Day 17 - In Los Angeles

Tuesday, February 19th

I forgot to report yesterday that Compton had a spectacular early morning fire in a supermarket around 0500 hours. KTLA had spectacular helicopter coverage of the fire as flames shot through the roof. I awoke briefly during some of the radio traffic and quickly dosed off again. I missed the live coverage on the KTLA Morning News, as I didn’t get up until 0700 hours. I did see their video coverage on the KTLA 10pm news last night.

Last evening around 2100 hours LA City had a working fire at 10321 S. Broadway. I never heard the assignment, as the radio was very busy at the time. Engine 64 reported fire showing from one unit of an apartment building. Companies quickly knocked down the fire, but were on the scene overhauling for well over an hour.

Shortly after that, LA County had a good working fire in the Malibu area at 3170 some street. Engine 99 arrived to report fire and smoke showing and requested 71’s to supply them with a line. When the KTLA 10pm news came on, they had live helicopter coverage from over that fire in a very large beachfront home. There was still light colored smoke showing from the building.

I awoke around 0430 hours to an LA City dispatch to 7th Street and Vermont. Sent were E13, TF11, TF29, E6, RA811 and Bn 11. Dispatchers gave a few updates from additional callers while companies were enroute- the address was actually 3068 W 7th Street. Companies arrived to find fire showing from a four-story vacant apartment building that had been the scene of a previous “major emergency”. They were assigned frequency TAC 13. Someone was shouting, “load the line” more than a few times as companies began attacking the fire. Battalion 11 requested two additional task forces, two engines and a rescue ambulance to the scene and additional TAC channel. Responding on the greater alarm were TF26, TF20, E15, E52, TF10, E52, RA11, Squad 4, Bn 3 and Div 2. The additional TAC channel was 14. The fire was reported knocked down at 0457 hours. Companies were still overhauling at shift change time.

I also heard companies in the Verdugo Dispatch group (Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena) talking about change of quarter’s companies and referrals to the “Valhalla I/C.” Around 0330 hours Burbank had an extra alarm fire in a commercial building at 3200 Valhalla, near the Burbank airport. KTLA Morning News just showed video of the fire with flames shooting through the roof of a one-story brick commercial building. Companies in both Glendale and Pasadena filled in at Burbank stations.

There was a nice story in the LA Times today about old LA City Station 28, which is now a restaurant. The restaurant is at 644 S Figueroa Street in downtown LA and still has the brass fire poles and red brick floor.

I headed out the door this morning with no planned itinerary. I stopped by Arcadias Station 1, only a mile or so from me. Yesterday I had seen a new Arcadia KME engine on the street near the motel. Sure enough, there was one of two new KME engines parked out back. The department is still outfitting the rigs. The first will be in service in two weeks, the other a month or so after. This will probably end the department’s long line of Mack apparatus. There are two spare Mack’s left on the roster and they will be sold once the new KME’s go into service. At one time Arcadia was all-Mack. Alhambra, a nearby suburb, was also all-Mack when they went out of business.

I headed down to Las Tunas, a good street to head into town, as there are a number of stations near it. I went by LA County 47 in Temple City, San Gabriel Station 52 and stopped at Alhambra Station 1 (71) to see if they had received their Quantum aerial yet. I drove up to see Engine 73’s Quantum parked out front. I noticed that the new aerial was in service. A firefighter that I had met here last year pulled the rig out so I could get photos. I told the firefighter that there might be some firefighters visiting from other cities that had I told of their fire slide (rather than fire pole). He laughed and noted that the slide is much easier on firefighters knees. Alhambra is bidding out another Quantum engine in the near future.

Then I headed into South Pasadena, a town of about four square miles with one station and about eight firefighters on duty each shift. I had not been here in quite a few years and wondered what they had for apparatus (last time I was here they were running with an Ottawa Beck pumper). They now run with a 1998 Pierce equipped with a Tele-Squrt. I got a picture of their air-utility rig as it pulled out of quarters. They run two men on the medic, three on the pumper and two on the air-utility, with a battalion chief also on duty. South Pasadena depends on automatic aid and mutual aid. Los Angeles and Pasadena now run in with them on a first alarm basis, depending on the location. They have worked closely with Alhambra, San Marino and San Gabriel for years.

I drove into Los Angeles City, driving by Station 12 (the ladder returned just as I was about a block away). They had moved up on a working fire around 0945 hours in the 3600 block of Valleybrink Road in Engine 56’s first-due area. I was out of the car at the Arcadia Station and missed most of the traffic but I know E56, TF35, TF50, E55 were all at the fire. It sounded like Bn 2 had ordered more companies as he cancelled Bn 7 and a few other companies. There must have been a lot of smoke as OCD send an additional assignment to reports of smoke in Bn 7’s area. It turned out to be smoke from the Valleybrink fire.

A little later, Battalion 18 had a working fire at 1914 Martin Luther King Drive. Engine 34, RA34, TF66 and TF94 were at that fire which was in the attic on a one-story addition to a two-story dwelling. The fire sounded rather minor, but companies had a hard time getting to it.

While all of this was going on, I had gone by LA City Station 1, the LA City FD shops (absolutely nothing there to photograph) and was near downtown. I missed Station 3, (traffic was backed up in that area for some reason) and headed by Station 20. I also went by Station 35 before heading in Hollyweird Boulevard. I always enjoy seeing all the tourists, street people and weirdo’s that haunt the boulevard. It was jam packed today, especially by the new Kodak Theater. There were a couple news crews at the theater also with their news van antennas up probably doing some live on-scene shots for the noon news.

I headed by LA City 27’s and then went out Santa Monica Boulevard past LA County Stations 8 (they all pulled out of the station just as I pulled up and headed somewhere with no lights or sirens) and Station 7. Not much activity was taking place at any of the houses I went by.

LA City had another working fire around 1235 hours at 61st and S Hoover. Rescue 57 was first on the scene of a 2-story apartment’s over commercial with fire showing from one of the units. Responding were TF33, E57, E46, E21, LF66 and Bn 13. The fire was knocked down in about 15 minutes.

While it was a fairly clear day, there was slight haze hanging in the valleys. I headed up Laurel Canyon Boulevard to Mulholland Drive. Laurel Canyon Boulevard is a very steep, narrow, winding road that climbs through the Hollywood Hills. I got to the top of Mulholland and was disappointed to see that the views were not real clear into the valleys on either side. I took a number of photos and some video anyway as I drove east toward the Hollywood Bowl and the 101 Freeway.

It is amazing to see them still building homes on sites in the hills that you would never ever believe would hold a building of any kind. These are not cheap homes by any means. I’m sure there is not one new one near Mulholland Drive going up for less than $1 or $2 million and up. One home they were building was on a small ridge off of Mulholland Drive. They were constructing a driveway (actually a bridge) to the garage out of huge I-beams like those used in freeways. It looked really weird! There are a lot of people out here with a great deal of money to waste.

I went past LA City 27’s again when I came off the hill. I decided to do some shopping before I headed north tomorrow. I also needed a haircut very badly. I headed back to the Arcadia area and went to the Santa Anita Fashion Mall (just on the other side of the race track from the motel). I got the supplies I needed and got a much-needed haircut. I came out of there with a new hairdo that I’m not really sure I like or not. Time will tell.

I got back to the unit around 1700 hours and am working on programming the trunktracker for the new San Francisco trunked system. I sure hope it works. I’ll know tomorrow afternoon when I get up into that area. The following day I will arrive at my brothers in Cloverdale- about 100 miles north of Frisco.

Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 18 - Los Angeles to San Jose/San Fran Area

Wednesday, February 20th

There were no overnight fires to report. I left Arcadia around 0730 hours and ran into a little rush hour traffic on the 210 Freeway going through Pasadena. Otherwise, traffic moved along nicely heading around the LA area on the way north. I’m sure glad I wasn’t going into town on the southbound I-5. It was backed up (a virtual parking lot) all the way from the I-405/I-5 split to Magic Mountain. I pity those people who must travel that route every day to get to work.

It was around 60 when I left, but by the time I’d climbed to 4,100 feet near Gorman (NW Los Angeles County), the temperature had dropped to 50. I took a few pictures up in the mountains near Gorman. It had been sunny in Arcadia when I departed and became cloudier as I reached higher elevations. When you get past Lebec, the steep downhill starts and lasts for about six miles through the Grapevine Pass, until you end up on the valley floor near Wheeler Ridge (in Kern County).

It started out overcast coming through Wheeler Ridge, then cleared up about 50 miles north. By the time I’d reached the turnoff onto Highway 152 (shortcut to San Jose) the sun was shining brightly. I took a number of photos along this very scenic route- it is just gorgeous. The road winds through majestic green hills with grandiose glistening lakes. I certainly prefer this route to taking the crowded 580 Freeway into the area (although, it too is beautiful until you get near Livermore).

If you travel the 580 route, you must cross the bay over one of the toll bridges (usually with backups) to get to the San Francisco/San Jose side. The only drawback to the Highway 152 route is that it eventually goes down to one lane through some very steep hills and wooded ravines for about 13 miles with no passing lines along that section of road. If you get stuck behind a slow truck, it can be an awfully long 13 miles.

I whizzed through the 13-mile no-pass zone with little trouble and found my way to the 101 Freeway, which goes directly into San Jose. I didn’t get off in San Jose, but continued up to Mountain View, where I often stay. I just love that area around Palo Alto and Mountain View. There area is just beautiful with gorgeous homes, tree-lined streets and nice shopping areas.

One drawback to this area is costs- big, big bucks. Everything here is very expensive, especially the food in grocery stores. I stopped at a nearby Safeway store and almost passed out from sticker shock. I thought they might have to call the paramedics. Not really- but food here is very high priced. The motel here is not cheap either! I did find a couple reasonable gas stations charging $1.149 for unleaded- not too bad. Most other stations were posted around $1.349 for unleaded.

I checked into the motel, ate a very expensive snack and headed towards the San Francisco area to see if the trunktracker worked (as I was not picking anything up in Mountain View). As I drove north on the drag strip (Highway 101) I kept hoping I’d hear something. I spent over an hour programming the frequencies and info into the scanner last night. Luckily, somebody in the LA area must use at least a few of the San Francisco trunked frequencies as it began scanning and stopped on a frequency and then I was able to program the five digit user group numbers and their usages (for example: “SF BN 3 TAC”) for Frisco.

I kept driving further north and nothing was coming from the trunktracker. Finally, just as I sped by the SF International Airport I heard a call. It works! I was elated. I thought, as long as I was this close, I may as well do a little buffing in San Fran. It was fairly quiet. I drove by the training area at Station 7 and there were no companies there for school. There were more than a few boxes pulled while I was there. They still send one and one on every pulled box. I saw a couple rigs from a distance responding to boxes nearby.

At least I knew the trunktracker WAS working. I lost the signal again after I went past SF International. They must have a very poor antenna location or something. We were 30 miles north of San Diego and still heard the SD trunked traffic through all those hills between Carlsbad and San Diego. In Galveston, we were 40 miles away from Houston and still picked up their 400 Mhz transmissions.

I didn’t take one fire truck photo today, although twice I missed opportunities along the road. Kern County has a station just north of Gorman along I-5. One of their white pumpers with blue stripes was sitting out front. By the time I got the camera out it was too late. When I was traveling along Highway 152, there was a Type 3 pumper parked near the roadway and again I was too slow with the camera.

Tomorrow morning I will check out a few stations on the way up to visit my brother in Cloverdale. Maybe I can catch a San Francisco rig or two out and about as I pass through town.

I am monitoring the entire area other than San Francisco (too far) and Oakland (also trunked, but I’ve never seen any info on their system). San Jose is busy, but mostly with medicals (like everybody else). San Mateo County is also fairly busy. If you haven’t checked them out on the Firehouse web site, go to "Live Dispatch" and click on “Fire dispatch.com” a very interesting live-CAD type sight with links to live broadcasts of their radio channels. Also, there is a “log” which shows all county fire incidents for a 24-hour period.

Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 19 - In San Francisco Area

Thursday, February 21st

I didn’t hear anything overnight other than hundreds of medical calls. You get to hear them all twice as area departments give the pre-alert message and then re-play the same information to responding units. San Francisco had an overnight fire that was shown briefly on the morning news here. I don’t think it was a multiple alarm. While I was showering, Mountain View had a working kitchen fire near the Sunnyvale border. I heard some talk about the fire when I got out of the shower, but didn’t find out where it was until later, when I visited MV Station 3.

It was very overcast and foggy in many areas when I got up this morning. I checked out of the motel around 0800 hours and wanted to see Mountain Views new Station 5. I headed by MV Station 3 to get directions to the new house. It’s good I did, as I would never have been able to find it on my own (it is behind a tall concrete wall along in a new section of town). The station is only temporary utilizing a pole barn and two mobile homes. The address is 2195 N Shoreline Boulevard and will open in a couple weeks or so.

Then I hopped on the Central States Parkway and headed into Sunnyvale to see if they had received their new ALF/LTI rear-mount aerials. I stopped at Station 2 to find Ladder 2 with their new rig. Ladder 1 also has the identical rig. In 2001, Sunnyvale bought the two aerials and two additional ALF pumpers (they now have four- the first built by Becker). When they receive two more this year, all six first-line engines and both trucks will by new ALF’s. They also have an ALF Haz Mat rig on order to replace one of the huge International squad rigs. They pulled the new ladder truck out so I could get photos.

I headed towards new Station 77 in the Menlo Park area that opened a couple years ago. I had never seen the station, which was added to cut response times in the area east of Hwy 101. I got on the autobaun (Hwy 101) and headed north. I found the new station, which also combines the FD shops and storage for other department vehicles. I also got photos one of their two new Pierce Sabers. I also drove past nearby MP Stations 1 and 6 (nobody around). The Menlo Park/Atherton FPD has two more Pierce Sabers on order.

I got back on the autobaun and headed towards San Francisco. The San Franciscso turnktracker started working near Burlingame. When I got near Candlestick Park the fog got so bad you could barely see four vehicles ahead of you. There were a more than a couple damaged vehicles on the shoulder from recent accidents in that area.

I went by a number of SFFD Stations and got many station shots and more than a few rig photos. Engine 2 was at the shops doing some hose testing, but they were parked in a bad area for any photos. I headed down Market Street to see all the old PC cars that had been bought and renewed for service here by the transit authority. You can now find many old streetcars from all over the USA that previously served other major cities.

When I was pulling up to Station 5, I heard the truck dispatched to a pulled street box. I pulled over to get some shots of their rig parked out in the median strip on the street as the firefighters came running out of the station. I ran into a Battalion Chief and his driver that were just leaving the station. I decided to hit a few more houses before heading up Highway 101 to visit my brother in Cloverdale. It was so nice out I hated to leave San Francisco.

I then headed by SFFD Station 38 and ran into the same battalion chief and driver. Ladder 13 was parked in one of the bays. Station 13 is being remodeled and they are running from 38’s until the remodeling is finished. Next stop was SFFD Station 10, where I ran into the same Battalion Chief and his driver. They asked if I was following them and then both laughed. I introduced myself and we talked a few minutes before they headed on. Both Engine 10 and Ladder 10 were parked out front and I got their photos.

I headed to SFFD Station 31 and you’ll never guess whom I ran into- the first tow guesses don’t count. I got a station photo there. The sun had come out around 11am and it was just gorgeous out. It was now noon and the temperature had reached 65 as I headed north over the Golden Gate Bridge on Highway 101.

I stopped in San Rafael to get gas. I went by their headquarters station and saw a yellow Seagrave engine in the apparatus bay. Many other times I’ve caught other rigs parked across the street. I had to drive through town to find low gas prices. Everything near downtown was $1.499 for unleaded. On the west edge of town I ran across a station charging $1.059/gallon and filled up. When I pulled out of the station I realized I was near the Ross Valley Fire Station. It was only a few blocks away. I caught their engine out and got photos.

Then I headed back to Highway 101- and temporarily got lost. I finally figured out where I was and found Highway 101 and headed the rest of the way up to Cloverdale. Freeway drivers out here are nuts. Nobody drives in the right lane. Everybody uses the left lane only. You may see a couple slow vehicles in the right lane, but there will be another 20 vehicles in the left lane. When they pass the slow moving vehicles, nobody pulls back into the right lane- they just stay in the left lane. It is very frustrating to be behind 20 vehicles in the left lane doing less than the posted speed limit. It was that way for almost 50 miles up Highway 101.

I arrived in Cloverdale around 1400 hours and found my brothers place. It is just a beautiful area. Ron and Jon have about an acre of land a couple blocks off the freeway, right next to Cloverdale’s main drag (Cloverdale Boulevard). It wasn’t long after I’d unloaded the car and was sitting out front talking to my brother Ron and his best friend Jon Russo that we heard sirens nearby. Two Cloverdale rigs went speeding by with lights and sirens and turned about a half block south of us. I ran down there with cameras in hand and got photos of two of their pumpers on a medical run. One of the Cloverdale rigs was being operating by a CDF crew (I was told Cloverdale pays them to do so during winter months).

This evening Ron, Jon and I went out to dinner to celebrate Jons 51st birthday. We ate at a very trendy Bar-B-Que restaurant in Geyersville, a small town nine miles south of Cloverdale. When we returned we saw one of the Cloverdale engines drive by, probably returning from a run.

I will not be doing a lot of buffing for the next five days or so, as I will be visiting with my brother in Cloverdale. I’m not even sure what I can monitor up here as we are pretty well surrounded by very tall hills. It is an absolutely gorgeous area, surrounded by hills covered with pine trees. The area reminds me a little of northern Minnesota. Just south of town are two very large vineyards where some of the USA’s finest grapes are grown.

That’s all for today. Take care,

Your roving reporter

Day 20 - In San Francisco Area

Friday, February 22nd

I awoke to see a strange looking layer of fog that lay midway up along the banks of the steep pine-tree covered hillside just west of Cloverdale. There was no fog at the top or bottom of the hill, but the middle third was covered with a layer of dense fog. Jon said it often happens in the hills here. I should have taken a photo, as it looked so different.

My brother Ron had to go into work this morning as they had a lot of work to do to prepare for an Al Jerreau concert this evening at the Luther Burbank Center. Ron and his staff had to prepare a pre-show dinner; prepare light meals, salads and deserts for sale in the lobby area before the performance; and have plenty of food, beverages and deserts available during the intermission. They also had to prepare catered meals for Al Jerreau and his entourage.

Jon and I headed into the Santa Rosa area so I could get the car greased and oiled (I’ve already put 4000 miles on it this trip) and so I could help Jon pick up a digital camera. We had lunch while we were in town (some thirty miles south of Cloverdale). The weather was a little milder today with a high of about 70.

On the way back we stopped at the Chateau Souverain Winery alongside the 101 freeway near Geyersville. They had a beautiful building built on the side of a hill covered with grape orchards. I took a few pictures (although they didn’t really show the beauty of the place).

Just before we got back to Cloverdale, we stopped at the California Division of Forestry (CDF) fire station, which is on the south side of town. I met a few firefighters that I’d talked to briefly yesterday on the medical run nearby medical run. They work a 72-hour on, 96 hour off schedule. They have their own Type 1 pumper (which was in the shops), a Type 3 pumper and also run with a Cloverdale pumper in the winter months. They also have a number of smaller brush trucks stationed there.

Then, late this afternoon it got very windy here as a front blew in from the ocean bringing a little rain with it. The winds howled for some time and then calmed down just as the rain began trickling. There was very little accumulation in Cloverdale.

This evening we went to the Luther Burbank Center to partake of the pre-show dinner and look at the arrangements for this evening’s performance. We had a very enjoyable dinner and met some very interesting concertgoers at our table. The staff and food were wonderful (my compliments to the chef- my brother) and the place was packed with patrons.

They have done a lot of work remodeling the Luther Burbank Center and it really is impressive to see the changes since the last time I visited. My brother has been given a lot more responsibilities as he has recently taken on the additional duties of the former concessionaire. It’s a lot more work, but also more money- and we all need more of that.

This evening I sat down and attempted to start laying out the next Extra Alarmer newsletter on Adobe Pagemaker. I’m afraid it will take me a while to get used to doing the entire newsletter electronically. Thanks to Dave Freedman, the job will become much easier than the old cut and past layout system and taking it to our old friends at “Fast Print” to be reduced and printed. This issue may be just a little late, as I will have to get acclimated to the new program.

My brother has this weekend off, so I expect to be seeing a little more of the area. I should have some interesting photos of the very picturesque wine country in the next few days. I may also have time to do a little buffing.

I am monitoring Sonoma County Dispatch and TAC channels and Colverdale and Geyersville FD’s. I am able to pick up the Santa Rosa FD (30 miles south) in certain places, but the hills block out the signal in some areas. I’m also monitoring the CDF (California Division of Forestry). I haven't heard anything other than a few medical calls up here so far.

I checked the weather back home today. It looks like it is cooling off some in the Twin Cities. That means that I may be able to get my whole vacation in before having to return to work.

That’s all for today. Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 21 - In San Francisco Area

Saturday, February 23rd

It was sprinkling and foggy when we got up this morning. Not much rain had fallen, but the hills were covered with layers of fog. It started to clear up around mid-morning and then the clouds rolled in again and it started sprinkling again. Ron and I headed up to the Town of Ukiah, about 30 miles north of Cloverdale. There was fog hanging near the top of all the hills and it drizzled off and on while we were driving.

When we arrived in Ukiah the rain stopped. It is a beautiful area with many homes built on the side of the mountain above town. Ukiah has a single fire station with four to six paid firefighters on duty at all times. When we found fire headquarters they were hosting a large Mendicino County volunteer firefighter class that visits various county stations for training each weekend. The volunteers were raising ground ladders to the tower and were climbing Ukiah’s 75-foot rear-mount aerial ladder. I wasn’t able to get any rig pictures (other than the aerial) as all the firefighters were involved in the training exercises.

We ate lunch at a Round Table Pizza restaurant in downtown Ukiah and then did some shopping before heading back to Cloverdale. The town seemed to have an over-abundant population of hillbillies, rednecks and bikers. Ron and I both felt like we were in strange company while we were in Ukiah.

Until not too many years ago this area was almost solely devoted to farming. In the last ten or so years the fields and hills have become covered with vineyards. There are now hundreds of Wineries in this area (200 in Sonoma County and rising and over 300 in Napa County and still rising). Many of the wineries have built very elaborate restaurants and wine-tasting chateaus in the area hills.

It started to clear up again on the way back to Cloverdale and I took a number of pictures of the fog covered hills and mountains along Highway 101 and the Russian River. Ron got a little upset with me when I asked him to pull over so I could jump (more like roll) over the center concrete divider to get a nice photo along the Russian River on the other side of the highway. I made it back to the car without incident.

We stopped at the Cloverdale Fire Department on the way back through town. I met the fire chief and took some photos of a few of their rigs. At one time, the department used chrome yellow rigs, but the most recent purchases have been fire department red. They also own a 1929 American LaFrance pumper that served the City of Cloverdale for many years. It is in excellent condition.

The city closed the street on the west side of the station, so the apparatus has to turn east to go on every run. There is a bond issue on the April elections here to build a new station within a block of my brothers on Cloverdale Boulevard. The new station would not be in service until late 2003. We also did some grocery shopping before returning home. I was absolutely astonished at the high prices of food in the area. I don’t think I could afford to live here.

It cleared up late this afternoon and the sun shined brightly before dropping below the hills west of the valley. It was only about 60 here today, but should warm up in the next few days. Monday they say it will be in the mid-70s and sunny.

Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 22 - In San Francisco Area

Sunday, February 24th

It turned out to be a gorgeous day Sunday here in Cloverdale. The sun was shining brightly and the temperature got up into the low 70s in the area. I spent the entire day here at my brother’s home in Cloverdale.

I worked on our clubs newsletter, the Extra Alarmer, for a while in the morning before spending most of the afternoon outdoors enjoying the great weather. Ron and Jon worked part of the day on their very large collection of outdoor plants as we kept checking the score of the Olympic Hockey game on TV. Ron and I spent much of the time reminiscing our childhood days growing up in Minneapolis.

In the evening, I worked on the newsletter some more (I’ve got a lot left to do) as we watched the Olympic Winter Games Closing Ceremonies. The fire radio was extremely quiet the whole time I was here. The weekly paper here, the “Cloverdale Reveille,” lists the weekly police and fire calls in it. Last weeks “Fire Log” listed 12 calls for the CFD. The calls read as such- “2/11/02: Smoke check. Subject burning illegal materials on a no burn day.”

The police calls are a real hoot: “Tuesday, Feb, 12, 2002 12:03 pm. Cherry Creek Rd. woman reports that road construction workers using loud profanity. Officer reports all quiet on his arrival and departure.” “Thursday, Feb. 14, 2002, 2:27pm. Report of someone illegally filling a dumpster at local church. Officer reports unable to locate suspect but will conduct extra patrol.”

Today I am sending a few pictures from scenic Highway 101 that I took yesterday when we traveled to Ukiah, along with a few other fire rigs from this area. Tomorrow I will be heading into the San Francisco area in the afternoon and staying somewhere south of the city. I hope to be able to find a location where I will be able to monitor the SFFD trunked radio broadcasts. I will be spending a couple days in San Francisco/San Jose area before heading back down to the Los Angeles area.

Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 23 - In San Francisco Area

Monday, February 25th

I spent an enjoyable morning in Cloverdale with my brother before he had to head into work in the early afternoon. I left around noon and started back the journey back. I headed into the San Francisco area for the night. It was another gorgeous day, sunny and in the mid 70s. The drive down Highway 101 was the same as on the way up- almost nobody drove in the right lane, and almost everybody drove in the left land all the way into San Francisco.

I wish I had time to find some spots around Sausalito to take some photos. The view from Highway 101 down into the town and bay are truly breathtaking. I crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge around 1330 hours and took a leisurely drive through Golden Gate Park. The park was packed with people on this perfect day.

I went by SFFD Stations 21, 6 and 7 and didn’t see any activity. There were no rigs training at the Fire Academy at Station 7. I headed to the shops and spoke with Michael, the FD Shop Foreman and got an up-to-date roster of apparatus. There are three smaller engines on order to fit into stations that can’t accommodate the Spartan Gladiator chassis rigs. The rigs will be built by Ferrara on short wheelbase HME chassis. One of the new rigs will go to Engine 32 for sure as they are still using one of the 1986 3-D’s on the short wheelbase Kenworth chassis.

There is talk of also buying another ladder truck and a new rescue squad, but no one knows for sure if the funds are there or not. The shops have already completed the specifications for the squad. In the last year the department has placed three more Spartan/3D engines and a Spartan/LTI tractor-trailer ladder truck into service.

There were not many rigs at the shop as I stopped in late afternoon. I headed into the Daly City area to try and find a motel where I could still monitor San Francisco. I went by Daly City Station 92 and then ran into Ladder 95 at a shopping strip mall nearby. I checked out the motels in the area and found that I wasn’t able to receive the SFFD trunked broadcasts. I gave up in that area and headed across to the South San Francisco area where I had been able to pick them up once before.

I checked out quite a few motels and ended up at a new Motel 6 about a block from South San Francisco Station 62. It is a newer acquisition, remodeled by Motel 6 and the rate was better than many others in the area. I figured I’d be able to monitor the SFFD here. I was wrong. On very few occasions have I heard squelch being broke in my motel room.

The SFFD signal must be extremely weak to not carry into the next suburb. I even tried rigging an antenna with an old UHF antenna I had in my trunk. It didn’t do any good. I’m disappointed, but at least I’ve found another place to stay that is closer to the city. Maybe if I had a room on the third floor I’d be able to hear the SFFD, I may check that out tomorrow.

San Jose is coming in loud and clear all the way up here. They have been fairly quiet this evening. I’m staying in a very industrial area north of the SF International Airport, near the bay. There are a number of newer businesses in the area and a fair number of motels. I saw Quint 62 on a run as I was checking into the motel. They have a new rig since I was here last,

Tomorrow I will hit some South San Francisco stations and then head into the city. I will probably spend the night here again tomorrow, but perhaps on the 3rd floor. I’ll try the scanner up there tomorrow morning and see if it works.

Take Care.

Your roving reporter

Day 24 - In San Francisco Area

Tuesday, February 26th

I decided it was worth a try to switch to a third floor room and see if the reception was any better. It took some time to get the rooms changed around and to move all my crap. Luckily they have an elevator and a couple of those carts for moving baggage. It was supposed to be cloudy with only a high of 66 here today. It turned out to be sunny and 74 degrees- very nice.

After the room change was completed I went by South San Francisco Stations 62 (empty) and 61 (also empty). I got on the autobahn (Highway 101) and headed into San Francisco. I went by Stations 7 (nobody training), 6, 11, 15 and 19. I couldn’t scare a rig out onto the street. It was very dead in San Francisco. I heard a couple of medicals and that’s about all. I decided to head into Daly City.

It has been a few years since I’ve been to any of Daly City’s stations. I stopped at Station 91 and got a picture of their new engine. Daly City has two fairly new Spartan/Smeal engines, with a third on order. They are running with three men on most of their companies. A firefighter told me that I had come on one of the nicest days of the year. Daly City gets fogged in more than any other city in this area. The city sets on a slope going down towards the ocean and the fog hangs down below the hills on the cities east end.

I was told that Engine 65 in South San Francisco had also received a quint (along with Engine 62, near my motel). I headed to their fairly new station in a gorgeous new development of large homes built on the hills of northern South San Francisco. The new homes in this development are quite nice in size and run from $880,000 on up. A firefighter pulled the rig out so I could get a picture of Engine 65’s quint. Firefighters told me Engine 62 should be in their quarters, so I headed there next.

I arrived at Station 62 and was met by a very friendly firefighter who pulled the rig out before I even asked. They have a 75-foot tandem, axel rear-steering quint built by LTI. I got photos of that and headed down the autobahn into San Bruno. The SBFD has a new E One pumper and tractor-trailer aerial (they say the western-most E One aerial in the country). I found the station empty. I decided to get lunch and come back.

When I got back they were still gone. I stopped into the office and asked where the companies were. Nobody knew for sure where the companies had headed. One paramedic thought they might be up in Daly City at a North County training seminar near Station 95. I headed up there to check things out.

I arrived at the training area across the street from Station 95. There were four engines and a ladder at the training area. The San Bruno truck was using a San Mateo tractor-trailer for a spare as their rig was in having some work done it. I got a picture of the reserve. I also got pictures of San Bruno’s Engine 51 and a couple of Daly City rigs I needed (I’d taken 91’s photo earlier).

It was about 1500 hours and I was near the 280 Freeway, so I headed up into San Francisco to see if I could scare anything up. I went by Station 7 again (nobody around) and then drove around the south end of town, not wanting to get stuck anywhere’s near downtown near the rush hour. I was very nearby a medical run that Engines 9 and 42 were sent on and got pictures of their rigs.

I still had not heard an entire first alarm assignment sent anywhere. As it neared 1630 hours I decided to get out of town and headed back down the autobahn to South San Francisco and the motel. I drove by SSFFD Station 61 and saw no one around. I called it a day.

I’ve been puttsing around most of the evening trying to get the San Francisco trunked radio traffic. I’ve hung three different types of antennas out the 3rd floor window, spliced wires to try and make a new antenna and just about gave up. Then I decided to try moving the trunktracker all over the room until I finally found a spot where I could at least get a broken-up signal. I guess its better than nothing. I’ll see how long it lasts.

Tomorrow I will check out of the motel here in South San Francisco and head to the San Francisco FD shops before heading down into the San Jose area for the day. I will be staying in San Jose Wednesday night and then head back down to the Los Angeles area Thursday morning.

I’ve heard a couple of fires in the area this evening. Hayward had a working fire in the roof of a single family dwelling in Engine 7’s first due area. A short time later, around 1830 hours, San Jose had a working fire in the 800 block of 1st Street. Other than that, it has been very quiet here.

Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 25 - In San Francisco Area

Wednesday, February 27th

It turned out to be another gorgeous day here in the Bay Area. I checked out of the motel around 0900 hours after loading all my crap back into the car. You would not believe all the stuff I carry with me- maybe some of you would. I filled one of those luggage carts about four feet high with the load of stuff I had up in the motel room.

I drove up to San Francisco and went by the shops. There were a few rigs there, but the biggest find was an old rusted 1940s vintage White Salvage truck that was sitting out in the yard. Usually it is surrounded by garbage trucks and the like. Today, all the other city trucks were moved out of that area and I got a photo of the vintage rig.

I went by Station 7 and Engine 6 and Ladder 6 were training (Ladder 6 was raised to their tower). Ladder 7 was out and I got its photo. Then, Engine 7, Squad 2 and an ambulance were dispatched to 11th and Folsom on a car accident with people reported trapped. I headed up into the vicinity, but the rigs were already turned around and coming back. I caught photos as they were backing into the house. Engine and Truck 6 had left the training area upon my return.

I got on the autobahn (Highway 101) and headed south towards San Jose. In all my travels on this stretch of raceway, I have never seen a CHP car other than at the scene of an accident. I really don’t think they patrol it other than to respond to reports of accidents. With the speeds along this freeway I was in Mountain View very quickly.

I went by MVFD Station 54, which has a tower and is frequently used by other area departments. Today it was empty. There are without a doubt some of the nicest homes in this area. There is a new commuter rail line along the Central Expressway and they’re all kinds of new housing developments along it. Many of the homes are just gorgeous. I continued along the central Expressway and got off in Sunnyvale. As usual, there were five rigs out back of Station 2 in the training area. I got all of their photos.

I went by Santa Clara Station 2 (also their training tower/academy) and it was vacant. My next stop was the San Jose FD shops on Montgomery. Before I got there, San Jose Engine 7 turned in front of me on the way back to their station. They were using a reserve Pierce pumper and I got a photo. I ran into San Jose Engine 30 parked a few blocks away and got their photo also.

I arrived at the San Jose shops around 1230 hours. They had a brand new Spartan/Smeal 100- foot mid-mount aerial built by Ferrara parked outside. I asked one of the maintenance men if I could take a photo. He introduced me to Assistant Shop Foreman Tom Nanson. Tom is a great guy and told me to snap away. The new rig was bought as a reserve aerial, but Tom didn’t know how long that would last. The department will be ordering an additional engine this year.

Tom told me that the department was in pretty good shape with 26 fairly new Spartan/Hi Tech pumpers (11 bought in 1994, 15 in 1998). Station 31 was opened recently at 3100 Ruby Avenue in a rapidly developing area near the hills east of San Jose. The newest station however, is new Station 27 at 6027 San Ignacio Avenue (about eight blocks east of its old location). I gave Tom a few old EAA newsletters I had with me.

Tom is active with the San Jose Fire Department Muster Team (an application is already been made to change the name to “San Jose Fire Museum”). He called retired San Jose FD Captain Dennis Madigan, who is very active with the Muster Team. Tom set up a meeting and lunch for me with Dennis. While I was waiting for Dennis to arrive, I caught a few pictures of rigs out in the training area. There were only a few of the many rigs that usually are parked in the large parking lot behind the shops. I found out where many of them had been relocated to later in the day.

Dennis arrived and Tom introduced me him. I followed Dennis to a quaint and old fashioned Italian Restaurant not too far from the shops. We had lunch there and talked about my buffing hobby and his career with the fire service and now the muster team (museum). Tom is a fourth generation firefighter. He has a son who recently became a fifth generation firefighter in Montgomery County, Maryland. Tom spent 30 years here with the department, nearly his last 10 working in public relations and assisting the Chief of Department.

Dennis told me of an old San Jose steamer they had recently acquired from Portland, Oregon. A retired well-to-do businessman had bought an old fire station there and had it completely rebuilt. He spent much time returning the station to its original design. He acquired the old steamer, which was broken up in parts in containers in a local junkyard near here. He had the parts shipped to Portland and totally rebuilt the steamer in his fire station. To make a long story short, he did a fantastic job and died a short while ago. The Muster Team purchased the rig for $125,000.

Following lunch, I followed Dennis to a business called Air Systems where the steamer was on display. One of the owners of the company is a car buff and loaned a trailer to the muster team to pick up the steamer in Portland. It is on loan to the company for an undetermined length of time and is on display in all its glory in their reception area. It is the most gorgeous steamer I have ever seen. Everything on the rig was authentically rebuilt. The man spared no amount of time in his research and work in totally re-fabricating the entire rig.

Then I followed Dennis to the Muster Teams temporary work and storage area on a city owned vehicle maintenance facility. When Tom opened the door, I almost fainted. They had almost 30 vehicles of all vintages and sizes in a very large garage area, similar (but much newer) to the old Firefighters Memorial Museum on Van Buren Street NE. I asked Dennis to send me a list of rigs, as there were so many I would be writing forever.

There were hand pumpers (an 1800 James Smith), hand and horse drawn ladders, three steamers (one being pulled by a 1914 Knox three-wheel tractor). There were many 20s, 30s, 40sand 50s vintage apparatus (a Bulldog Mack, Seagraves, ALF’s). They recently acquired an old calliope from Inglewood, CA and is pulled by a 1930s vintage Cadillac chief’s car. The SJFD shops built a small teen's ALF replica pumper in 1959 using a Crosley motor. It is in great shape and is still used in parades here. The 1937 ALF was on the cover of “American Fire Engines”.

Then Dennis took me out back of the garage to see what they had outside. I found where many of the rigs that used to be stored behind the shops/training area had gone. There must have been 20 more vehicles ranging in age from a few 1920 vintage hose rigs to a 1977 American LaFrance 100-foot rear-mount aerial. There were even a couple 1977 Duplex/Westates pumpers that I had never seen during all my many visits here.

The San Jose Muster Team has a lot of political backing and financial contributors. They must have lots of money to be able to spend $125,000 acquiring their 1890 2nd Class Amoskeag steamer. I spent the entire afternoon with Dennis and finally had to break away to get to a nearby motel before the rush hour. I wish I had more time to spend with Dennis. He is a fantastic guy and very devoted to the Muster Team (museum). I was unable to get many photos of their rigs indoors as they are parked so close together. By the way- I was able to secure a San Jose FD apparatus roster through Dennis (thanks to Tom).

I never got over to Santa Clara County FD training area at Station 5 that usually have a number of county rigs on sight. It was nearly 1630 hours before I checked into my motel here. The temperature reached 80 degrees today here in San Jose. As I type this report, I have my motel door wide open, as it is such a gorgeous evening here. I am staying right off Highway 101 near Tully Road and will have quick access to head south towards the Los Angeles area early tomorrow morning.

Hayward had another incident today around 1230 hours. They had four and one on an incident in a movie theater. There was smoke and they laid precautionary lines, but were searching for a source. I never heard any more as I was busy at the shops at the time.

As I will be on the road most of the day tomorrow, I'll run some of the museum shots I took today. I will probably not have much time to take many photos in the L.A. area tomorrow.

That’s all for now. Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 26 - San Francisco to Los Angeles

Thursday, February 28th

I checked out of the motel in San Jose and got on nearby Highway 101 and headed south. The traffic coming into town was unbelievable. Guess the Twin Cities isn’t the only area with its share of rush hour delays. Every freeway entrance ramp coming north on the freeway was backed up for as far as you could see. They are in the process of adding lanes, but just as in the Twin Cities, they are years late.

I turned off onto Highway 152 and headed through the no passing area without encountering another vehicle. As I approached the scenic San Luis Reservoir State Park area I got out the camera and took more than a few pictures of this gorgeous naturalistic area in the mountains.

Stopping to get the photos reminded me of the quote (I think it was Ben Hogan who said- “We’re here for just a short time…. So don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers”). Sometimes we (and certainly myself) are in such a hurry to get somewhere that we don’t really take the time to appreciate where we are. I’ve sped by this gorgeous scene many times. Today was the first time I actually took the time to “stop and smell the flowers”.

The drive down Interstate 5 was unadventurous. The flat lands along I-5 were very smoggy today. When I approached the mountains near Wheeler Ridge, I could barely make out the outline in the smog. There were hundreds of trucks ever so slowly climbing the steep grade from the flat lands to the 4191-foot Grapevine Pass in about six miles.

I took a few photos from the car as I passed by the scenic Pyramid Lake, which lies in a canyon between the mountains. It is a rather breathtaking sight, as you look hundreds of feet down into the sparkling blue waters with the huge peaked mountains as a backdrop. I should have stopped and taken some quality photos (in too much of a hurry I guess).

I passed by a Senior Golf Tournament near the Six Flags Magic Mountain area. There were vehicles parked everywhere along the roads adjacent to the freeway. I don’t know what tournament it is, but it will probably be on TV this weekend.

I took the 210 Freeway cut off and headed directly to the motel in Arcadia to check in. I had a reservation, but with many rooms being under renovation, I might have ended up on the second floor and had to hump all my crap up the stairs. I managed to get a room near where I wanted and overheard the clerk tell someone on the phone that they were sold out this weekend.

It’s 2027 hours here as I do this report- L.A. County just dispatched a ton of companies to a reported structure fire in an apartment building at Rosewood and Croft. I heard Engines 7-8-208-38, Ladders 8-3, Squad 8, and Bn’s 1-20. I believe the units were assigned Blue 4 for their operations.

2028 hours- L.A. City follows up sending Task Force 61, Engine 41, Task Force 27, Light Force 58, Rescue Ambulance 827, and Bn 5 to the same location- it’s already a second alarm’s worth of apparatus. L.A. City units were assigned TAC 13 for operations

2031 hours- L.A. City Engine 61 reports one third-floor unit well fully involved in apartments over garages with L.A. County units also on the scene. The correct address is 620 Croft and companies report a lot of smoke in the hallways. There are also reports of many elderly residents trapped in the third floor rear.

2040 hours- L.A City Engine 41 is requesting 35-foot ladders in the rear for people hanging out of the windows. I’m not sure which department has jurisdiction as the fire is very near the border between the city and unincorporated county area.

2046 hours- The L.A. City I/C just reported it is an L.A. County fire and that they’re operations are linked with them communication wise. Both departments are aggressively attacking the fire. I am not hearing the L.A. County units for some reason. I’ll have to investigate that.

2048 hours- L.A. City I/C (now Division 3) requests a Paramedic rescue. RA 61 is sent. 2049 hours- L.A. City Engine 27 reports two rooms well involved on the SW side and they are making progress. Companies also reported attic involvement at this time.

2056 hours- L.A. County move ups Eng 216 to Eng 7, Eng 236 to Eng 8, Lad 116 to Lad 8. 2103 hours- Companies report most fire knocked down. 2108 hours- Companies outside report they still see flames from attic area

2014 hours- all L.A. City companies were ordered to the lobby by Division 3 2017 hours- L.A. County dispatchers acknowledge a request for rehab companies 2018 hours- L.A. City Companies report they still have heavy smoke on upper floors

2019 hours- L.A. County dispatches second alarm for Engines 216-236-58-?, Ladder 116, Squad ?, HM and Engine 105, USAR 103, Bn 4 and AC60. I missed a bunch they were going so fast.

Borders don’t mean much of anything out here. The closest companies go- and they work! That’s the way it should be. I wish it were that way back home! That’s another story I won’t get into further here.

There is also a brush fire going in the hills in L.A. County Station 17’s area from about an hour or so ago. Stations 28, 25 and 91 have been filled with move-up companies.

Back to the report: I unloaded most of my luggage in the motel room and headed towards the L.A. City FD shops. The doors there are now locked. I was buzzed in and talked to the secretary about getting permission to get photos out in the shop yards.

After a little wait, I met L.A. City FD Assistant Chief Ward who told me it was kind of late in the day and that they were really short on manpower. He asked me if I would be around tomorrow and I said yes. He told me to come by around 1000 hours and I’d be able to go out in the shops area. I gave him a few EAA newsletters that featured the Los Angeles Area Fire Maps and told him I’d see him tomorrow.

I headed back to the motel before the freeways become rush hour parking lots. I went shopping at a local Ralph’s Grocery store on the way back and picked up some food. I saw a couple of rigs out and about, but was unable to get any photos.

I saw on the 5PM news that they had live shots of firefighters working a fire involving mobile homes in the City of Cypress (in Orange County). There was smoke visible, but it looked like the fire was knocked down. I am not monitoring Orange County (I don’t think you can as they are digital trunked).

Tonight I’m relaxing listening to the fire radios- it has been very busy. It was 70 degrees here today and sunny, but a little smoggy. It’s supposed to be nice here for the next five days. I have really been lucky in the weather department so far.

Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 27 - In Los Angeles area

Friday, March 1, 2001

The incident in West Hollywood on Croft played out well into the night. Companies were chasing the fire in the cockloft for quite some time.

L.A. City had a working fire at 2201 hours at 1600 West 51st Street. Dispatched were E46, E33, LF 15, E21, RA 846 and Bn 3. This fire was in 66’s first due area and I remembered hearing them earlier go on a drill- that’s why they didn’t respond. Companies arrived to find fire in the first floor rear of a two-story apartment building. Bn 3 requested an additional task force to the scene and an additional rescue ambulance. Sent were LF33, E14, and Rescue 26. The fire was knocked down at 2221 hours. All times are as I recorded them.

It is not unusual for L.A. City companies to go on a drill late in the evening. I hear it all the time when I’m visiting here. Some drills are so elaborate that they get calls reporting fires in the area. The dispatchers (O.C.D.) usually call the drill companies and ask them if it is their smoke that citizens are reporting. Most often it is.

I also heard companies dispatched last evening to reports of smoke at an address I didn’t catch because of all the other radio traffic. One of the LAFD fire inspectors called in on his radio and told OCD the fire was part of the movie shoot he was assigned to. L.A. City fire inspectors can also be heard on the air every evening as they routinely inspect entertainment venues for occupancy code violations.

During the night I was awoken to hear some move-up companies being filled in at LA County stations. Whether or not that was for the same incident on Croft, I am not sure. The only fire I saw on the KTLA Morning news was the Croft fire in West Hollywood.

Last night I checked out Tracy Justices’ great web site “Frequency of Nature” at www.freqofnature.com to see what frequencies in LA County I am missing. It turned out that I did not have all of the Counties TAC channels plugged into my scanner. Most of those frequencies are in the 154.--- Mhz range and are not repeated. That is why I can’t hear the companies- not unless they are in fairly close proximity. Many of these frequencies are the old LA County frequencies like 154.37, 154.34, 154.400 etc. Some frequencies now used as TAC channels, are old FD channels of departments that have gone to UHF- like Santa Monica (their old frequency was 154.070 Mhz).

I headed for the L.A. City shops to meet Assistant Chief Ward at 1000 hours. While I was on he freeway I heard what sounded like companies talking about a drill (very common here). As I was in traffic up to my neck, I couldn’t check to see what frequency it was from. Not until I saw the 6PM news here tonight did I realize that what I heard was the beginning of a fire in Santa Monica caused by a huge explosion in a large beachfront property on Ocean Way. A utility worker apparently severed a gas line, which exploded and caused one of three adjacent homes to become fully involved. There was some extension to two other buildings on the same property. I have no idea if this went to extra alarms as I was with Chief Ward when most of this took place.

I walked in the door precisely at 1000. Chief Ward and I talked briefly about apparatus. The city currently has two more ALF/LTI tractor trailers on order and are in the process of drawing up specs for the next engine order (five year program). They are also ordering a heavy rescue to replace the Peterbilt (which will become a spare) at HR56.

Chief Ward told me that they had been able to convince the city fathers on accepting a 15-year replacement program for all major apparatus. Rigs would be used for 12 years in first line service and three years of reserve status. They were previously operating on a 20-year replacement policy. I believe he said rescue ambulances would be six years in service and two in reserve.

Someone from the shops took me around the yard and I got pics of a number of rigs. The last of the four new Foam Tenders was being worked on for Station 100. The other three, 17, 86, and 112 are already in service. These a huge new Freightliner/Pierce rigs that carry 1000 gallons of Class B foam and 250 Class A. The rigs have no pumps, but have a very sophisticated manifold system.

I headed into downtown from the shops. As I was driving down Broadway I noticed flashing red flights on a side street. Engine 4 was at the scene of a minor accident. I met a very interesting firefighter on the scene who showed me all the compartmentization the firefighters had done on their own with their own money. It was rather impressive to say the least. I also came across Ladder 9 while I was traveling through downtown and got a quick pic.

I went by Station 3, 20, and 35 on the way up into San Fernando Valley. I got on the Ventura Freeway and headed to Station 88 to see if anything was going on there. I arrived there around 1230 hours. They often have training exercises or drills on the large piece of property there. I met the neatest firefighters at 88s. They told me that because of the low humidity (17%) and the Santa Ana winds, that the department had declared a red alert for brush fires and that 10 engines would be arriving at 88’s around 1300 hours to stand-by. He also told me that they would be pulling out the tractor-trailer rigs that carry the huge caterpillar tractors they use during brush fire season. Station 88 has one heavy-duty equipment operator assigned to it on each shift. During the day, the operator works on the equipment and at night responds as the tenth man on the task force.

I wish I had taken my video camera into the station, as they got no less than four runs while I was there. I heard their synthesized voice dispatcher on each occasion. First Engine 88 and RA88 got a run. Then RA888 got a run. Then LF 88 got a run following Engine 7 (fire in an outdoor shed). Engine 88 returned for a short time and then they got another run.

They have used this synthesized dispatch system now for about two years. Dispatchers at OCD put the information into the computer and electronics does the rest. The speaker’s open at the stations and the run is dispatched by a woman’s synthesized voice. The companies assigned are read, the address is given, a very short report of the problem follows, and then the frequency to use when reporting to OCD is broadcast and closed with “OCD clear”. Bells go off in the station as a backup. They push an acknowledgment button on the station counsel to let OCD know they received the run.

The run is usually simulcasted by dispatcher’s voices over the radio frequency also, so that companies on the street are aware of companies crossing their path and/or in case another company on the street may be closer to the incident. When OCD first went to the synthesized system, they did not give the runs out verbally on the radio channels. This caused some problems as mentioned above.

I waited around so I could get photos of the rigs coming at 1300 hours. First Engine 50 showed up followed by Engine 47 and then Engine 33. I talked to some of the firefighters from 33s who told me that only the three rigs would be coming here to serve as a “tactical task force”. The rest of the rigs were assigned to other stations near the mountains. He thought there were tactical task forces at Stations 106 and 8 also.

I got a few pictures as they pulled out the Peterbilt tractor-trailer unit with the bulldozer on it. They were prepared to respond to anything in the hills. I asked about new Station 7. It seems that politics has postponed the construction of the new station. All of a sudden, the money is no longer there. As they were authorized the money for the additional firefighters, they put the company in service at the nearest station (39’s) and moved the Squad to 70’s to make room.

I was showed the new building that was built to house USAR 88 and the many support vehicles that support them. I was told that 73 men, USAR 88 and five support rigs were sent to Salt Lake City for the opening of the Winter Games. They rented a couple over-the-road buses to carry the firefighters. When I was in Phoenix at the shops with Bill Bjerke, I heard them talk of driving Phoenix fire trucks over the Hoover Dam on the way to Salt Lake City. They must have sent a team up there also. Trucks have been banned over the Hoover Dam since 9/11/01.

While I was at 88’s I heard companied dispatched to 3058 Chesapeake for a reported structure fire. Assigned were TF 94, E34, LF58, E26, RA 894 and Bn 18. I did not hear any particulars on the fire, but about an hour later I heard Bn 18 talking to OCD requesting an arson investigator with a dog as they had multiple fatalities and there was a chemical odor at the scene. There fire was not covered on the 6PM news that I watched.

When I discovered that only the three engines would be standing by, I decided to head out towards Station 106 and see what was there. I went by Stations 100, 73, 72 and 105 on the way out (getting station pics). When I got to Station 106 I found only Engine 9 parked outside. Apparently, other stations also had rigs standing by. I asked them how long these additional units would be standing by. They told me that until the danger decreases, usually around 2000 hours or so.

I headed to Station 8, going by Stations 96, and 107. I arrived at Station 8 to find there were no stand-by companies there. I drove the few blocks to new Station 18 and yes there were a couple rigs parked in the lot there (Engine 58 and Engine 92). After getting photos, I thought I should be heading back towards Arcadia, as it was already 1545 hours. I made good time going across the 118 Freeway and down the 210 Freeway until I got near Pasadena. At that point the 210 joins the 134 Freeway and traffic was really backed up (it’s kind of like the Highway 62/Interstate 35 commons back home).

Tomorrow I will be heading to the Fire Museum in old LA City Station 27. It is open from 1000 to 1400 hours on Saturdays. Sunday is the LA Marathon and I will definitely stay away from that area on Sunday. The marathon starts downtown and goes out south through south LA and then heads west to about La Brea. From there it goes north through the Hollywood area, down Sunset Boulevard and back into downtown. I got caught inside the perimeter of the race once and couldn’t get out. I’ll never let that happen again.

That’s all for today. The radio has been fairly quiet tonight. It was fairly busy during the day today. It got up to 69 or 70 here today, but was very windy. At times you could feel a gust shake the car pretty good. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the mid 70s range and I think the winds are supposed to die down.

Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 28 - In Los Angeles area

Saturday, March 2nd

I didn’t hear any fires through the night. It was actually pretty quiet all night. It was gorgeous out this morning when I hit the streets. It was in the mid sixties already and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I drove east on the 210 Freeway into the City of Duarte. I stopped at L.A. County Station 44 just as the crew was getting into Engine 44. I got a nice shot of them and then a firefighter offered to pull out Engine 244 also- another nice shot.

I drove back west through Monrovia and went by their station, which was empty. As I drove through town I kept looking both ways for red trucks and sure enough I spotted one parked in a parking lot off the main drag. Engine 102 and USAR 102 were both sitting perfectly, pump-side into the sun. I got a couple nice shots.

I headed into Pasadena to see if any companies were out. I went by Stations 37, 32 and 33 and all was quiet. It looked like they were working with some Eagle Scouts in the training area out back of Station 33.

I got on the freeway again and headed towards Hollyweird. I arrived at the Los Angles City Fire Department Museum (old Station 27) and found the place just packed with people. It was hard to find a nearby parking spot. The station was originally built in 1930 at a cost of $101,627. There were 12 pieces of apparatus assigned to the station with 28 firefighters on duty each shift. For many years it was the largest fire station west of the Mississippi River. They have photos from different periods of time showing the apparatus assigned to the station.

In May of 1988 (that’s what the literature says) the LA City Council adopted action to provide a fire museum at Station 27. They opened the doors to the public last October and still have a lot of work to do. The station looks great. It will always be a classic in my book.

I remember the first time I walked into the huge house in 1970. I was on weekend leave during my Marine Corps training and took a bus up to Los Angeles and rented a car. I could not believe how big Station 27 was. At that time they had what amounted to a heavy-duty task force (two triples, a snorkel and an aerial ladder), a Squad, a Salvage rig, a brush patrol, an ambulance (the LAFD had just taken over cities ambulance service- the LAFD had operated ambulances in San Fernando Valley for years), battalion chief, and I believe a light unit. I remember that the ambulances they took over from the city were gold in color at that time. The LAFD began buying red and white ambulances after that.

They moved a lot of equipment into the museum from Travel Town in Griffith Park. Travel Town is a museum of vehicles of all kinds and they had an inordinate number of fire trucks, many former LAFD rigs. I took photos of all the rigs and talked to many of the museum staff people. Most were apparatus enthusiasts and/or historians. Two were wonderful toy builders. John A. Ackerman has built a number of awesome scratch models of L.A.F.D. apparatus covering many periods in the department’s history. I took a couple photos of this large and unique collection.

The rigs that are on display are not what I would call fully restored vehicles, save for a Ford Model T that was restored by a retired LAFD firefighter from Station 27. It is magnificent! Many of the rigs were obviously painted with brushes (which is a shame). The staff has not had time yet to get any of the equipment re-painted. Most of the rigs were in a large cramped building in Travel Town.

I looked through many displays, although many of the cases are empty. Their biggest obstacle was just to get the building fixed up and opened to the public. They have a lot of things that are yet to be put on display yet. Here is a partial list of the rigs currently on the apparatus floor:

1. Unknown hand hose cart
2. 1881 Hayes 65-foot screw-type aerial ladder
3. 1905 Gorter 65-foot water tower
4. 1914 Model T pumper
5. 1913 Seagrave tractor, pulling 1910 Anderson City Service horse-drawn trailer
6. Two 1929 Seagrave hose trucks
7. 1937 American LaFrance fully enclosed pumper (L.A. City’s first) 1500/80
8. 1954 Cadillac/Miller Meteor ambulance

The museum has a small gift shop in the front end of the station that is comprised mostly of apparel and a few Code 3 models. I asked if anybody from Box 15 was involved in the museum and they looked like me as if I was nuts. Box 15 operates the Plaza Fire Hall near the train depot in old-town Los Angeles.

The City of Los Angeles owns the museum and an LAFD Battalion Chief is in charge of the property and operations. The Museum has a Board of Directors and a fast-growing list of members. Many retired LAFD firefighters are involved in the museum.

There is an elaborate design for a green area and monument to fallen firefighters with a fountain to be built in the triangle out front of the station. They also have plans to do some elaborate educational displays on the second floor of the station. I enjoyed looking at all the historic photos they have on display and I saw many others in their work area that will eventually be put on display. They have no shortage of resources.

As I left, Heavy Rescue 56 pulled up out front of new Station 27 and I talked to one of the two firefighters that are assigned to it each shift. They run citywide on request for many types of rescues, mostly vehicular accidents. They are replacing their Hurst tools with the Holmatro tools in LA City. HR56 is one of five that have the new equipment. They decided on the Holmatro brand after trying all available brands of rescue tools.

It was such a nice day I decided to head out to the Santa Monica Pier for the afternoon. I drove by LA County Stations 7 and 8, Beverly Hills Station 1 and Santa Monica Stations 3 and 1 on the way out. I fought heavy traffic near the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica (very busy place) and arrived at the pier around 1330 hours.

The pier was as crowded as I’ve ever seen it in recent years. The amusement park on the pier was packed with kids and the beach was full of sunbathers, waders, and volleyball players. Walkers, joggers, bike riders, and roller skaters overwhelmed the paths along the beach. It was just a great day to be out and about. The pier was so busy that shortly after I arrived they had to close it to vehicular traffic, as the lot was full.

After spending a couple hours enjoying the awesome weather, walking around the large pier area and watching the many cool street artists do their thing I decided it was time to move on. I drove past Santa Monica Station 2 (the new station is not quite done yet, but it looks much larger and very nice).

I headed back into town on Venice Boulevard and then got on the Santa Monica Freeway and fought traffic for over an hour. I don’t think there is ever a good time to travel this stretch of freeway. It is always busy and always very slow. I probably could have made better time taking major city streets. I got on the Pomona Freeway and it moved pretty well. I got back to the Arcadia area just before 1800 hours and ran into heavy traffic leaving the Santa Anita Race Track. There was a big-stakes race this afternoon.

It is about 2130 hours here as I finish today’s report. I didn’t hear any fires today other than a grease fire at a restaurant in Glendale earlier this evening. The fire was fairly quiet until around 1900 hours when L.A. County became very busy. They have since quieted down and in the last half hour L.A. City has been extremely busy. Battalions 3 and 13 have had numerous runs in the Last hour or so.

That’s all I have for today. The red alert for fires is still in effect here. The humidity was 14% at noon today, but the winds in town were not as bad as they were yesterday. I was told the Lancaster area, in northern L.A. County, had gusts in the 40mph range early this afternoon.

Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 29 - In Los Angeles area

Sunday, March 3rd

It got cold here overnight- down to 47 degrees. It was another absolutely gorgeous day here again. It was less smoggy and only 55 when I hit the streets this morning, but soon warmed up into the 70s.

The LA Marathon was taking place today and I was about to go near the race area. There were 23,000 people that ran. The race was delayed when a suspicious package was found on the racecourse. A police robot was used to open the package, which was harmless, and the race began almost 30 minutes late.

I decided to take advantage of the warm weather and head to Venice Beach. I knew with this warm, dry weather the place would be crazy. I took a slow tour heading straight south from Arcadia and then cutting east to west across LA City a good ways south of the marathon route. I drove by a number of fire stations in the morning on the way.

I stopped at LA County Station 47 to get a photo of their engine outside. I stopped at San Gabriel Station 51 to get photos of their engine and station. Menlo Parks Station 61 was all locked up, but I got a photo of one of their reserve engines at Station 63 and Engine 62 at a 7-11 store down the street.

When LA County Squad 3 came screaming by me and I had no heard an alarm I became a little suspicious. I double checked my scanner and found a number of channels had inadvertently become locked out- LA County Dispatch being one of them. I have no idea when I unintentionally locked any of these frequencies out.

My next stop was LA County Station 27. I got Engine 27’s photo when they were out back fueling the rig. Firefighters asked if I wanted the “Quint” pulled out and I said thank you. I got a pretty nice photo of the rig (there was a transformer and pole by the driveway, so they kind of cocked the rig to the side). They also invited me in for lunch. I told them I appreciated it, but I’d eaten a late breakfast (at Mickey D’s) and was going to try and take advantage of the sunlight to get some more rig photos. I thanked them and headed west on Slauson.

When I got near to Vernon, I turned north a few blocks and went to Station 1. As usual, a number of rigs were out back working on pump training for an upcoming drivers test. I got photos of Engines 1-2-3, Spare E22, Ladder 1 and their HazMat rig. I headed back to Slauson for the trip across town. I chose Slauson because of its proximity to working fire areas and because it normally moves pretty good going towards the ocean.

Things went fine until I got near the 101 Freeway. Traffic was backed up for about 20 minutes trying to get four blocks under the freeway. Traffic comes off the freeway in two lanes and also enters in two lanes. What a mess this creates as all lanes end up on Slauson. A slow moving, long, long, long train (running on tracks next to and parallel to Slauson) didn’t make things any better. It blocked all traffic from proceeding north, which blocked many nearby intersections. I finally made it through the mess.

I went by LA City Station 66, LA County Stations 38 and 58 and LA City 63 on the way to the beach. There was no activity at any of the stations and I did not stop. When I approached the beach just after noon, traffic was backed up and signs indicated that the oceanfront lots were already full. I saw a lot advertising $15 parking, laughed and went by that. Then I saw an underground garage close to the beach that charged $10. I didn’t laugh this time- I took it.

Venice Beach was very crowded with all kinds of people enjoying the awesome day. I took the camcorder and recorded some of the activities. The same firefighter (he says he was) that has been entertaining on the boardwalk for years was doing his act. He had a huge crowd surrounding him. He performed his normal finale where he lays on the ground next to a girl in a chair, lifts a chair leg, places it in a brown bag in his mouth and then slowly raises the girl until he is standing with her raised above him, the only support being the chair leg in his mouth. It is still a good show and he gets a lot of cash when he puts out his fire helmet at the end.

I didn’t see the chain saw juggler this time around. I did see most of the other regulars that normally perform on the Venice Beach boardwalk. One of the new acts was a middle aged black man and an old wrinkled white grandmother in a bikini playing instruments and singing together. She was a hoot and a half. I’d be so embarrassed it was my grandmother. They had a great audience today. There were people everywhere.

The beach has undergone many improvements in the last year and are all being used to there fullest. There is a new skateboard area with ramps and pipes, a roller skate dancing area, a large new kid play-lot, additional basketball courts and new landscaping. They’ve greatly improved the rest room facilities and added many drinking fountains, shower areas and picnic areas. It’s really a great place to picnic and be entertained for free.

You can buy almost any kind of food you want by the hundred or more vendors on an eight-block stretch. I had a bubblegum Hawaiian Ice and a slice of Big Joes pizza. The lines for ice cream were too long. The vendors there were doing a bang-up business. They still have some of the cheapest T-shirts I’ve ever seen. There are a number of artists along the boardwalk selling their wares. Some of the stiff is really nice and the prices aren’t too bad either.

I heard part of a fire in LA County while I was at the beach. When I saw the news tonight they reported that there was a fatality in the 200 block of W 220th Street. An 80-year-old woman, who was frightened of having her home broken into, could not escape from the flames because of bars on her windows. Neighbors heard her calling for help, but could not get in because of the bars on the windows. This is not an uncommon problem in this area. Many fire deaths can be blamed on iron bars over windows.

I left Venice Beach around 1530 hours and drove city streets on the way back instead of getting backed up on the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10). I believe it is still the busiest stretch of freeway in the USA. I took Washington Boulevard across town and waited until I got east of the downtown area to get on the freeway. It took half the time to get to the same area today.

I hate to have to leave the L.A. area tomorrow morning. I absolutely love visiting this area. There is always something to see or do. You don’t always have to go to Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm or Universal Studios to find entertainment here. Entertainment can be found on Hollyweird Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, at Venice Beach, at the Santa Monica Pier, on the Third Street Promenade and so on.

Tomorrow I will head to Phoenix for a night or two stay there. I hope to stop and spend some tome in Albuquerque, Oklahoma City and Kansas City on the way back (if the weather is good). I should be home by Saturday if all goes well.

Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 30 - Los Angeles to Phoenix

Monday, March 4th

When I woke up this morning I turned on the KTLA Morning News and they had live shots from LAX of an evacuated terminal, hundreds of people standing outside (many with luggage) and police everywhere because of a suspicious package. I’ve seen this happen at LAX at least five times in recent weeks. It usually turns out to be nothing, but today I didn’t have time to hang around and see what the outcome was. Don't use that airport unless you absolutely have to.

I got on the 210 Freeway (only a few blocks from the motel) and headed east. Westbound 210 traffic was at a standstill for the first 20 minutes of my journey. I so pity those poor people that need to take L.A. area freeways to get to and from work. You couldn’t pay me enough to have to fight that kind of traffic every morning and every night.

I didn't hear any overnight fires last night, but the KTLA 10PM News showed a good working fire that Alhambra had Saturday overnight. That could have been the fire that I heard a lot of talk about on Grand Avenue with move-up companies and the like. I only awoke at the tail end of the fire.

It was a nice drive today, although it got very windy near Palm Springs. The thousands of windmill generators on top of the hills in that area were all moving pretty good today. I was able to monitored Riverside County while I paralleled and then drove through the almost 200 mile wide county. It has to be one of the widest counties (it and San Bernardino County just above it) that I’ve ever seen. They had a brush fire near a high school and a number of medical emergencies.

I lost an hour when I passed over the Colorado River today and didn’t get into Phoenix until 1430 hours. My first stop was Station 9. I was still looking for the Bronto skylift that had been in the shops on the way through in early February. I arrived at the station to find the engine in, but the Bronto out. I headed to the PFD Shops to try and catch Bill Bjerke before he went home for the day.

Bill and sixty some firefighters were also in Salt Lake City for the Olympics. The Phoenix FD USAR crews, three tractor-trailer rigs, two buses and a support rig made the journey to SLC. They were actually at a National Guard Training Camp 20 miles outside of Salt Lake City. As far as the government was concerned, they were not there. Neither were USAR teams from Los Angeles (I already told you about them); Austin, TX; Memphis, TN; and Montgomery County, MD. There may have been another team from New York also at this camp. He said the crews from the east flew out and had their gear transported by commercial vehicles.

They were not allowed off the base and no one was allowed on the base during the Olympics. Television news reporters from Phoenix sought the Phoenix firefighters out to do a story and were told they couldn’t make contact with them or even acknowledge to the world that they were there. They were only allowed to do a follow-up report after the Olympics were over.

Bill said they had a couple emergency drills. They were not told they were drills until after they’d reached the command post. They turned out their rigs and USAR crews in 18 minutes. They stayed the duration of the games and the only thing they could see from the base was the fireworks during the finale.

It took them 18 hours to make the road trip up. Bill drove one of two 1994 Freightliner semi trucks donated by American LaFrance. Both vehicles were used, but were in good shape. The trailers they used to haul the USAR materials were also donated for the trip. They drove all the vehicles over the Hoover Dam just as Bill had talked about when I came through in early February (trucks have been banned since 9/11/01).

The Pheonix crews returned last Tuesday and today was Bill’s first day back on the job. He said the night before they left, while they were loading the trucks, the wind was almost blowing them over. It was so cold and miserable out he said. I'm sure tha was especially true for someone from Phoenix.

I made a reservation last night for the Red Roof Inn in Chandler. The motel is a little further south from where I usually stay in Tempe. I drove by the sight t where PFD Station 43 was supposed to be under construction. Either my map is wrong or they have changed addresses from what they published earlier as I drove all over and could not find the new station.

I gassed up the vehicle, as I will probably head to El Paso tomorrow morning. Gas here was $ .959 per gallon. I will either stay in El Paso two nights (and try to finish seeing all their stations) or I will head to the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Wednesday. My decision depends on what the weather looks like in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It is a long, 600-mile drive from El Paso to Dallas-Fort Worth. The plus is that it is then only a short 200-mile drive from Dallas to Oklahoma City for my next stop.

Chandler had a good working fire in an attached garage and house in the 1200 block of W Ivanhoe around 1800 hours. I didn’t get the original assignment, but I know Engines 2281, 2282 and 2283 were on the scene along with Ladder Tender 2283. When they said they had a working fire they got another engine and ladder. I kept looking for the address on the street map I had with no luck. Finally, I got the computer out and punched in the address. The fire turned out to be only about six miles from where I was staying.

When the Chandler rig closest to me didn’t respond, I figured it was further away than that. By the time I found the fire on the map it had been knocked down and companies were overhauling. They ended up with quite a few rigs on the scene. I heard Mesa Engine 207, Ladder 204 and Utility 204 clear the scene (there may have been more I didn't hear). The fire was knocked down once they got the supply line charged- which seemed to take a little while. One Chandler firefighter was transported to the hospital with a knee injury.

Phoenix was also fairly busy with radio traffic during this fire. A buff almost needs three radios during the busy times to monitor Phoenix Dispatch, Rural Metro Dispatch, and Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler Dispatch. They pop out the calls at a pretty good rate from 1500 hours through the end of the rush hour.

That’s all for today. My good luck with the weather continued, as it was 74 and sunny in the Phoenix area today.

Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 31 - Phoenix to El Paso

Tuesday, March 5th

I checked out of the motel in Chandler and headed to nearby Phoenix Station 38 to find out the location of new Station 43. At 0745 hours, Mesa dispatchers reported smoke from a double trailer home at 320 East McKellips Road. Sent were Engine 211-201-202, Ladder 201 and Battalion 201. Engine 11 arrived to report flames from the structure and declared a working fire. Utility 204 and another rig I missed were dispatched. The fire was knocked down at 0804. There were a number of move-ups, which also included Gilbert and the Salt River FD.

Back to Phoenix: Quint 43 has been running out of Station 38 for about seven months and I figured they would surely know where the new station was being built. The quint was gone and Engine 38 was just leaving for the shops. The driver told me that the groundbreaking ceremony for the Station 43 was taking place right now at 42nd and Chandler Boulevard.

I headed for the same location I had been looking for the station yesterday. The reason I couldn’t find it yesterday was that they hadn’t even broken ground yet. I arrived to find a number of dignitaries and firefighters at the sight with a nice color drawing and plans for the new station. There were a few media people there also. Quint 43 was there along with Battalion 5, HazMat 38, the PFD canteen and a number of PFD official’s vehicles. I got a few photos and then headed to I-10 and headed south (eastbound).

By 1000 hours I was in Tucson and stopped at their training grounds at Station 10. Ladder Tender 10 got a run just before I arrived (medical). The training grounds were void of any rigs, so I headed back to I-10 for the remainder of the journey to El Paso. I think that for the hour or so that I was able to monitor Tucson dispatch, that almost every rig in the city went out on a medical run. It was crazy. I should have had a chart of their companies and crossed out the company numbers each time a run was dispatched. I don’t think many would have been left uncrossed.

It was fairly windy on certain sections of I-10 going across the desert. In a few instances, there were signs flashing warnings of dust storms in the next 10 miles. I got to see one of those, but it was relatively small and didn’t totally block out vision on the highway.

I arrived in El Paso around 1430 hours and checked into the Travelodge I usually stay at on Mesa Road. It seems like my home away from home as they carry KTLA-TV from Los Angeles. It is in a nice location just off I-10 and about 10 miles from downtown El Paso. The area is full of commercial businesses and restaurants, including a Sam’s Club.

After unpacking the car, I headed to gas up the vehicle and Pumper 2 drove by. I followed them to Station 22 and got their photo. I got gas and headed for the downtown area, taking a side trip at UTEP (University of Texas, El Paso) built up on the hills overlooking I-10, the Rio Grande River and the streets of Ciudad Jaurez, Mexico beyond. I took a few pictures of the rough looking city across the river.

Aerial 11 got a run just as I approached their station. I went by the incident to see if they had their tower- they did not. It may be that they are not in the new station yet or it could be that their rig was in the shop as they were an ALF rear-mount. I went by Station 1 (“Headquarters Station”) and all the doors were shut and there were no rigs parked outside.

I went by Stations 3, 10, 7 and got digital station photos (I had taken slides on previous trips). When I got to Station 12, their rig was outside running and I got photos. A firefighter came out to find out what I was doing. I introduced myself and thanked him for parking the rig outside. He told me dispatchers ordered all stations to pull their rigs out as the department was testing its new “ABL System” (vehicle locator). I told him thank you, but I had to go as I was going to try and see as many stations as I could while the rigs were pulled out.

I doubled back to Station 7 and Pumper 7 and Aerial 7 were out (I got photos). Then I went back by Station 10 and they were already inside. The same was true of Stations 3 and 1. As it was nearing 1630 hours and the sun was low, I decided to head back to the motel. I saw a number of medic rigs on the street, a few responding on runs. Some were painted the new colors, and a few had the older lime green vehicles- the color previous to being taken over by the fire department.

I haven’t heard any full first alarm assignments here yet. When I was coming into town, Engine 24 was talking about a fire they were returning from, but I never heard an address. The radio has quieted down quite a bit since the rush hour.

Last night, when I checked the weather in Dallas it reported there would be a thunderstorm there on Thursday. So instead of traveling there tomorrow and being rained out, I will stay another day here in El Paso. As the weather looks good in Albuquerque on Thursday and in Amarillo on Friday, I will head to Albuquerque on Thursday and Oklahoma City on Friday. I will stay in OK City for most of the day Saturday as the weather north of their looks like snow and sleet.

I may make it up to Kansas City late in the day, but will most likely arrive home on Sunday, when the weather clears up in Iowa and Minnesota. I’ll keep checking the weather to see if there are any changes. But, for now, that is the plan of attack.

Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 32 - In El Paso

Wednesday, March 6th

Last night around 2130 hours El Paso had a run a few blocks from the motel, on Mesa Street just on the other side of I-10 from me. Pumpers 22-15-31, Quint 22 and Bn 2 responded to an odor of smoke in the Carrow's Restaurant. Engine 15 and 31 occupy a station about four blocks behind the motel and they both responded past the motel. Engine 15 arrived and reported nothing visible as Engine 22 reported they had a hydrant at the rear of the building. Engine 31 raised a ground ladder to the roof to check motors on the roof. North Mesa command reported they find nothing and that “all companies can clear at their ready.”

The KTLA Morning news reported that the bond issue which included funds for new 9-1-1 dispatch centers and new fire stations was within one percentage point of passing with 98% of the ballots counted. I sure hope it passes.

I started out with an itinerary that included getting to 15 El Paso Stations today (11 of which I had not visited before). I stopped at UTEP again to get some better shots of the other side- Mexico. The sun was shining on the hills on the Mexican side today. I drove by Stations 11, and 1 as I had planned. New Station 11 is still awaiting furniture- that is why they haven’t moved in yet. When I drove by today, some movers were carrying large boxes into the station. Perhaps they will finally open. Nobody was out at Headquarters (Station 1).

As I was heading to Station 5, Engine 5 turned the corner in front of me. We stopped at one of hundreds of school crossings here to wait while the entire gym class crossed the street. I was behind an E One pumper. After the gym teacher talked to the crew for a few minutes, we were back on the road to Station 5. Engine 5 was using a reserve pumper, a Pierce/E One. Yes! The E One rig was involved in an accident and they put a four-door Pierce cab on it. I also got photos of their aerial, ladder, or truck- whatever they call it this minute (it varies). Both companies were given a run while I was at the station, but the ladder was cancelled before they could get out of the house. Ladder 5 is one of six ladder trucks (or aerials). There are also six Quint companies. Only one of the quints (Q28) runs alone- the rest have pumpers at the station.

At one time, there were a number of stations with two pumpers in them. The only station left with two now is Station 15 with Engine 15 and Engine 31 (behind my motel). The other doubles have gone in service as pumpers at new stations or as Quints. There are now 30 stations in El Paso with 30 pumper companies (two in Station 15)-one has a Quint only. Many of the companies here are running with three men. There is one new station being planned in the far NE corner of the city in an area with many new housing developments.

I went by Station 14 on the way to the training area and didn’t see any rigs either place. My next stop was Station 18 where they now operate a Pumper and Quint instead of two engines. I got pictures of their Quint and they gave me a very nice El Paso FD coffee mug. I went by Station 17 and took the station photo.

Next stop was Station 26 on the far southeast corner of the city. They operate the departments first Medic Pumper. There is at least one paramedic riding on the pumper each shift. This has been in operation for about eight months and they plan to have many more. When I was talking to a firefighter there he asked me if I stopped to see new Quint 17. I didn’t know they had a quint there. I headed back and was about six blocks away when the pumper and quint got a fire run.

I wasn’t sure where they were headed, but I headed in the direction they were going. When Pumper 18 arrived, they cancelled the other companies. I turned around and headed back to 17’s. Within a few blocks, Engine 17 had caught up with me and was a couple cars behind.

We stopped at a school crossing for a local high school where it was apparently lunchtime. Hundreds of kids left the school to cross the street to a local McDonald’s Restaurant. I thought the line of kids would never end. Dispatchers then gave Pumper 17 a medical run. They turned on their siren and pulled over to the other side of the road to go around all the cars waiting for the kids to cross in the crosswalk. We must have waited almost 10 total minutes before the stream of kids stopped.

I can’t believe El Paso wouldn’t be better off putting a lighted sign there with a push button for kids to cross. That way the sign would only last so long and then allow traffic to pass for some time before the button could be pushed again. It doesn’t seem all that complicated to me. But this goes on all over the city. I can’t tell you how many 15 mph zones I went through today near schools. They don’t use crossing guards like back home. They really cause traffic nightmares when one kid, then another, then another and so forth walk into the crosswalk.

Now that I am on the subject of traffic, I’ve got one more serious question for local drivers here. Why, when the posted speed limit is 40 mph on many major thoroughfares, do three cars drive next to each other, all going 25 mph? I can’t tell you how many times I ran into this situation today, but too many.

After I cleared the school crossing I drove to Station 17 to await the Quints return. A firefighter who was transferred to the station for the day was waiting outside of the station for the crews to return also. When the Quint returned, I got photos. I waited awhile for Pumper 17 to return, but then gave up.

I headed to new Station 29 with Pumper 29. Pumper 29 had been running out of Station 6 until their station opened. Their new station is at 11977 Pellicano Drive. I got a photo of what I thought was the front of the station and then realized the rigs were facing the other way. So now I have photos of both sides. The new station is very large, but very plain.

Station 6 is a very nice facility. I got a photo of their Pumper also. My next stop was Station 25 and they were not home. Station 24 was the next stop. They pulled out the pumper for me, and then the aerial. The pumper left to switch rigs with 29’s as their AVL system was not working. While I was getting in the car, Ladder 24 got a medical run. That completed all the stations that I hade not been to before on the east end of town.

The next area I had not been to was the area between the Franklin Mountains and Biggs Army Air Base. This is the area in the center of the “W” shape of El Paso. My first stop was Station 13. I got a station photo and headed to Station 16. Quint 16 was parked outside and I got their photo and one of their medical rig. The pumper was gone. This quint, and the one at Station 28 are 65-foot Sutphen’s with the two small buckets on either side of the aerial.

I headed to Stations 23 and 21 and both pumpers were out. I got station photos. Station 28 is a large faculty built in 1986 at the north end of homes in that area. It houses Quint 28, Engine 30 and Attack 28 (basically a brush rig, but it also carries some haz mat materials for picking up spills). They brought the Quint and the Attack out so I could get photos. They told me Engine 30 was at the new station preparing for it’s opening this week.

I drove across mostly unpopulated land to a new area with many new homes being constructed on the east side of the Franklin Mountains, north and west of Station 28. Engine 30 was parked in the new house, which is located at 4451 Loma Clara. It is also a very large station. They were still awaiting phone lines and computer hook-ups to be completed before they could move in at the end of the week. This station cost $835,000 I was told.

Following the completion of my itinerary, I headed to “Scenic Drive” to get some photos from an area above the city at the end of the Franklin Mountain range. It is very high near the lookout there and the road is a very narrow, winding one. Luckily there is a concrete and rock wall along the cliffs to prevent cars from going over. I would hate to come down it without the walls being there.

As I headed back to the motel for the night, I also drove by Stations 8 and 22. It was a great day here- 75 and sunny. The firefighters here are all gentlemen and really went out of their way to try and accommodate me. I really enjoy visiting El Paso because of this. I was asked a few times if I was a terrorist, as I have been at a number of other departments while on my this vacation. This is what many departments have been instructed to ask since the events of 9/11/01- as if terrorists would tell the truth.

The fire radio was fairly busy here today. There were a number of reported structure fires during the day. To my knowledge, no lines were laid. Earlier this evening they had a shed fire up near 16’s and they moved companies up to cover stations there. This is common as they only have six companies to cover that north-central area of the city.

I’ve been studying the weather and I will go to Amarillo Thursday night and Oklahoma City for Friday night. I will probably spend some time in OK City Saturday before heading to Kansas City for the night. Sunday looks like a clear day to head back through Iowa into Minnesota.

Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 33 - El Paso to Oklahoma City

Thursday, March 7th

Last night around 2200 hours El Paso dispatchers sent Engines 18-17, Quints 18-17, Medic 218, Bn 4 to a reported fire in the 200 block of 503 Riverview Circle (about two blocks from the Mexican border). Dispatchers followed up with an update saying police report four burn victims at the scene. The fire involved a garage, apparently with people living in it. One of the companies (probably Engine 18) called out, “Engine 17, charge the line.”

Command special called Medic 217 to the scene to standby. The first “benchmark” report was at 2225 (my time). They have “benchmarks” every 20 minutes. The medic number is the last two digits and the first digit is “1” for day shift and “2” for nightshift.

I left this morning at 0700 hours and had great weather all day. It was 55 when I left El Paso, and when I arrived in Albuquerque around 1100 hours it was already 65 there, but very windy. As I traveled across the Texas Plains it was in the upper 70s and low 80s. There were wind gusts of 30-35 mph most of the day. I got to Amarillo (my destination) by 1530 hours and decided to try and make it all the way to Oklahoma City for the night.

It was 80 degrees most of the way through Texas and into the State of Oklahoma. There was a gorgeous sunset in my rearview mirror as I crossed the Oklahoma plains. When I arrived in Oklahoma City around 1930 hours, it was still 67 degrees and still very windy.

I will try and make it all the way home tomorrow instead of spending a day in OK City and part of a day in Kansas City. I’m close to home and the g-force is pulling me there. It is supposed to be warm all the way up through Des Moines, but there is a possibility of showers in the afternoon.

My plan is to leave here at 0500 hours and beat the rain into Kansas City and beat the thunderstorm into Des Moines. It looks like Minnesota will have a window of opportunity until 1800 hours or so before it could snow there again. If all goes well, I should be home by then.

I am not sending any photos today as I’m hitting the hay pretty early. I’ll do a wrap-up report when I get home.

Take care.

Your roving reporter

Day 34 - Oklahoma City to Minneapolis (Home!)

Friday, March 8th

I didn't hear any fires in Oklahoma City during the night. I heard more than a few medical runs. I left the motel at 0500 hours. I was a little tired, but I was looking forward to getting back home after five weeks on the road. It was still 62 when I awoke in Oklahoma City, but fairly windy. The area was due to get thunderstorms sometime in the afternoon. I gassed up the vehicle before I hit the freeway. I wasn't paying close enough attention as I put Premium into the tank by mistake. I didn't realize it until I got to the counter and the cashier wanted $10 for less than seven gallons of gas. Oh well, I guess maybe 0500 hours is too early for me.

It was dark for the first two hours going up I-35. When I hit the south suburbs of Wichita the temperature was still 62. But the radio station I was listening to said it was 50 out. Then, when I got nearer to the center of the city the temperature dropped quickly to 50. As I got further out on the north end of the city it quickly rose again to 62. Strange! Wichita must be a cold city.

The Weather Channel had predicted that at 1000 hours (my estimated arrival time in Kansas City) that it would be 66. It was, in fact, 66 when I arrived in K.C. The temperature dropped rapidly as I left the Kansas City area. By the time I approached the Des Moines area, the temperature had dropped to 37 degrees and there was a slight rain falling (the Weather Channel had said it would be 38 at 1300 hours in Des Moines with 20% chance of rain and thunderstorms starting at 1500 hours).

I made it through Des Moines without any hitches and I was still on schedule to arrive in Minneapolis around 1630 hours, well before the storm was due to hit the area. I didn't see any snow on the ground until I got near Des Moines and what there was were piles next to driveways and on the sides of north facing hills. The rain stopped half way up to the Iowa/Minnesota border.

At mile 21 I noticed a bunch of red lights in the southbound lanes of I-35. As I got closer I realized a semi-trailer rig had tipped over negotiating a turn into a rest area alongside the road. It had flipped on its side and was part way down an embankment. There were highway patrol cars already on the scene and one fire truck. Then I saw this old red school bus coming down the freeway with lights and sirens blazing. It looked like it was loaded with a bunch of firefighters.

I thought that was a strange method to get firefighters to the scene. When it got closer, I noticed that there were no firefighters, just turn out coats and gear hanging on the inside of the windows. That is still a little different method of getting gear to the fire scene. I believe the bus was lettered SCVFD (probably Story City, Iowa). I guess the firefighters there report to the fire scene and someone brings the bus with their gear. Maybe that method saves them response time? I don't know what other reason they would have to respond that way. And what if you had two calls at the same time?

I was very happy when I got to the Minnesota border around 1500 hours and there was no snow falling. The Weather Channel had predicted there would be no precipitation until 1900 hours and it would be 29 degrees. It was actually 30 degrees when I arrived home at 1630 hours.

I did a lot of reflecting on my last day on the road. I couldn't have asked for any better weather- it was near 70 almost every day I was on the road. You can't ask for more than that.

I saw some gorgeous scenery all along my journey. Some of the more picturesque areas include: the high sand-capped mountains in the El Paso area; the gorgeous hills and bay in the San Diego area; the magnificent homes on the hills and valleys in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas; the fantastic bright green covered natural hills along the sky blue waters at the San Luis Recreation Area, CA; the beautiful wine county in Sonoma County, CA; the deep blue waters high up in the mountains in the Pyramid Lake are in northern LA County; and on the list could go on and on.

I took over 850 digital photos over the 34 days I was on the road. While many were of fire trucks and fire stations, many also were scenic photos. I also shot over 20 36-exposure rolls of slide film on my journey and about two hours worth of video on the camcorder.

The response I got from firefighters was probably better than on any other trip I have taken. I met some amazing and unforgettable firefighters along my journey. I wish I had more time to visit with them all. The dastardly deeds perpetrated to all of us on 9/11/01 seems to have further amplified the pride in the fire service while it rekindled the pride of our citizens to better appreciate this amazing country and what it stands for.

I traveled over 8000 miles on this trip and saw flags waving from homes all across this great land. There were no holidays- just grateful Americans showing their renewed pride in their country. I saw many homes that had huge flags draping over or painted on their roofs. Bridges across freeways all over the land were adorned with the stars and stripes. Abandoned vehicles parked in farmyards and barns had old glory painted on them.

I noticed that almost one in four vehicles on the roads I passed had either an American flag or emblem on their vehicle somewhere- or at least a patriotic bumper sticker. Almost every fire truck I came across had an American flag (or decal), a FDNY patch or emblem, or a black ribbon commemorating those that sacrificed their lives on 9/11 in New York City. Some had all four.

Typical of this pride is a situation I remember in LA County one morning. I was taking a picture of Engine 27 at LA County Station 27 when a firefighter yelled at me to "hold on". I wasn't sure what he wanted me to wait for until he climbed atop the rig and adjusted the American flag on top of the rig. That's pride!

When I was behind Squad 2 as they returned to quarters in San Francisco, I was reminded of this pride. Firefighters riding on top of the apparatus stood between two large American flags waving in the breeze from the rear of the squad body as they rode down the street awaiting their next call to duty. The scene kind of chocked me up at the time. I took a slide photo through the windshield. A short time later, I drove by a run down corner grocery store in a nearby SF neighborhood. The Hispanic proprietor was just putting the final touches on a huge painting of the American Flag that covered the entire side of his store.

While I was glad to be back home, I was also sad that this trip had to end. I had a great five weeks including a wonderful week with Karyle in Carlsbad, CA enjoying a wonderful time-share, area scenery, and many things to see and do in that area. My days visiting with my brother Ron and his best friend Jon in beautiful Cloverdale, Ca was priceless and went by way too quickly.

I sometimes think I could travel for months on end. If and when I retire, maybe I'll just do that.

Thanks for riding along. I hope you enjoyed the ride. Until the next time- Take care.

Your roving reporter

Trip Photos: 1581- Rancho Santa Fe, CA Engine with flag on side of rig 1593- San Migel, CA Engine with FDNY mural on side of truck 1595- Miramar, CA Engine flying the stars and stripes 1767- A relaxing scene of a sailboat on San Diego Bay 2015- The peacful green valleys and sky blue water in the San Luis Recreation Area 2268- The scary, but picturesque "Scenic Drive" along the mountains above El Paso