Rode in the Truck During the Parade

Had an interesting day yesterday here in Ok Falls. I was called at 9 AM Saturday morning from Caption Rick, "Do you want to ride in the fire truck in the parade this morning?" I replied that I thought I was suppose to go over and help setup the booth for the festival. His reply was "Yes, but I thought you might like to do something different." I said absolutely! and off I went to the parade.

It was sooooo cool! LOL Friends took pictures and Shaw was there filming the parade along with a couple newspaper reports. Not sure if I'll get a picture but if I do, I'll share. I think the funniest part was hearing the occasional person say "That's a female fire fighter!" ha ha ha Plenty of clapping and waving. One little girl said she wanted to be a fire fighter and her dad said she should be, pointed at me and told her that I was a good roll model. I sure blushed but I'm greatful that the community has welcomed me as part of the fire hall team so easily and readily. The hard work is worth knowing that I'm doing some good.

Then last night as I was just crawling into bed around 9 I got a page to an emergancy response in the park. Changed, ran back over to the hall and while we were taking care of one person we got paged for another emergency across the road at the hotel/pub.

I laughed at the second lead in the first responder, he said after we'd been there 10 minutes "I was hoping for more than just a blackout. I wanted something exciting for you too see. Blood, broken bones, something. This is too easy." Ha ha ha I told him to go gentle on me, as this was my first emergency responder event. The second one was a bit more exciting. Another member and I had to go get the ambulance stretcher and I learned how to unload it, lock, carry and all that good stuff:)

All in all, it was pretty exciting hour and the rest of the night was very quiet. This morning I'm to report to the station at 9 for debriefing, clean up and sign off on the task.

Let Sunday begin! I could use some fun this weekend and lots of love.

Working the Hose and Learning the Ropes

Wednesday firehall practice ran late tonight. Did I mind 3 hours of practice? Nope! I got to run the 1 1/2inch water hose and the foam hose. Then we went to a 2inch water hose...holy cow there's a lot of pressure coming in that half inch difference. We had a team of 2 on the smaller one but it took 3 of us on the bigger one. It was really cool! 

Then the hard part, we had to hang the lines up the tower. Remember the 75 foot one I told you I took my test in? Climbing that ladder system in fire gear w/o tanks is much easier:) Try hauling 9 hoses up there and hanging them with a rope and pully system, three at a time. Great upper body work out. I'm going to feel it tomorrow for sure...lol MIke and I were at the top hauling the hoses up to hang while Kris and Chris were at the bottom tying them on for hauling up.

I'm on standby this weekend as well as helping out with our booth at Western Days in OK Falls! It starts at 11 on Saturday. Who's coming!?!

We are also in the parade too:) Bring your cameras...lol I'll be the one in the OK Falls VFD tee shirt and jeans... ha ha ha can't man the booth and be in the parade, they start at the same time.

Ok that's it for this weeks blog from the fire fighter recruit. Until next week. Stay fit and have fun...oh wait, that's an ad... well, have fun anyways!

Learning to be One of Guys

Second fire practice/meeting tonight for me:) I had a written test too. Aced it! Of course...But then History was always my best subject...lol

The best part of tonight was being able to put on my fire gear and go for a ride in the truck...ok, so we went around the block then back to the firehall. One of the guys was getting tested on hooking up to the fire-hydrant tonight and I got to watch, my instructor walked me through the how, why and when of it. My test coming later in the month. ha ha ha No actually it is... have to remember - 28...sorry...got sidetracked... where was I? Oh yes, then we went over to ladder truck while a guy was being tested on the process for that. Again, my test on ladder procedure after hydrant test, October maybe? Yes, I'm on a schedule of nothing but learning and testings. Got a lot of ground to cover in 2 months. Hee hee I do get to go out on the calls if I'm home, as an observer, I don't participate yet, until I pass my tests...2 to 3 months before I get hands on. But safety is always a priority.

This is my story of being a new recruit. How is it so far? "It's all in fun until someone loses an eye." Oh sorry, shouldn't use quotes like that in my story...lol

The guys are all really warm, friendly and inviting about having a female on their team. One of the guys tonight, said "Now that you've joined maybe you can convince a few more females to join. Not just here but all Fire Halls need to see more females come out and do what you're brave enough to do." So I'm putting this out there for all you ladies. If you're looking for a way to get more involved in your community, stay fit, have fun and be an inspiration for your kids, come out and join the Fire Department in your area.

Even if you apply and don't get in, you'll never be the same. It's a stretch out of the comfort zone for women, but what an amazing feeling to know you can be a part of something like this. I feel more alive then I have in a very long time and excited about my life and future.

Well, that's it for tonight, folks. Good night and I'll be around again.

Fire Practice Entry Test. I'm Now on the Crew!

Good morning, Happy Wednesday! After an hour and a half at the fire hall last night, I got home unable to sleep...not a good thing when you have to work the next day. LOL However, it's all good. I had a fabulous time meeting the guys. They asked me questions, I answered, I asked, they answered...

Then the fun part came... I got to put on my new gear and test it out! Weeeeeeee I actually had to do a physical test while wearing the fire gear! That stuff is heavy but not near as heavy as I had been lead to believe. Nice! What an adrenaline rush!!

No pictures this time, sorry, I was just focused on getting through the test. Which I past with flying colors apparently:) and I'm going to my first official practice tonight! I'll see about pictures soon.

Well, Beef Veggie soup is in the slow cooker and my breaky of muffins and eggs is ready. I will catch you all later!