A Night Off

Last night, at 11:55pm, was the 24th running of the Club Northwest Firecracker 5000, a 5 kilometer running race that circumnavigates Seattle Center twice before terminating in Memorial Stadium. For me it was a chance to reappear from Fire Academy and be a board member again. My brother-in-law Mike and I arrived early to help Nick, the official "Banana Man", with the banana-apple-orange table. We also supported the pre-entry"find your number" table" prior to the run commencing. Apparently there was a Zombie Walk, a Greed Day concert and a local Micro brew festival in an around Seattle Center just prior to the run. This young zombie walker was a bit spooky but turned out to be a pretty good runner too. The shirts this year have a screened glow-in-the-dark moon that needed charging.

Bill Roe, the guy in the orange shirt with the microphone, was the announcer. His voice has been the voice of many a race in the Seattle area for many years. At 11:50 we all took the line and awaited the official okeedokee from the Seattle Police indicating the course was clear.

And they're off!!!

I tried to document the run but hey it was after midnight and my little camera was not illuminating as well as I would have hoped. Here are a couple shots of the runners and a few bystanders at a local pub.

The race was a good study break from the Fire Academy. the family is off in Vermont for the annual Hirst Family Vacation. I missed this year, but it seems to be a good year to miss as it has been raining in Vermont for the past week and the weather here has been SPECTACULAR!!

Meanwhile back at the Fire Academy we finish our last week of burning for our Firefighter I certification. We had another round of "cars on the curb" working on flaming liquid fuel fires.

That's me with the nozzle cooling off the engine block of the car behind the flaming van.

We proceeded to the leaking LPG tank for a wonderful example of how a full fog pattern can hold back a lot of flame. The heat still radiates through the water droplets but the stream forms a cone of low pressure and keep "most" of the flames inside.

After a hard days work it's good to rest. This is Jeff Persons one of the hardest working recruits at the academy.

Hope this posting finds you well. Enjoy your 4th of July 2009.

Tony

9330 BTUs

Fire Science Lab 201: 1 gallon of water can absorb 9330 BTUs as it is converted to steam and in the process it will expand 1700 times its liquid volume. So 1 gallon will become roughly 200 cubic feet of steam at conversion (212F) and then when it hits 1000 degrees F. it expands to about 400 cubic feet. (Science is cool.) So we are learning you can't just run in and spray water. You have to have space for the water to convert to steam (the process that takes heat from the fire and in doing so cools it=extinguishment) without steaming everyone. So a room filled with hot gasses and smoke, with the addition of several hundred cubic feet of REALLY HOT STEAM (4 gallons=between 800 and 1600 cubic feet(How big is your living room?)), is not an environment for a game of Parcheesi. Dry 300 degrees F is tolerable, wet 300 degrees F is a recipe for steamed firefighters, can you say L&I! So opening windows and venting the roof needs to be done to make space to safely cool the fire with water to the point of extinguishment. Hence the reason we practice cutting holes in roofs. You may ask, "How many BTUs are created by a typical fire?" (or not) Well a typical fire with the typical amount of fuel will produce around 13.2 BTUs/second/sq.ft (in English that means the ceiling will be at around 1000 degrees F in 5 minutes!)

Well the Academy has decided to keep me around for awhile. I seem to be doing well enough on the tests and on the fire ground to stay. Below are a few more pictures of the things we have been up to the last few weeks.

Oops, that was a kickball session during a study break in the shadow of Mt Si.

On to chainsaw appreciation day. We cut simulated roof vent holes with a saw and then had to do it with an axe. The trick: use the blunt end (45 seconds for a 4x8 OSB, not bad.) Then of course there is dancing in front of instructors. (It wasn't me, really.)

Low visibility day was a task. The "Lab" was filled with smoke to within inches of the floor to simulate a real fire scenario. It was hot and really hard to see, much like a real fire, cool. (The water on the floor next to the fire was boiling.) When I was in the "lab" taking the low visibility picture below I actually watched another recruit spray water on the ceiling (A technique to cool the overhead gasses.) with no water bouncing off back to the floor. 100% conversion of the water to steam!! (See note at the top of the post.) Nothing dripped to the floor! It was cool, then very VERY HOT! Oops, did I forget to check for conversion space? Why, yes, yes you did. We skedaddled out the door on our hands and knees most expediently! Later on that day after resetting the prop a hose actually burst (failed at a weak spot) and gave one recruit a full shoulder steam burn, much like a bad sunburn.

During ladder rescue day Kyle, another Edmonds FF, was my rescue firefighter and I was the victim, then the tables were turned.

Then we spent a day outside with car liquid fuel fires, apparently this prop was having a bad day.

All in all I am well, although daily I am continually pushed to my physical limit and loving the challenge.

Please continue the emails and prayers, and of course contacting Cheryl with support. Seven weeks down and five to go!

Tony

Fire Academy

Well it has been three weeks now and my training at the North Bend Fire Academy is going well. The program is a 12 week intensive study of fire behaviour, extinguishing techniques, equipment training and use and para-military indoctrination.

It is very overwhelming both mentally and physically.

I am doing well with my studies and the physical training, and the food is great. Pat, our cook, keeps us happy with an amazing menu.

We spend one day a week in the classroom for lecture and testing and the other three days are a mixture of "lab" and firemanship training.

Here we are prepping for a sofa fire scenario in the burn building. The instructors stage the fires to simulate real life allowing us to view the growth and development stages. Here we will be allowing a 20 square foot pallet fire to develop in a corner of "the lab", a 30x50 room in the burn building, so that we can practice knocking it back and controlling the development.

As the fire develops the temperature in the lab increases. the thermal layer at the ceiling begins to drop an we experience 400 degrees at mid wall. The floor is still at around 150 degrees. We learn this type of fire is still very controllable with very little water if applied correctly.

If you look closely a recruit on the right sprays a solid stream of water on the ceiling while the instructor directs his application. The water stream hits the ceiling cooling the upper layer and knocking back the flames. The water that doesn't convert to steam bounces off and lands on the fire seat, at least that is the goal.

Later on we complete an evolution on a smaller"fire box lab" outside on the burn pad. The remaining images are from last week; dragging charged hoses through mazes, spraying at max capacity of 200 gallons per minute, playing with water patterns and then re-entering the lab for a fire twice the size as the previous couch fire.

Thanks for all your love, prayers and support. Keep them coming especially for Cheryl and the boys as I am away from home four days a week. I found my phsical limit in the lab and reached the edge of heat exhaughestion last week. Nothing a little time outside 300 degrees and a lot of water couldn't fix. The training resumes tomorrow with week four. I'll keep ya'll posted with more pictures and stories.

Tony

Boys, Sports and Family Updates.

In a view of what things will be like for Cheryl and I in the future, Jon and Gabe have been very busy with their sports. Gabe chose to play basketball this winter and had a blast with his team.

They played a bunch of games around the area in the YMCA system. It was fun to see him try something ENTIRELY new, and have fun at it. He took to the sport well and has voiced interest in continuing next season.

Now we are on to baseball season. Gabe is on the Defenders this year with a bunch of his buddies, his first year in machine-pitch. He is still Gabe and at times lives in his own little world out there in right field. But he loves the socializing and the sunflower seeds.

His skills are improving a lot and his game is getting better. His throws are more accurate and he is hitting and catching. Not to mention cheering his team on with appropriate rally cap poses. Jon is full on in kid-pitch with a great team of boys who he has played ball with for a couple seasons. The Coaches are familiar too so the team atmosphere is really fun, with a flavor of seriousness. This season marks the true beginning of real baseball with hits, plays, outs, base stealing and a small measure of strategy. The games are very exciting and so very much fun towatch. The last game was a momentous victory over an undefeated team with a spectacular game winning steal of home. Jon is one of the faster runners and does a gret job on base. He also has a great arm and has made some fantastic throws from center field.

Cheryl's photo season has ramped up as she is scheduling senior and family portraits like crazy. The good weather reminds folks it's time and the procrastinating seniors are scrambling. Her work is still steady at Summit Rehab., in Sultan.

I started my new job at Edmonds Fire Department reporting for duty last Friday morning at 0800. I will spend next week in orientation and gear fitting and then be off to the Academy Wednesday night. The two other probational firefighters are a bit younger than me (both 23) but we are getting to know each other well and the fit is good. The academy is in North Bend, WA near my folks house. The official start date is May 11 but we are getting a jump on it with a few days of orientation. Beau and Kyle, my fellow probys, are both ripe out of the Marines with four years of duty. They will be able to help me with the para-military atmosphere of the academy and I will be able to help them with the copious amount of firefighting material we will be ingesting in the 12 week process. Kyle has no fire experience and Beau has aircraft "crash" fire training, both are already certified EMTs. It is going to be very difficult and, oh, so much fun.

I will be doing as much photography at the academy as possible and posting as such. I pray this wonderful SUNNY western Washington day finds you all well.

Tony

Tony is a Firefighter, almost!

During the last two months all the pieces fell into place for me to start testing and applying for Firefighting jobs in the Puget Sound region. This has been a simmering dream of mine for many years but one I have not aggressively pursued. I completed the computer based "written" test and passed the physical CPAT test. My options of departments were limited due to the increasingly stringent application requirements. It seems a lot of people are looking for jobs. With no expectations, I applied to the Edmonds, East Pierce and Mountlake Terrace Fire Departments.

Two weeks ago I received and invitation to interview with Edmonds Fire Department. The initial interview went very well and I was pleased with my performance. I was incredibly surprised when the Assistant Chief called to invite me back for a Chief's Interview, a "get to know ya" as he described it. That call was last Monday the interview would be Thursday. I crammed in a few sessions of practice in the two days I had to prepare. What I expected was a sit down discussion, boy was I wrong. The interview was a continuation of the prior interview with harder and more pointed questions. It was nerve wracking and difficult, but I made it through without losing my composure. I was informed the selection would be made by Friday. I didn't expect to continue as this was first interview in a couple years, and it is rare to get an offer without the usual 3-5 years of interviewing and testing. I was ill-prepared for the news I received at 3:30 last Friday.

The Assistant Chief called our home, Cheryl called me at track practice, I called the Assistant Chief, he was in a meeting and said he would call back. THE LONGEST HALF HOUR EVER passed and the call came in. "We would like to make a contingent job offer." As he said it his cell phone began to break up making distorted digital voice sounds. I asked him to repeat his last statement explaining his phone was breaking up, he laughed at the timing and repeated his statement.

It was official and I was stunned. Pending the physical and psych evals, Recruit Academy and 9 months of probational fire work I will be offered a badge as a Firefighter with the Edmonds Fire Department. It is still hard to believe the process went so quickly. There is a lot of work to be done prior to May 1 at which time I will report for duty, and the Academy begins on May 8.

Thanks to all for your prayers, thoughts and support. It has been a startling fast process covered in prayer. I appreciate all of you and I know Cheryl will appreciate all the help in the next twelve months.

Thanks again, Tony

P.S. I'm in the yellow helmet and yellow dry suit.