm thinking, oh man the victim isn't trapped inside but underneath the car!!! As I opened the door to the fire truck, I can hear the sound of rap music filling the air and see a trail of blood at my feet leading to the vehicle. The ground was scratched up with debris scattered across but I focused my attention towards the woman as I approached. I could see her arm move and what looked like her chest trying to rise as if she was attempting to get up. My first thought was "holy crap shes alive". I ran over to her but as I got down next to her I realized that there wasn't anything we could do. She had no pulse and it appeared that her entire chest was ripped open explaining the trail of blood I had to walk over to get there.

As the senior person on scene, It was now time for me to make a very difficult decision. Do we attempt to get the car off of her and try to save her life, or do we stop right here and call a 10-50? (Code for deceased). I have called many 10-50's but this was one of the only times where I hesitated. I needed to process this in my brain because I don't like making rash decisions and I sure didn't want to regret it later. All of this happening within 30 seconds, I thought about every possibility. She had no pulse, she had a several thousand pound vehicle on top of her mid section probably crushing her insides, and a trail of blood which told me she was dragged for some time before ending up here. She likely had massive internal injuries and just had that look of lifelessness in her face. Something that you pick up on after a while. So what was stopping me from calling the 10-50? It was the moving I witnessed as I walked up to the vehicle. The movement was only very slight but was she really trying to get out from underneath? Was there really a chance to save her? Well the movement was most likely an involuntary spasm, similar to what happens to a snake when you chop it's head off. She had no pulse and if we really did get her out, what was the chance that she could actually be saved? We normally do not perform CPR on traumatic arrests especially when there are signs incompatible with life. After taking all of this into consideration, I bit my cheek and called the 10-50. There was no chance we could have helped her and pulling her from where she was could hinder the investigation. It was one of the hardest decisions I have made but I am confidant that I it was the right one.

We all just kind of stood there for a second and looked at her. So much going through my mind and feeling sorry for the poor woman but I had to snap myself out of it and move on. I walked over to shut off the radio because the rap music was still playing loudly throughout the empty road. I reached inside the open door and had to go over her leg to turn the volume knob. One of her legs was resting on the steering wheel and the top half of her body was through the sunroof with the car resting above her waist. Seeing her that way, reassured  me that the right decision was made. Even if her chest was in tact, her spine had to have been broken as she was weaved through the sunroof.

This poor girl was only 20 years old. There was no smell of alcohol in the vehicle and probably something that could have been avoided had she been watching the road. It appeared as if she was on the way home and traveling at a high rate of speed when she struck a guardrail on the opposite side of the 2 lane road. The corner of the guardrail made her vehicle roll and the girl who was not wearing a seat belt, came out of the open sunroof before the car landed back on top of her, and sliding about 75 yards with her between the vehicle and concrete. You could see the drag marks down the road leading from the guardrail to her car. She had to have been going so fast for her car to slide such a distance and I can only imagine what she was going through in those few short seconds. I can only hope that she did not suffer long during the process.

I can still see her in my mind, moving around as if she was trying to get up. It has to be one of the hardest things I have seen and I am sure the image will stick with me for the rest of my life. Dealing with death is something firemen learn to cope with pretty well but there are some that you just can't forget. This will be one of those along side of a 10 year old girl who drowned several years ago. She fell into a small neighborhood lake which had a fountain in the middle. The fountain sucked the water with a vacuum so when the girl fell in, she wasn't strong enough to fight the current. When we arrived on scene, she was pulled out by a neighbor who was performing CPR in the grass next to the water. We took over and I noticed that every one of the girl's fingertips were missing down to the bone. She had fought so hard to escape the current that she wore off her fingertips trying to claw her way out. She tried so hard yet was unsuccessful and my heart truly sank for the poor girl. How can one be so determined yet fail in the process?

I suppose it's all part of the job so there isn't much you can do but pick yourself up and move on.

National Unconscious Week

It must be a holiday for unconscious people this week as it seems like that's we have done. And not good good ones either. Good meaning they actually had a serious medical emergency versus being passed out drunk. We did get to force entry into an apartment for the police which was a little better than all the medical runs we have been making. We were dispatched to assist the police to force entry which usually means they think someone is deceased and they need to get inside. When we get there, the cops tell us that a guy has locked himself in the apartment and said that he was going to kill himself. Apparently a woman lives there and has been letting this guy stay with her (someone she met on Facebook) and now wants him out. She said he was obsessed with her, wanting a relationship which she did not want and because of that he was going to kill himself. Since it was her apartment, the cops had no problem removing him so we and tried opening the door with our usual axe and halligan combination but it wouldn't budge at all. My crew can normally open a door in a few seconds so I knew that it wasn't them and something extra had to be on the other side. It was the perfect opportunity to use our battering ram that my EO mentioned earlier that day that we never get to use. As far as I know, we are the only pumper that carries one. When we get back up with the ram, the cops start getting ready and pull out their guns right next to us. Everyone kind of stopped for a second as we realized what we were getting in the middle of so I asked "hey, does that guy in there have a gun?" The cops said they didn't know but were being "safe". Well this is great, what the fuck were we supposed to do? I want to be safe too dammit. So all of us except for the guy holding the ram moved around the corner in case bullets started flying. Poor ram guy had to take one for the team. Well the ram did work after 2 or 3 strikes and the cops went in and drug the guy outside, without any shooting. Now for the good part. My next day on duty, we came back to this apartment because the woman who lived there was now unconscious on her bedroom floor. Her mother was there and didn't know what was going on but it looked like an overdose. The guy from the last incident was repeatedly calling the mother while we were there too. These people have too many problems for me.

We had a couple homeless guys sleeping in a ditch by a gas station that was called in as two males unconscious. I guess people driving by saw them and were concerned so they called 911 but apparently not concerned enough to actually go up to them. That same week we had another homeless guy at the same gas station found unconscious by one of the gas pumps. He had something wrong with him but I don't remember what it was.

Last but not least, we were at a medical call one morning for something minor when we found a guy passed out in his truck next door. It was pretty funny because we just happened to glance over and see him laying there. Turns out that he partied too much the night before and never made it inside. At least he wasn't on a busy street somewhere like most of the ones we make.

Random Things From Calls

I have a few things to write about but i'm tired and feel like i'm getting sick so for now i'll post some random stuff to keep you entertained. 

These are some random pictures I took on various calls. I have no clue what the hell that goat unicorn looking thing is supposed to be. The pencil in the foot was an interesting run. The lady was high as a kite and laughing the entire time. The dog was set on fire in a median. Looked like it was previously hit by a car and someone just decided that it needed to be burned.

This is a text message I got a few years ago from a friend. Makes me want to stop eating doughnuts. 

 

Last but not least is another audio clip of a crazy lady we picked up a while back. While she was yelling, the EMT was calmly taking her vitals and hooking up the heart monitor. She wasn't yelling at anyone in particular unless she had an imaginary friend.

Learn to cook

It amazes me how many people catch their stove on fire. Here's a new one we made this weekend.

Do You Think I Have A Big.......

This was written in the notes on our ambulance's computer for a call they were on. I had to share.

(Caller advised they were intoxicated and got hit with a bottle at a bar they were at. I believe this is a possible prank call. The caller said at the end of our conversation "Do you think I have a big dick?" multiple times.)

NYE!!!!

As I suspected, NYE turned out to to be an experience to say the least. I didn't get an ounce of sleep until I got home the next morning and neither did anyone else I know who was working around the city. I live about 30 minutes from the station and really don't remember driving home but I got there and went straight to sleep, waking up only 4 hours later to take my family to the football game. After the game, we went straight to my brother in-law's house for a New Years dinner and finally got home where I passed out for a good while. One of my friends was supposed to go to the game with us but also worked NYE, doing overtime on a busy ambulance and ran way more than we did.

Although my pumper wasn't as busy as last year, we had some great runs that are sure to be great memories for years to come. We started off with a little house fire in the morning, which for the most part was bullshit. Then we jumped a call from another engine that turned out to be pretty decent. We had another seizure in the middle of the day but this one wasn't bullshit like the two I posted about last week. It was a 10 year old girl who was found by her friends, laying on the sidewalk. She had no history of seizures and was reported to be in good health, although she looked malnourished in my opinion. She was on the couch when we arrived, not responding and was moving around restlessly, becoming combative later on. It seemed strange compared to a normal seizure so I asked the crew to check her pupils which were non responsive and dilated. It began to look more like a head trauma the way the girl was acting. The mother was a piece of work, let me tell ya. I wasn't really sure if she was a lesbian or just completely strung out on crack but she freaked out in the back of the ambulance and told the crew (yelling) that she wouldn't let us take her daughter until we gave her where we were going in writing. What the hell, did she think we were going to kidnap her kid or something? She was more concerned about that than her daughter's condition back in the house where she was laughing and joking around.

Later in the evening we left an automatic alarm to go to a palm tree fire. This man's neighbor was shooting roman candles when it hit his tree and lit up. The homeowner, who wasn't wearing any pants by the way, got into a screaming match with the one who shot the firework. Turns out, several years ago we put out two trees at the house of the guy who shot the roman candle. You think he would learn by now but I guess not. After the argument, the homeowner comes over to my EO of all people and starts telling him that he was watching TV when he heard a loud boom and saw the tree burning. He said he didn't have time to put on pants but at least had time to find some underwear and proceeded to pull his shirt up to show us his man briefs. My EO replies by telling him, "Don't worry it's New Years Eve, you don't have to wear pants to this party". I love his EOisms. Afterwards while wrapping up, I shit you not a horse walks by one of the cross streets. Yes really a horse. This is right in the middle of a neighborhood and the last place you would expect to see a horse but it was there, just walking around. Not really sure where it came from but man it was hilarious. I can't make this stuff up, here are a couple pictures.

Later we went to a grass fire that was reportedly burning for 30 minutes. We were supposed to meet the caller who was going to direct us to the fire but no one was found and we went in service. Around 11:00 we were dispatched to meet the police who found a man wondering around a neighborhood. This guy didn't smell like alcohol but had no idea where he was or how he got there. His vitals checked out fine but it was apparent that he was on some kind of drug so the ambulance took him to the hospital and we headed home. On the way back we went on a search for smoke coming from a nearby neighborhood which turned out to be nothing.

It was now around 11:30 and we made it back to the station hoping to stay and celebrate midnight. We had a few bottles of sparkling cider saved up so we brought them outside, as well as some horns and crazy hats, then set up shop on the front pad. A few fire marshals, who were at a rave next door, stopped by and hung out for a while. This place next door has raves every few months and the fire marshals hit them hard because of overcrowding and a few other fire code violations. We first reported it to the inspectors about a year ago when we saw a line with nearly a thousand people at the door, which later turned into a riot and a shooting. That time wasn't a rave, but some sort of thug party so you can imagine how fast it got out of control. The inspectors left about 15 minutes before midnight so we went back to the pad and started getting the bottles ready when what do you know, we get a run for a car fire at 11:58. They couldn't have waited two fucking minutes? I told one of my firefighters to grab a bottle and some cups so we could celebrate on the road as we load up in the pumper. Of course by that time it was 11:59 so I hit the en route button and told my EO to wait so we could do the countdown before we left. The ladder crew was standing next to the engine counting down for us when it hit midnight and we yelled "Happy New Year" to each other before going on our way. Boy let me tell ya that we made as much noise pulling out of the station as possible. The call was only a few blocks away so it didn't take us long to get there but of course we didn't see anything in the reported intersection. I got on the radio and asked for a better location when the dispatcher said that it was called in by someone passing by. Could it really be a damn prank call right at midnight? Whatever the case, I was pissed. We drove around for about a minute, didn't see anything so we returned to service and headed back to the station. Fearing another run, I told my EO to stop right where we were in the middle of the road and we filled up our cups and toasted each other right there in the pumper. What a better way to ring in the new year than by sitting in a fire truck, blocking a moving lane of traffic and drinking fake champagne out of styrofoam cups.

The Rave
Surprised we didn't go earlier but we were finally sent to the rave for someone having a seizure. If you have never been to one of these, you should go at least once in your life so you too can experience this. We have been over here for raves a few times in the last year and it never gets old. Well we get there and security directs us inside where our patient is sitting on steps near the front door. This poor guy is completely fucked out of his mind. He was only 17 years old and apparently took some new drug called fun dip. We walk him out to the ambulance and I try to research this fun dip on my phone but couldn't find anything other than "Cherry Fun Dip" on Urban Dictionary. (Look it up). Some guy there tells us that it is a mix between marijuana and heroin, while another said it was a mix of ecstasy and LSD which it what it turned out to be. Are these people crazy? Are the regular drugs not good enough to where you have to start mixing them together? Man times have really changed since I was in high school. While they were in the back of the ambulance, me and my crew were outside people watching when this girl walks up asking if she can go to the hospital with him. She felt bad I guess because the patient's friends left him and she didn't want him to be alone. She didn't even know him but I guess everyone is so mellowed out on drugs that they all become friends by proxy. She didn't end up going, but came out later to fist bump one of the firefighters.

As we were standing outside, another girl comes running up and tells us that someone else had a seizure in the back. I call for a second ambulance and we follow the girl through the massive crowd, out into the back alley where apparently a 100 or so more people were hanging out. We had to move the crowd back from this guy who was laid out on the ground in the fetal position. Again, this guy was out so we started working on him until I heard our ambulance call on the radio to disregard the second ambulance and said they would double load. About a minute or two later, one of the ambulance guys comes back to where we were and we walked this guy out front. He was so out of it that it took 3 of us to walk him to the front because his legs couldn't support him. Not to mention we had to fight the crowd all the way out. We finally got him loaded and the ambulance left for the hospital, carrying these 2 zombies. It was a funny sight, looking at the two of them back there and I can only imagine what the hospital was going to say.

Once everything was over, we decided to stay and people watch for a while. A few of us needed to use the restroom anyway so we grabbed some flashlights and walked inside. We find the crowded restroom which was covered in mud (I hope) and had a horribly nasty smell. I would hate to be the one cleaning that shit hole. As we were standing in line for the urinal, someone asked if we were there for the fornicators. I wasn't really sure what he was talking about until I saw 2 sets of legs appear under the stall. One appeared to be sitting on the toilet, and the female appeared to be sitting on him in the other direction, so you can imagine what was going on in there. Yep they were fucking in this nasty, dirty, smelly bathroom. Security comes in and pounds on the door for them to leave but it takes a minute or two of getting dressed before a pair of panties are thrown out the side and the two emerge. The girl was covering her face as she ran out but come on, how can you be embarrassed after having sex in the men's bathroom stall next to 15 people? Everyone clapped for them and we finally got to use the restroom.

We walked around a little more and went back to the front when when we found a guy laying on the curb who looked like he was in pain. He thought he may have taken ecstasy and had severe back pain from a previous car accident. He also said that his stomach hurt and was slightly confused so we checked it out and convinced his friends to take him home instead of us transporting to the hospital. We talked with him for several minutes then returned to watching people as they walked out of the front doors. Man there were some interesting outfits. Furry boots, bikinis, ninja looking costumes, and a guy wearing a tuxedo. There was no way I was getting out of there without pictures so I asked a few people and they posed for us. I guess some of them deserve points for creativity.

So another year begins and more stories build in our future. Although these last few months have seemed slow, we ended up with a lot more total runs than 2010. I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us. 

Bring On The New Year!

Well it's that time of year again. A time when we bring the year to a close, futile resolutions are made, and stupid people fill the streets. A non-denominational holiday that is celebrated by almost every person in the world. What a great day to be at work! For my second year in a row, I am working on New Years Eve. Not that I mind it because it keeps me from being one of those stupid people out getting in trouble and I get to see more crazy in one night than I usually see in a tour. So far today has been pretty busy and I expect it to only get worse as the sun goes down. If it's anything compared to last year then we might be in trouble. Here is the run list for my pumper last NYE, in order from start to finish that I just pulled up on our CAD system.

Chest Pain: Heart Problem: Automatic Alarm: Grass Fire: Grass Fire: Unknown Fire: Seizure: Assault: Grass Fire: House Fire: Grass Fire: House Fire: House Fire: Bomb Threat (turned out to be an exploded mailbox): Chest Pain: Unconscious Person: Breathing Problem: Automatic Medical Alert: Motor Vehicle Incident: Grass Fire: Dumpster Fire: Dumpster Fire.

22 runs and mind you that most came in after 9pm. We have already had some noteworthy runs this shift but I will write about it all tomorrow in one long post. Before I go, I want to post this as my end of the year gift to you. It is a psychiatric call we made about a year ago where this lady's son called 911 to have his mother committed. Perhaps it will give you a feel for the people we deal with out here every single day. She was something else and i'm damn glad I decided to record it. By the way, she looks exactly how she sounds.

So what will 2012 have in store for us? I don't know either but I sure can't wait to find out. Happy New Year!

Funny Kitchen Fire

Remember that kitchen fire we did a couple weeks ago where the kid threw water on the burning pan? Well one of my last days on, we get dispatched to an apartment fire a few blocks from the station. We were first into the complex and didn't see any smoke so I told everyone responding to level 1 stage outside the complex which means to wait out there so we don't have a bunch of fire trucks clogging up the complex. I get out of the pumper and this lady walks up and says "Hey remember me"? I didn't really until she said she was they lady who's house caught on fire a couple weeks ago. I guess she had moved into this apartment while her house was being repaired and managed to catch her stove on fire. Well it wasn't really on fire but she said it started smoking and wanted us to check it. I don't know why this was dispatched as an apartment fire but I disregarded all the units and we went in to look at the stove. Yep, looked like a stove. I told her to leave it unplugged and find a place to live without a kitchen.

So just to add on the end of this, as I was finishing up this post we get a walk-in at the station. I went out to have a cigarette and this car pulls up on our front pad. He said his son had just had a seizure (which was normal for him just like the lady earlier) and wanted us to check him out "just in case". I guess it's "just in case" seizure week.

I like it when the crazies come out

So I forgot about this post. It's been sitting in here waiting on me to finish the last paragraph for about 2 weeks. I've been on the ladder truck for the last few shifts so I haven't really been to any calls worthy of talking about on here. Actually I don't think we've been on any calls but i'm not complaining, I love riding on the ladder and wish I could stay on it forever but today i'm back to my pumper, ready to take on our little shit hole district. So far we haven't had anything good but most of the crew called in sick so i'm sure we'll have a fire at some point. A little while ago we made a run for seizures in a Church's Chicken parking lot. The lady apparently has seizures all the time so this was nothing out of the ordinary but her husband wanted her checked out "just in case". Just in case of what? We looked at her, looked liked she was alive, and went in service.

So here are my stories from a couple weeks ago...enjoy.

So we head off to the grocery store fairly late to pick up our usual, we're too lazy to cook (Hamburger Helper) dinner. We don't even get the first thing in the cart when we get a run for an overdose, way down at the bottom of our territory. It's actually in one of our better areas although lately it's been picking up lately with some interesting calls. It's a mix of townhouses and a few apartment complexes sitting on a dead end road. We pull onto the street at the same time as the ambulance when the dispatcher comes on and tell us we need to stage away form the location to wait for the police because apparently the scene wasn't safe. Well the ambulance ends up going all the way to the complex and is flagged down by the caller so we go up behind them and we enter the complex. At this point we were already committed to the scene so there wasn't much we could do. As we pull up, I look over to my left and see a man trying to fight with a female cop. The cop was by herself trying to keep the man back, while a woman who turned out to be the man's girlfriend yelled uncontrollably for him to stop. The cop had her beating stick out trying to keep him back but he began swinging at her and it didn't look like she would be able to hold him off much longer. She got in a damn good hit with her baton but I was worried he was going to overpower her so I jumped out of the pumper and ran her direction. I figured I would take the ass chewing later because I wasn't going to just sit there and watch this cop get her ass whopped. The rest of my crew jumped out and ran with me but we stopped short when another cop pulled up and tackled the guy. They wrestled for a couple minutes while the guy yelled "JUST FUCKING SHOOT ME" "KILL ME, I KNOW YOU WANT TO". He was looking for a suicide by cop scenario but they got him wrangled and threw him in the car. As the cops were dragging him to the car, I guess the man's ex wife ran up and was frantically asking the current girlfriend "OH GOD, DID THEY SHOOT HIM"? What the fuck do you think lady? No they didn't shoot him. Afterwards, my EO went up to the cop car and asked the guy what his birth date was. His response? "FUCK YOU". Turned out, the guy took several bottles of pills and now gets to wake up with a nice hangover on the floor of a jail cell.

We left that call and didn't feel like going back to the store so we decided to stop and grab something at Taco Cabana. I remember as we stood in line that this weird guy was walking around asking people for the time. He caught my eye because something just didn't seem right about him. Fairly young white guy with a tattered brown leather coat, possibly on drugs or some sort of mental disorder. I didn't think too much of it because we see freaks all the time so we ordered and went about our fine dining experience. We finished eating and ventured outside where this guy was lurking by the front door. He sees us and asks, "Hey have you guys even been in a fire?" I looked at him and told him no, kinda laughed and went to take out a cigarette. Yes I smoke, don't judge me. Of course this guy follows and asked us if we had a cigarette. I told him that I just lit my last one and showed him my pack but one of the firefighters gave him one. At this point it was just me and the firefighter because the other two knuckleheads knew better than to hang around this guy and went back to the pumper. When this guy came over for the cigarette, I noticed that in his right hand was a freakishly large ball of hair. Looked like something you would pull out of an old drain. He tossed it on the ground and my firefighter says to him "Hey, you dropped your hair." Without missing a beat, this guy looks at us and says "yea, it's my pubes". Now i'm trying as hard as I can not to laugh but the other guy just couldn't hold it so we started cracking up right in front of this poor guy. He looks at us again with a smirk and said, "but wouldn't that hurt though, if I just ripped them right out like that?" "Think about it. I guess it would be kinda like waxing". The firefighter told him, "nah waxing isn't that bad". "oh you know from experience" replied the weirdo. I guess our laughing just made this guy want to keep talking so hurried off and got back to the pumper.

Trucks aren't made to be sideways

The other morning, we got to cut a lady out of her truck. It was about 5:40 in the morning and 29 degrees (not my ideal conditions). I'm not really sure what caused the accident but the lady managed to flip onto the driver's side of the truck, so she was essentially stuck at the bottom. Lucky for her, she didn't have any significant injuries other than some standard back and neck pain. We ended up taking off the roof so we could pull her out from where she was laying.

I always find it amazing how easy it is to pull apart a vehicle. We broke out the windows, cut the pillars holding the roof and it just peeled it back like a can of sardines. The poor lady was nice as can be too, something we don't get very often on this side of town. Older woman, probably in her mid 60's just sat there calm while we were working. Lucky for us, we didn't do very much because our rescue truck was there pretty quick and they like doing all the fancy stuff.  But whatever took getting out of the cold fast was alright with us. Not to mention the sun was coming up and we were encroaching on shift change.

Here's a pic of her truck. It didn't come out very good but you can see the roof peeled back.

We really didn't do anything else other than a few more automatic alarms, another wreck, and some medical calls. The next day on, we made a run early in the morning for an unconscious person. It was supposed to be in a vehicle outside of a house but turned out the lady got up and went inside before we got there. We knocked on the door and this haggard lady peeks out and says she feel asleep in the car because her alarm didn't go off. I'm not really sure what the hell she was talking about but while the ambulance was getting the story, I started looking through the front window of the house. Jesus there was trash piled up to the bottom of the window and there were two small dogs trekking across the mess. I try to keep houses like this in my memory because if we ever get a fire there, I know the present hazards. It has happened before. Later on we made a huge pot of chili for lunch/dinner and had a fairly quiet evening. My kind of day.

MORE FIRE ALARMS!!!!!! AHHHH!!!

I've been to so many fire alarms lately that I could just scream!! We had one the other day at a 55+ apartment complex nearby the station. Turns out someone burned some popcorn in the lobby kitchen so we were out of there within a minute and headed off to the grocery store. We get all loaded up and of course drop a run for a house fire with a truck full of meat and ice cream. Luckily It wasn't too far away but it looked as if we would be a close tie to second in so I give ol' Rand McNally directions and started putting my gear on. A ladder truck made location first with nothing showing, which was great news so we could get back with our food. We pulled into the neighborhood shortly after and came down the street until blocked by a fucking ambulance who decided they wanted to stop in the middle of the road, blocking every other suppression unit from getting to the house. I put my hand on the radio mic to say something when the fire was tapped out so we just followed the ambulance through the scene and got the hell out of there.

Later on back at the station while cooking dinner, one of the firefighters was outside and heard what sounded like a fire alarm in the distance. What do you know, it's the apartment complex again from earlier. You know, the one we went to right before the grocery store? I recognize the sound because they have the loudest alarm known to man. No kidding. When you are inside this place, your teeth and brain actually shake. Absolutely horrible. I tell the crew that we are about to get a run and the dispatch comes through about 5 seconds after.

Trashy Street

Why the in hell do people feel the need to dump things on the side of the road? I have never even had that thought.

"What do we do with this Clyde?" "Ah never mind i'll just go dump it by the park so it won't be my problem anymore."

We were sent to a trash fire on this deserted road next to a wooded area. It's technically a city park but it has just sat there as an overgrown waste of space for years.

The fire was only a bunch of oil, some rags, and 2 oil filters. Easy way to dispose of your oil change I guess. As you can see behind the fire, there is a large pile of trash and next to it a dear carcass. There isn't deer anywhere around here so I have no idea where this came from. Must have been the aftermath of a hunting trip or something. Several years ago this was the hot spot for burning stolen cars on a weekly basis. We also responded to a rape over here a few months ago where a police officer rolled up on a vehicle, occupied by a father raping his 14 year old daughter. Doesn't this make you feel great as a taxpayer, knowing that a city park can be such multipurpose?

Grease + Heat + Water = Destruction

The shift started out pretty crazy because everyone except for myself and engineer called in sick. There was the last minute shuffle to pull a crew together but everything worked out pretty fast and the day went on. Around 6:30 or so in the evening, we were dispatched to a duplex fire, which doesn't surprise me because we manage to always get a fire when people call in sick. We were first on scene with light smoke coming from the front door so I picked up the radio and said "engine xx on location, light smoke from a single story duplex, we'll be investigating". Since the smoke was pretty light, I told the crew to stay put while I went to find out what was going on from the people standing in the yard. The lady told me that she had just come home from work when her 2 kids came running out saying the house was on fire. "They tried throwing water on it but the whole wall is still on fire". I go take a peek in the front door and see black smoke banked down about 5 feet from the ceiling so I turn around and tell the crew to pull a hand line and we make our way inside. There wasn't much to this one and we had it under control before anyone else arrived so I tapped it out holding us and the next in pumper. We did some overhaul, vented out the smoke and were out of there in about an hour. Here is the end result.

Whoops

The Captain on the other pumper had talked to the resident who said her 9 year old son was allegedly cooking. The 16 year old who was supposed to be watching him, wasn't doing too good of a job and I guess the skillet caught fire. He then threw water on the fire and BOOM, no more kitchen. Something like the video below except no extinguisher.

We leave there and get sent on 3 more runs before getting back to the station. Some lady down the road was having breathing problems after arguing with her boyfriend. We pull up and there 5 police cars, broken concrete in the road, and their garage door is hanging off by a string. We go inside and wade through a mess of boxes to find this lady freaking out in a tiny little bathroom. She saw us walk in and decided she wanted to have a full on panic attack and begin hyperventilating. We leave there and go straight to a "group home" which we frequent fairly often. These group homes are all over our territory and occupied with either sick and/or crazy people, usually watched by some African lady that pays absolutely no attention to them. This time it was an old man having a gastrointestinal bleed out of his ass. He was in a hall bathroom, kind of hunched over and naked from the waste down with blood EVERYWHERE. His legs were just saturated not to mention the bathroom which was also feces. We just kind of stood there for a second trying to figure out what the hell to do with this mess. It smelled so so bad that I have no clue how to describe it. We pretty much waited until the ambulance got there, doubled up on gloves and walked him out to the stretcher. The ambulance was from another station and had someone on it we didn't know. My Engineer walks up and tells the EMT that they may want to put down some towels or something for the blood but got some black stare, so he says, "awe fuck it, it's not my stretcher" and walks off. 

By this time we were all starving and really wanted to get back to the station when the computer pops up with a motor vehicle incident a few blocks down the road. They got smashed pretty good, cars totaled but no injuries so we we out of there quick and finally got back. We did get to eat and have a little down time before getting dispatched to another house fire a good distance away. The first pumper arrived and said "nothing showing" which usually means it's nothing so we were praying for a disregard before committing to the freeway, which we got so my Engineer takes the longest and bumpiest route possible back to the station and we sleep the rest of the night. Actually no, there was one more run later on but I can't remember for the life of me what it was. 

I had to throw that extra bit in about my EO because he gets all giddy when I talk about him on here. I told him this blog would make him famous and I could make him t-shirts, although no one knows who he is. Kind of like tales of a great ninja warrior, only allergic to directions and doesn't carry a sword. 

By the way, in case you didn't know, EO means Engineer Operator (the one who drives and pumps water). Also traditionally called a Chauffeur.

Jesus, Table For 14

One of my favorite things about going to calls is seeing the things that people have inside their homes. The other day we were at this house for a woman having a stroke. I stepped out of the room after it got crowded and went to stand in the living room when I saw this painting of the wall that intrigued me. It was a painting of  "The Last Supper" but in front of it was a lone chair facing the wall into an open spot on the painting's table similar to the opening you see below.

Perhaps someone sits there and eats dinner with Jesus? Or it could be a timeout chair where you have to look at Jesus and feel bad about what you did. It was something i've never seen before and I wish I would have asked someone in the house what it all about.

The rest of the shift went well. I worked on dinner with the rookie while the rest of the guys went Christmas crazy, hanging lights outside. They had been working on it for hours at this point. Later my wife and daughter stopped by for a visit and we finished off the night watching TV. Another hard days work.

Black Friday

So a few minutes after I published that last post, surprise surprise our box gets a run to Target for a fall. We on the other hand aren't doing anything. We went on a cleaning frenzy, made breakfast, watched our rookie rewind the Q siren (which is completely unnecessary) and now we are all spread around doing our own thing. To hold us over, i'll tell another story from earlier last week.

We made a run to an apartment complex sometime in the evening for an overdose. Some guy drank a bottle of Benadryl and felt sleepy so we weren't really needed and went back in service once the ambulance got there. This apartment complex is rather small so there isn't much room to maneuver with a fire engine. The driveway which we were parked on was straight but the entrance gate behind us was at an angle. No idea why they designed it like that. We start backing up to the gate when my EO realizes the weird backward angle he is going have to make to get out of this place. I could see his nerves building as he tried to angle the back end but couldn't get it. One attempt, two attempts, then three attempts, all while i'm snickering at the frustrated EO. He couldn't get it angled correctly because we would have hit the gate trying to swing out and had a median behind us which prevented him from going any further so he pulls way up and straightened out to get his game plan together when I told him that I bet I could do it. My philosophy is that if it came in that way, it sure as hell can go back out, right? Well in his frustration, his door flies open, hands go in the air and he says, "FINE do it then!" He figured he didn't have anything to loose since he already couldn't do it and maybe he could pull off making his officer look stupid too. Little did he know that all my years as an EO were spent at a small station with narrow doors that we had to back into, all while against the traffic of a freeway feeder so backing out of a gate was nothing to me. I get in the ol' drivers seat, throw that bitch in reverse and back up with one hand on the wheel, making one little correction and into the street we go. The look on his face was priceless and of course the first thing he said was "I guess i'll make it in the blog again." The guys in the back were cracking up so I just put it in drive and kept on driving for a while. I will give him this, today he has been printing off blank maps so he could study the territory. And not to mention that despite his non-directional skills, and inability to back out of gates, he goes forward just fine and can pump the hell out of some water.

Chest Pain....It's Always Chest Pain

It was about 2:30 in the morning when we were dispatched to a run for chest pains in one of our hurricane relief government welfare neighborhoods. Nothing exciting ever happens there, just the usual stomach aches and an occasional overdose although we did have a riot a while back. Roughly 200 "gangstas"  fighting in the street. One of the most interesting call we have been on here was when one of my firefighters was punched in the face by a suicidal Asian gang member. He was on all kinds of drugs and sliced himself up pretty good. I remember walking into his house and seeing blood absolutely everywhere. He was upstairs in a tiny bedroom and started getting agitated so we walked him outside and put him on the cub to bandage him up. Once the firefighter started cleaning him off, out of the blue the patient jumps out and punches the firefighter in the face. Luckily a cop was behind the patient so the guy ended up going to jail.

So back to the chest pain, we pull up to her house and realize it is one of our frequent fliers. That's a term we use for people who we transport often, usually for non-emergent reasons. Every time we go to this house, the lady seems absolutely fine even though she says her chest hurts. This particular call was about 2:30 in the morning and she is all dressed up with a little hat on lounged out in a chair when we arrive. Who in the hell calls 911 that late and dresses up? So I ask her if her chest hurts and of course she tells me no, that she just had some small back pain. I realize pretty quick that she just wants us to drive her to the hospital on the taxpayers dime to score some pills. I ended up walking outside so I wouldn't say something stupid to her and  a few  minutes later, here she comes being wheeled out like a princess on the stretcher. He legs are crossed and she just looked comfortable as hell. Once we leave the scene I pulled up her call history on the computer and we had 11 prior incidents to her house, all for chest pain even though still to this day she has no history of heart problems or any actual pain in her chest. Another winning day in the ol' hood.

We had another run our next day on right as our favorite tv show came on. We missed the first showing so we purposely stayed up until midnight to watch it come on again We got all situated and I shit you not as the opening credits start playing, BOOM we get a run for chest pains...go figure. We pull up and knock on the door for a few minutes until a guy wonders out and messes around for almost a minute attempting to get his iron gate open. You would think that he would have all this ready by now. He gets it open and just turns around and walks in without saying a word so we assume to just follow him in. This guy is the patient who goes over and sits on the couch, looks at us and points to his leg and says "why is it shaking"? How the hell are we supposed to know that? I asked him if his chest hurt and he said a little bit but mainly he just felt nervous and wanted to be checked out. I don't know what the hell these people expect us to do for them when we get there.

Today is Black Friday and i'm surprised we haven't been to any fights at Walmart or Target. We actually haven't had anything yet but It's only 10:30 in the morning so we'll see what the next 20 hours bring. Our box did make some kind of bullshit this morning but I don't remember what it was, just heard them bitching about it when they got back to the station. Apparently yesterdays shift was pretty busy throughout most of the night, ending with another roll over fatality from a police chase early this morning before we came in. They said it looked like that scene from Wizard of Oz when the house fell on the witch because the his truck flipped on top of him leaving his feet sticking out. Classic.

Automatic Waste of Time

Automatic fire alarms have been protecting people and annoying firefighters since the late 1890's. A helpful tool when the place is actually on fire but unfortunately they malfunction on a regular basis. There is also the horrible practice of pulling alarms for no reason. We have an apartment complex not far from our station where a group of kids regularly pull the alarms then run off. Not only is it annoying for the residents who have to listen to it all night, but for us as we still have to respond with lights and sirens. I bet those little brats don't know that if we were killed while responding to the false alarm that they would be charged with murder. Not funny anymore is it?


Last week we were sent to that apartment complex to what we assumed was another prank. Come to find out it was a woman's ignorance that decided to call 911 because her smoke detector was intermittently beeping. We get to the door and who else but the Jefferson's open up! (Pre East Side). The apartment was astonishing. There were several mountians of clothes, two 100lb bags of pecans, and "All in the Family" playing on tv.  The lady tried explaining to me how her smoke detector had been going off for the last three days and thought that it was somehow related to her air conditioner or washing machine. I told her that smoke detectors sometimes malfunction and that she should call maintenance to have it looked at. I also told her that there wasn't anything we could do for her unless it was on fire but she kept pointing to the thermostat and saying that maybe something inside here was causing it. I think she thought that the thermostat was the air conditioner by the way she was explaining it. Then she told us that when one detector went off, the others "did beep beep beep". I told her that they are wired together and they all go off at once but I don't think that registered in her head. She told me, "but this one went off then that one went off and they would all go off if this one went off." It's was no use explaining anything anymore. Her other theory was that the upstairs neighbors had possibly burnt food. I asked her if she had smelled or seen any smoke and she said of course she said no. 

The second alarm we made last week was at a party hall around 4:00 in the morning. Not expecting much at that time of night, we pulled up to a packed crowd partying the night away. It was some sort of African dance party with hundreds of people. Someone had pulled an alarm in the back room so we reset the system until we found out that some idiot pulled every single alarm in the building. Each and every one of them had to be reset. On our way out, we were stalked by an old drunk man who was telling us how good the food was. About a month prior, we had an automatic alarm in the same building. But this time intead of an African party, it was a  quinceanera. Thankfully that time, it was only one pull station by the restroom. We got the box reset so  myself and one of the firefighters went to figure out the main alarm panel while my Engineer and the other firefighter stayed behind to, I guess make sure no one else pulled the alarm. The alarm was a bitch to reset with trouble codes popping up so I ended up calling the alarm company to figure this out. I wouldn't normally call the alarm company but I didn't want to go back out there again, and not to mention that there were a crap load of people and if a fire really did break out, then they would need an alarm to let them know. We finally get everything reset and come back to find out that the hottest woman at the party (I think someone who worked there) came over to the two pull station guardians and brought them each a big ass piece of cake. So the two of us that were actually working got jack squat. Their excuse? Too busy "monitoring the pull station" or by that I mean watching the ass coming in and out of the restroom to remember to get us any cake. So we leave, half cakeless and go back to the station with stupid confetti and paper streamers stuck to our shoes. 

Tis the Season

The end of the year is approaching which means that we will see an increase in structure fires. The increase mostly comes from a mixture of the holidays and cooler weather but arson is also popular as the end of the year approaches. Lets not rule out human error which of course is prevalent at any time. We have already seen an increase with a few descent fires over the last couple weeks, including what I can say was the most boring fire of my career.

The call came in around 3 o'clock in the morning and we were the last engine company to arrive after a several minute trip down the freeway. I think the firefighters in back were asleep for part of the trip until we made our way on top of an over pass and I told them to look at the orange glow filling the sky. Over the radio, we could hear the first units arrive and report heavy fire from a 2 story and immediately went into defensive mode which means that the fire was too big and not safe for them to enter the structure. Defensive fires are usually a long drawn out process and I just knew that this would be the start of a very long night. Once we arrived, command had us man a 2-1/2" hose on the "delta side" (Right side of the house) which we did for about 30 minutes until most of the fire on our side was out.

They raised the aerial ladder and flooded the house from above so we went back to the front and waited for another 30 minutes where we started getting bored until command came up and told us we could go. It was great to hear those words and we got out of there as fast as we could. This house was empty and intentionally set. At that time of night, most people are asleep so the fire burned for a good while until it was noticed.

About a week before, we had a pretty good one early in the afternoon. We were the second engine to arrive and helped the ladder company set up to ventilate the roof, then went inside to help another engine company work on the fire until command misunderstood some radio traffic and pulled everyone out of the house. This included the roof team right as they were about to cut their hole which would have helped even though the fire was knocked down pretty fast once everyone was let back inside. The man living in the house said that he was cooking and fell asleep on the couch. When he woke up, his kitchen was on fire which had already made it's way into the attic by the time we arrived. The fire was contained to the kitchen and attic but the rest of the house had some pretty heavy smoke damage. Looking at the pictures below, you can see just how bad smoke and heat can damage a structure.

This water heater came down a few feet from my crew, making a loud crashing noise. At the time, I didn't know what it was but everyone was alright so we went on our way. A while later we found this which could have been deadly had a firefighter been standing underneath.

 

Here is a view from the side of the house and the only exterior damage. The kitchen where the fire started was on this side and you can see how it traveled up to the attic. The entire roof remained intact which is pretty good considering the amount of fire that was in there.