Timothy O. Casey's Blog (53)

You Maybe an Alcoholic Firefighter if you Drink Like This

This is how I as an alcoholic drank off duty and how bad it got, to the point of suicide.http://ineverwantedtobeafirefighter.blogspot.com/

Added by Timothy O. Casey on February 6, 2015 at 3:55pm — No Comments

In Light of Robin Williams Suicide

I know it's been a long time since I've posted but I have been working on a new book and it is almost done. It's called Saving Heroes and it is all about firefighter suicides and to help firefighters over come this terrible choice. I have launched a Indigogo campaign and I need help getting the word out about it, please help.   …

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on August 13, 2014 at 5:56pm — No Comments

Firefighters we get visited by ghosts.

 

It was a dark and stormy night, really it was. The heavens had opened up in Colorado once again; the streets were running with hot stinky water, funky water that smelled of petroleum and death. I was on duty at firehouse number four when the alarm hit. Rollover T/A at Lake Avenue and highway 115 with people trapped.…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on September 24, 2013 at 10:31pm — 1 Comment

Don't Kill a Firefighter Just Because Your Stupid.

I have had a bad case of writers block and just haven’t been able to settle on a topic for a new post and the then rains came. Man did it rain here in Colorado for the last couple of days; it has rained on a biblical level. One area south of Colorado Springs received 9 inches of rain in four hours.…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on September 16, 2013 at 9:23am — No Comments

18 firefighters die in willand fire.

18 firefighters working the Yarnell Hill Fire confirmed dead. Under these circumstances most people will…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on July 1, 2013 at 2:35am — No Comments

Firefighters Don't Work in Cubicles, but you Would Never Know it by our Start Time.

 

I have a question. Why is it that most firefighter shifts start around 7:00 am? Why are firefighters forced to deal with rush hour traffic and add to the rush hour mess? After all we work a 24 hour shift, why couldn’t we begin our day at say 10:00am or 11:00am?…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on June 25, 2013 at 9:20am — No Comments

We do Face Death Every Day Like it or Not.

Over the course of my career and post retirement I have had more people than I can name ask me or imply that yes firefighting is a dangerous job, but you were never really at risk of death or that the idea a firefighter can die any day they go to work is kind of bull shit.

A part of me wants to agree with them. I know I only had a handful of times where I was in a…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on June 10, 2013 at 10:57pm — No Comments

Firefighters Only Rent Firehouses.

More and more of my firemen friends are retiring, this is the result of hiring large recruit academies in the early 80’s. I have gone to a few retirement parties to wish my friends well in retirement land and to see other retirees.…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on June 3, 2013 at 12:35pm — No Comments

What is it Like in the Fire House Bedroom?

 

I have been asked if Firefighters are good in bed and since I’ve only slept with one, my ex-wife, I have a very limited data base on the subject. I won’t discuss my ex-wife in this post as that is far too private for a blog. I will offer some stories about firefighters in bed that I do know all too well.…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on May 3, 2013 at 12:54pm — No Comments

If I were Chief...

 

Becoming a firefighter is quite a process and always has been. The testing has taken many forms over the years. When I tested in the early 80s it was so grueling I vomited following the physical agility test and had to sit in my car for 10-15 minutes before I could drive.…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on April 25, 2013 at 8:41pm — No Comments

People ask how do I Feel About Boston and West Texas, I don't feel Good.

I have had a lot of friends ask me how do firefighters feel about all the things that have happened this week in America, from the Boston Marathon to West, Texas and the many other tragic events less reported. I can’t speak for all firefighters and would never attempt something so arrogant as to try and express how it feels to lose a…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on April 19, 2013 at 1:21pm — No Comments

New Firemen are Smarter, but are they Better?

There is a life cycle for a firefighter. Some people say as a child, I want to be a firefighter when I grow up and they do. Some like me fall into it and now a days there is a new type of firefighter, the well educated-advanced-degree-holding-uncommitted-I-need-a-job-for-now kind.…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on April 13, 2013 at 3:25pm — No Comments

God works through the hands of Firefighters every day.

As Easter rolls around again I am reminded of a call that nearly cost me my job. Years ago just days after Easter my crew was called to a difficulty breathing call. Yeah that was all the information we got as was the situation many times. Not that dispatch didn’t want us to have more information; sometimes a little info was all they could gather.

 

We arrived emergent at a nice suburban home and were greeted by a near hysterical mother and a somewhat calm dad. They quickly…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on March 30, 2013 at 12:10pm — No Comments

Just Keep Driving Please.

 

I saw these videos today Must see Videos and it got me thinking of the good old days on the streets. I remember people screaming at us when we blocked traffic on surface streets and even worse language when on the Interstate. We block lanes of traffic not so we can hide behind the fire…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on March 27, 2013 at 7:32pm — No Comments

First Dedicated Truck.

So yesterday I stopped by a coffee shop owned by another retired Firefighter my buddy Eric. Eric I don’t think started off wanting to own a coffee shop, he just hated fire house coffee.

Firefighters for the most part are really cheap when it comes to pitching in on shared expenses at the station. So the cost of stuff like coffee, creamer, anything we deem a “staple” is split evenly across all firefighters.

Eric hated cheap coffee and cheap cigars so he began…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on March 14, 2013 at 12:45pm — 2 Comments

Not All Calls Have Happy Endings!

 

This weekend my local newspaper ran a story about a call from many years ago that I have written about here in the past. The article by Bill Vogrin, here is a link http://sidestreets.freedomblogging.com/2013/02/02/sometimes-lives-start-badly-and-there-is-no-happy-ending/17883/ was done with great skill as he (and I) both had hopes for a much different…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on February 4, 2013 at 12:53pm — No Comments

Sorry but I like Chicago Fire!

 

If you aren’t watching the new show on NBC called Chicago Fire you should be. The show has a great pedigree it comes from Dick Wolf of Law and order fame and a friend Derek Hass. I don’t give it a strong recommend because I know some of the people involved, but rather because it is serving an educational roll in my opinion.

 

After the first episode my sister called me. She was nearly in tears after having watched the show. She told me that the show…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on December 7, 2012 at 12:43pm — 9 Comments

Firefighters kill themselves sometimes. So what who cares?

I spent yesterday in Denver at the Denver Convention Center the host location for the Fire-Rescue International Conference http://s36.a2zinc.net/clients/iafc/fri12/Public/MainHall.aspx?ID=2716 with Chief Jeff Dill of the Palatine Rural Fire Protection District in suburban Chicago.

B/C Dill is a…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on August 2, 2012 at 1:30pm — 1 Comment

Denver Post Reporters Know More Than Rescuers!

It seems the Denver Post has hired two extraordinarily gifted emergency medical advisers, or possibly two desperately stupid reporters that feel that from the safety of their adorably decorated cubicles they can fairly judge the conduct of the emergency personnel that responded to the Aurora shootings.

It seems Karen E. Crummy (no irony in her name…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on July 28, 2012 at 11:26am — No Comments

Top 10 Reasons to be a Firefighter.

 

There are many reasons to be a firefighter, some obvious and some maybe not so obvious. So here are my Top 10 Reasons to be a firefighter.

 

1) Everyone thinks you are a hero, even if you don’t believe that yourself. After the fires here in Colorado Springs, I am of the opinion that all of my former co-workers are freaking heroes and so does this entire city. The men and women of the Colorado Springs Fire Department (and all the other agencies that…

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Added by Timothy O. Casey on July 26, 2012 at 6:23pm — 2 Comments

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