Yesterday, while I was I surfing the "net" because I was bored and waiting for the wife to get home with dinner from Outback (Yes, we eat good sometimes and I am not afraid to admit it), I came across the IFBA Page. Fore those of you who are not are not as fire worthy as I am, the IFBA stands for the International Association of Fire Buffs. Bassically, it is a group of people who support firefighters in their duties and functions, but are not firefighters. In major metro areas, they run the canteen and rehab units that go to major alarm fires and in other communities they go and take pictures and do stiff like that. When I was growing up, I always thought of these people as "ticks" - they come around, they are always there, they never go away and they are always a pain in the ass. As I grew older, I realized that they played an important role in the fire service, The refreshments they provided were very much appreciated! The assistance they played on the scene was often invaluable, and I began to really like the photgraphs that these guys/girls were taking. Being a volunteer in Fairfax County, Virginia, I would respond POV (in my own vehicle) to fires in the middle of the night and met quite a few free-lance photgraphers and these buffs. One of the buffs that I met was a guy named Wes Gerald. Wes went to work for Fairfax County in the 911 Center and buff a great deal in his off hours. He also had his camera around him. I started to carry my camera with me on calls. I got some great shots and even sold some to JEMS at age 16. Sounds pretty damn good to me if I may say so .

Anyway, Wes died last year after a long battle with kidney disease. I came across a site that features some of Wes's photo's that I am glad exists. His pictures were not always the best, but he tried and that is really all that matters. The pictures that Wes got that were good, were damn good! I am going to post a link to his photo page for others to look at. I am also going to post some of my favorite apparatus pictures as I was gleaming when I found them.

For those of you who care, the IFBA will be holding their annual Convention in Washington, DC this summer. I will post the dates at a later time.

The link to Wes's photos is http://wesphoto10.com. Wes, rest assured, some of us are still enjoying your work.

Until next time.

Later