Ladder Truck Training

Every Monday night since October 2004, Buddy has faithfully gone to our fire station for weekly training. Since I joined the department in May of 2006, I have also attended every training except for the times I was on medical leave for my two pregnancies. But even then, I still attended the business meeting held on the first Monday of the month and the EMT training each month to keep my license current. Even on nights when I couldn't participate, I still went and watched or did something non-physical.

This week was one of those nights I was glad I came to observe, because our guys trained with a ladder truck. One of our stations that we run assist calls with recently obtained a ladder truck. This happens to be the station that several of our guys (including our chief) work at when they aren't working at our station, so they decided our guys needed to become familiar with this truck.

Our station also recently got a new engine truck.  This is the new Engine 215.

Here is the ladder truck we trained with.  Personally I think all fire trucks should be shiny and red, but this truck is pretty sweet.

Quinn and Jacob came along with me. 

These are some of our fire fighters learning in the bucket of the ladder truck. Chris, the guy on the far left is one of our Captains, but he also works full-time at the other fire department, so he knows the ladder truck well. Buddy is second from the right, in the red helmet.

Buddy in action.

Chris took all of our guys up in the bucket and extended the ladder as much as it would go.  Buddy is in the bucket for both of these pictures.







Quinn, Jacob and I left after Buddy had his turn, but not before Quinn had a chance to explore the fire trucks.

Being a member of the fire department is quite a commitment, knowing that every Monday night is spoken for. It's never something I thought I would ever do, but I am so grateful I have become a part of "The Brotherhood"!