TOOLS

Something that I have had the fortune of being blessed with is opportunity. I have had the opportunity to fight fire as a profession. I have been afforded the opportunity to attend some of the best schooling in our great state. I have been blessed to be impressed upon by some great men and women in the fire service today. These opportunity's are there for anyone to take advantage of. Sometimes they are pricey and you have to come up with the jingle on your own, but if you're in a slump and are starting to plateau its a great way to start climbing up again!

One of my greatest opportunities and really more blessings, was to be stationed as a rookie with one of my now great friends. While in training he was that old codger that you couldn't wait to kick in the face "on accident" when he played the victim. He was loud, rude, pushy, and had expectations a mile high. He never pushed us to the point of breaking but dang if it didn't feel like it sometimes! He showed us things that out right sucked and were hard. He let us bust our humps trying to get it done. When we finished he said "Now let me show you an easier way to do it." He was the guy that let me believe that the nostalgia that I had for the job wasn't a myth.

Hook & Irons

This man was and always is teaching something. One of the things that I learned and instill in all I run across is "DONT COME OFF MY F'n TRUCK WITH EMPTY HANDS!" We always had to have something. As time went on we all got to the point that we would call each other out as slackers if we didn't all at least have a light, hand tool, and something special (rabbit tool, elevator keys, TIC). I come off at every alarm from the truck with MY light, MY halligan, and a thermal imager. Tools are what make or break us at the job.


Sometimes you gotta have YOUR stuff to keep standards


When we get to a fire; we, my company, doesn't want to look like a bunch of cops in turnout gear. We want to come off, knock it out, and get back to American Idol to watch Angie and Kree battle it out! To do that you have to become very efficient in the movements you do and with the tools you use. If you're assigned to vent the roof, grab everything you need, stack it on the ladder and carry it at once. Yea it takes a minute to get it together but once your there you're ready to rock and roll. You're on the initial attack line? Better take a tool! Who's to say that you don't get in there and the door you have to get to is a locked metal door. You aren't gonna kick it in deputy so don't tear an mcl! Take a tool! Take a PROPER tool! You dont use an ax to pull ceiling and you dont force doors with a trash hook!

So old man winter instilled in the guys under him to take what you need to play the game! You're probably all saying "DUH! Lets get on to something we don't know." Well here's something you might know but most people, especially the ones ahead and above us over look. Hopefully they just expect it to have been done. TAKE CARE OF YOUR TOOLS!!!

This is the part of the job that no one wants to do. Washing tools, wiping down power units, and painting heads is not what they do on Rescue Me! No matter how boring and mundane the task may be it directly reflects on you and your company. Your Captain might be the lazy ass that gets off with his coat unzipped and his helmet in the truck but that's not you! Don't be lazy and complacent. If you get bored at the firehouse get the guys together. Say, Hey guys grab a chair real quick and come out to the floor I need some help knockin something out. You're gonna hear some moans and groans when they see your "project," but once you get started that's when the magic happens.

We knocked out the whole engine in a day!

You'll pull off a couple tools at a time and scrape and brush off crud while those memorable stories about three wheelers and bar fights from "back in the day" flow from the old timers around you. Pretty soon all the tools are clean and painted ready for the next job. You've found a split in an ax handle that's probably been there for months that has been over looked. You have killed 3 hours productively all while nearly falling off your bucket peeing your pants in laughter. Its something that HAS to be done and SHOULD be done. The old timers did it all the time. That's how it was. They don't teach tool cleaning in that fancy schmancy Fire Science Degree so its becoming more and more over looked.

So I guess this whole rambling could have been summed up in one thing I heard an old timer recently say. "You boys better not come off this dang truck with a rusty ax. If you do I'm gonna beat you with it till its clean!" Pretty simple I guess. When you have pride in the stuff you use then it will reflect. The ones coming behind you will see what you do and hopefully pick up on it.

Take care of your stuff and it will take care of you.

Thanks Rob!