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Comment by Ron King (Fire Chief) on October 18, 2009 at 9:16pm

That first fire. What a feeling!

Comment by jeff nunziato on October 18, 2009 at 7:14pm

frist fire not a thing else like in the world congarts brother

Comment by Justin Scott on October 17, 2009 at 10:46pm

congrats on catching ur first job brother. be safe out there

Comment by Guille Gavilan on October 17, 2009 at 9:29pm

Well, sorry if I sound bad, it is very difficult for me to write in English, but I'm learning jaja .. I will be short.
Let me tell you my first fire was in October 2005 was a Friday date not remember what I do remember is it was very cold! jaja .. we were just three in the guard was 11:40 when we advised our headquarters was a small commercial salon fire woooooow!
Then we were three of us! jaja the driver, and two fighters (I and another colleague) was incredible ... clear call for support in the meantime and between a fight with my partner I'll never forget feeling the adrenaline and into a place where nothing is seen and felt the heat!, the funniest thing was that I finish my air and despair .. jaja .. I was good as short as possible .. I hope you liked it ..
Greetings from Paraguay!

Comment by Kevin Burks on October 17, 2009 at 12:26pm

congrats on your first fire Clay. sounds like everything went well. Just remember one thing when you get in the engine or any other vehicle.......Everyone Goes Home......Be safe

Comment by Lee on October 17, 2009 at 10:43am

Sounds like a good first wear, as we say in England. In and Out getting the job done. I have been a Firefighter for 5 years now and I still jump out of my seat when the call comes in, generally I'm first out of the room and nearly always first to the turnout printer.

The Cheshire Cat look is one I know very well! There is nothing that says Firefighter more than a good fire. I have seen a good number of RTC's and special service calls but a fire is always the ultimate.

My first was a Dry Cleaning premise. The call came in at 0230, a rude awakening from an uneasy slumber. Two trucks turned out from my station, and were the only 2 attending so far. We turned into the unit grounds and immediately saw Smoke Issuing. We had 2 Trucks in the initial attendance, and made up for another 2, along with a Breathing Apparatus Support Unit (BASU). Entry was made by 2 B.A teams, via a side window which had to be "opened" using the universal 16lb hammer shaped key, I was in the second team to make entry. Proceeding on a right hand search pattern we made good penetration into the unit itself, locating several seats of fire and extinguishing them.

My B.A partner and I continued looking for the main seat of fire, it seemed as though we had been working for a long while, when we looked towards the roof space, and saw...........the night sky. We commented to each other that this was not a good situation to be in, as just beyond the newly burnt out roof feature there were large flames within the smoke layer. The flames were completely passing over our heads and working their way towards our exit route.

"Time to go?" my buddy said as I stared into the horrifically beautiful fire above us.
"Er......yeah sounds good to me!"

Seconds after the decision to exit was made a Broadcast message was sent to all teams within the risk to evacuate. The firefighters outside had noticed several large sections of the roof hanging precariously in the air.

Making a swift move towards our entry point we could hear and see the fire growing in the far reaches of the unit, I found the window we had used to enter and launched myself through it. Happily all Firefighter in the premise made it out safely and before the fire was completely extinguished the roof had completely fallen in. A fire of suspicious origin and with multiple large seats of fire. A building with non standard internal construction, happily no-one was hurt.

Baptism of fire? Not sure. Good fun? Hell yeah! Massive ear to ear grin for the next 2 days? Definatley!

I always thought this job was good, but being a firefighter now I know it's awesome!

Congrats on your first fire. Hopefully many more and a long, safe career to come.