Day 25, April 6, 2009

Last night I made reservations at the Day’s Inn in Tempe, just down the block from new Tempe Fire Station 1 (271). I will be right on their new light rail line, which runs down Apache Blvd through east Tempe. I wanted to be somewhere on the east end of the Phoenix area for a quick departure tomorrow morning. I’ve recently had very good luck with Day’s Inns. They always have a full slate of cable channels (this one has 110, by the way), a refrigerator and a microwave oven (which can be very handy).

I checked out of the Extended Stay in Arcadia around 0645 hours and got on the nearby 210 headed east. Traffic moved very well going east, but it was backed up for miles for those poor drivers heading west. I made good time and ended up beyond Palm Springs by 0830 hours (110 miles). I was surprised to see snow atop Pyramid Peak (7058 feet) just outside Palm Springs. BTW: When they had the brush fire in Palm Springs last Friday, the power went out to much of the area. There were a number of people that had ridden the Tram up to the top of the mountain that became stranded there for over six hours.

I arrived in the Phoenix area around 1230 hours. It was sunny with the temperature already in the high 80s. I think it toped 90 degrees here today. I went by a number of Phoenix Stations on the west end of the city that I’d never been to before. That included Stations 40 and 44 on the far west side, and Stations 34 (temporarily closed), Station 21 (no one home) and 39 (been there once before), and new Station 57. I didn’t go by Station 58 (new to Phoenix) as it’s an old Laveen Fire Station in an area that was annexed a few years back by Phoenix.

I also went by the training area, but there were no companies there. I was disappointed. I did catch a photo out the car window of a reserve Spartan/Saulsbury pumper leaving the training area. I couldn’t stop at Station 44 as there was no place to park anywhere nearby. I had trouble getting anybody to answer the doors at Station 39 and 57. When I pounded on the garage door at 39 someone finally opened it up and I got photos of the engine. The guys at 39 were very nice, but the firefighters at 57’s weren’t very friendly at all, so I took indoor shots of the engine and brush truck and took off.

Just as I pulled up to Station 22, Engine 22 and the ambulance were dispatched to a “962” (traffic accident). I got a shot of Engine 22 as they responded out the door and then met a nice rookie firefighter assigned to the ladder truck that had grown up in St. Paul. He pulled the ladder truck out so I could take photos. Ladder 22 has a strange history. It was originally build by Van Pelt on a Spartan chassis with an 85-foot LTI tower. It was sent to American LaFrance and rebuilt with an ALF Eagle chassis in 2000.

I drove by the Phoenix FD Headquarters, but the only rig I saw there was Phoenix Engine 43 and it was parked inside the motorized gate (no way to get photos). It was really hot as I stood in the sun trying to get somebody to answer the doors (the doorbells must be out of order) at a couple of the stations here today. I’m glad I don’t live here. I decided to call it a day (a very hot day) and headed to the motel in Tempe around 1600 hours.

Tomorrow I should get as far as El Paso. I’ll have time to hit some stations on the way through the city in the afternoon and I’ll be staying on the east end of the city.