Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bull on February 11, 2008 at 11:00pm

ive driven over the road for years,and have driven triaxle local, so i can be home and do my fire,,not gonna say i dont miss the road though

Permalink Reply by Mike Simmons on February 12, 2008 at 11:17pm

Yeah, I miss it every once in a while, until I hear about snow/ice somewhere. Also got tired of being away from home & family weeks @ a time. I did enjoy it over all tho. Least I know I won't b unemployed if this job goes South. Course wife threatens divorce if I go back out.
Miss the FD also until I see guys out fighting a brush fire in 102* heat or working a wreck in sleet & snow! (Yep, it snows on W. Tx!!)

Permalink Reply by Justa Hoser on February 18, 2008 at 1:15pm

Greetings.

I went back to trucking soon after I finished entry level firefighter 1 & 2, and because the department I was on at the time had my turnout gear custom made for me (due to my size) I paid them for it so it wasn't money thrown away for them, and so I could take it on the road with me. I moved out of that area to be closer to the trucking company i was working for, and gave 8 years to, no accidents, no moving violations, and successful trainees. They fired me for "being unhappy", but that's a different story. For the 9+ years that I was on the road, I always had my turnout gear with me, along with a Haligan tool that i purchased, and a 20 LB dry chem extinguisher. I geared up countless times out there. The look on the faces of old folks that spun off the road down in to a deep ditch, when they see the helmet and gear at their window... or someone sitting in a wrinkled mess of a car, when they open their eyes for the first time after impact... and the list goes on.

Each time I geared up, I had something to tell the departments that responded. As soon as the scene was under control, I would just slip away.

Moose

Permalink Reply by Eric Friday on July 29, 2008 at 12:36pm

well I've been a firefighter for about 20 years started out as a security guard at a mill in northwest Indiana found out i didn't like it. struggled for work till i was 24 then went out to driving school for CRST and didn't like the OTR experience while on the road i let my EMT lap(big mistake) and been a local driver for about 12 years driving garbage trucks to dump trucks, 6wheelers to day cabs, haling milk to grocery's now I'm a petroleum transporter for the largest transportation on the U.S. Now 20 years later i'm and Firefighter, and instructor,and a truck driver, and a family man and loving it every day. ( still got to get my EMT back)

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Permalink Reply by Barbara Peduzzi on April 18, 2009 at 2:23pm

Not a firefighter, just an EMT. Was a driver for 20 + years, starting with little trucks and then moving up to big ones. Was an OTR driver for about 18 years, 17 w/same company, that let me take time off part of the year for my other job. Stopped a lot of times for incidents on and around the highway. Been off the road for about 7 years, yeah I miss it some of the time, and don't some of the time. I make up by taking long road trips whenever possible.
Favorite 'road EMT' story didn't happen when I was in the truck, it was coming back from helping deliver donated goods to south Florida after Hurricane Andrew: heading back north, we spotted a wreck on the southbound side of I-95 and stopped. a big ol' Ford was sitting on top of - yes, on top of, fully on top of - a Chevy Vega. Older man in the Ford, woman with 3 kids, about 12, 7 and an infant in the Vega. No one hurt badly, thank goodness, but the woman was pretty hysterical - understandably so! One bystander there, and nothing with flashing lights on it yet. I ran over to him, said 'I'm an EMT, can I help?' He looked at me and, presumably recognizing the NYS voice as not having a local accent, asked 'Are you certified in South Carolina?' I looked at him, looked around at the number of patients and said "Now don't be askin' questions you don't want to know the answer to. I'm gonna start again. I'm an EMT. Do You Need HELP?" He looked around himself, in the middle of 2 adults and 3 kids and not knowing yet the extent of injuries and said 'Yes.' 'Good answer. Leave the family to me, you look at the guy in the Ford.'