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Wytheville finds some water!

Photo by Jeffery Simmons

I don’t have many details yet but, apparently; the Wytheville Fire Department and Chief Ron King have abandoned their recently discovered “new firefighting technique” and resorted to fighting fire like the rest of America … by putting water on the fire.

The Wytheville Fire Department, along with the Rural Retreat Volunteer Fire Department responded to a house fire on West Lee Highway on Thursday December 27, 2012.

Chief King, and the Wytheville Department made the local news back in November when he opted to conduct salvage operations vs extinguishing a fire in the Crocketts Cove section of Wythe County, Va. Chief King took full credit for this “new technique” saying that he had never studied the technique in his “thousands and thousands of hours of training”. He also said, “we plan on using it again”. Find the entire article in a previous post below…

READ “New Firefighting technique developed in Wytheville, Va?”

Photo by Jeffery Simmons

My post on the issue resulted in several comments and e-mails (use the link above for that post).

My favorite comment was posted to my Face Book Fan Page by Jacob. He never came right out and asked but I think he wanted to marry me. Yea… out of the blue, this kid wanted my address so he could send me some rope and a vibrator! Yea … a vibrator LMAO! Read that post below.

Read that post by clicking HERE

Well, I never received the vibrator or the rope and, judging by the pictures of the most recent fire, Chief King has changed his mind as well. At least they are flowing water and the local news even said they were using an elevated master stream.

Full story from Tricities.com found HERE

I raised several valid questions out of the previous Wytheville issues and have yet to receive a valid response / argument. I even requested the audio files of the fire ground audio from the Crocketts Cove fire through the Freedom of Information Act and never received them.

I gave them the benifit of the doubt thinking that maybe they didn’t know what the Freedom of Information Act was. With that in mind, I posted a portion of the Act for them.

“Any public body that is subject to this chapter and that is the custodian of the requested records shall promptly, but in all cases within five working days of receiving a request, provide the requested records to the requester or make one of the following responses in writing:”

It also says “Failure to respond to a request for records shall be deemed a denial of the request and shall constitute a violation of this chapter”

I guess I should have also included portions of the Act that discuss the violations or failure to disclose requested information.

“ 2.2-3713 for a violation of § 2.2-3704, 2.2-3705.1 through 2.2-3705.8, 2.2-3706, 2.2-3707, 2.2- 3708, 2.2-3708.1, 2.2-3710, 2.2-3711 or 2.2-3712, the court, if it finds that a violation was willfully and knowingly made, shall impose upon such officer, employee, or member in his individual capacity, whether a writ of mandamus or injunctive relief is awarded or not, a civil penalty of not less than $500 nor more than $2,000, which amount shall be paid into the State Literary Fund. For a second or subsequent violation, such civil penalty shall be not less than $2,000 nor more than $5,000.”

More and more details are being brought to my attention every day. The Virginia Department of Fire Programs was apparently brought in several years back to preform a “study” of Wytheville’s operations. Obviously, the findings from that study have been totally ignored.

It also seems that there could be some “conflicts of interest” involved with the person whom I requested the information from in the first place (involving an ex-wife and her current relationship).

It now seems the problems in Wytheville reach deeper than first suspected. Again I’ll say that I can’t understand why the Board of Supervisors accepts this liability. I’ll keep ya posted as more details surface.

So, I trust and hope you all had a VERY Merry Christmas and I wish you all a prosperous, healthy and SAFE New Year.

My Christmas couldn’t have been better. It was spent surrounded by family and friends and I even managed to get a few awesome gifts.

Pictured right is the gift Rhett (FireCritic.com) gave me. It’s a custom leather radio strap made by Wolfpak Leather Works .

This strap is AWESOME. The detail and craftsmanship are second to none. It not only has my name on it, it also includes the Buckaroo and Ironfiremen.com THANKS Brothers!

I still haven’t got a good picture of it yet but, I had Rhett a custom apron made.

I have to admit that it too was a pretty awesome gift.

It’s made of PBI (just like our turnout gear) has striping, pockets d-ring snaps and his name. He LOVED it.

The apron was made by our good friends over at Blue Ridge Rescue Suppliers .

We’ve already received several comments and e-mails asking where the aprons can be purchased. So far, this is a “one of” but if they receive enough interest, more will be made. Use the link above ( or just CLICK HERE )to contact Blue Ridge Rescue Suppliers and inquire about the aprons. Actually, check them out for any and all of your equipment needs. Call or e-mail and be sure to tell em we sent ya!

Tonight, I’m covering a shift for Rhett.

I’m working at Station #3-A. His Captain, Mac Craft; is on duty and we decided he’d make the better driver / operator so I’m riding the seat and Mac is driving.

It’s been a while since I’ve been behind the wheel so I’m sure everyone is safer this way….LOL

Thanks to Captain Mac for letting me have his seat today.

Rhett’s down in Nashville with family but will be home in time for the New Year. 2013 is shaping up to be our busiest year yet and I’m sure it will also be our best!

Be sure to keep checking back for our 2012 Year in Review posts …. if you haven’t been following along, you’ll never believe where we’ve been and what we’ve gotten ourselves into!

Do you guys remember little Hunter Moseley?

I first introduced you to him through a post back in November (linked below)

Read “PRIDE … Going the extra mile and making a kid smile”

Well since that post, Hunter has made several new friends and had some great experiences.

He now has “Team Hunter” shirts and his own Face Book Fan Page. Take a moment to visit and “LIKE” Hunters page … your support makes a difference for him and his family!

Visit and “Like” Team Hunter on Face Book HERE

My regular shift has me back Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week. I’ll check back in as soon as possible. Until I do, stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 29, 2012 • Filed under: administration-leadership, command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighting-operations, fires, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: Blue Ridge Rescue Suppliers, brotherhood, building fire, Captain Willie Wines Jr, Custom Leather Radio Straps, Dave Statter, fire, Fire Critic, Firefighter Aprons, firefighter pics, firefighters, house fire, Hunter Moseley, Lt. Rhett Fleitz, WolfPak Leather Works, Wooden Ladders and Ironfiremen, working house fire, Wytheville Fire Department

MERRY Christmas from Ironfiremen.com Headquarters

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Following the tragic events of Christmas Eve, the Fire Service is in shock. Having lost 2 Brothers in a senseless act of violence, it’s difficult for those of us on the job to be “merry” about anything. Our hearts are heavy while our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of our fallen and injured.

photo from democratandchronicle.com

Firefighters Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczówka were killed by a sniper after arriving at a house fire in West Webster, NY yesterday.

Firefighters Theodore Scardino and Joseph Hofstetter were also shot in the incident and remain hospitalized.

An on-duty Greece police officer John Ritter, was injured by shrapnel in the attacks as well.

The Fire Critic and Statter 911 has full and continuing coverage of the incident, arrangements and more over on their sites…

Webster, NY coverage from the Fire Critic HERE

Coverage of Webster from Statter 911 HERE

I’ll share more of my thoughts on this issue, as well as the Sandy Hook incident when I feel it’s more appropriate. It’s been a difficult month for the Fire Service but we will recover.

So, I was on duty yesterday and the “good” part of my Christmas started then.

Rhett came by at shift break to exchange gifts.

He got me a custom made leather radio strap from Wolkpak Leather .

This strap is AWESOME!

The front says “Captain Wines” while the back says “IronFiremen.com”. The anti-sway strap even has “Buckaroo” stamped into it!

Wolfpak is the guys who made our custom suspenders as well. They also personalized those to include the Buckaroo’s name. These guys do GREAT work and it’s evident in their finished product. The fact that offer the option and that Rhett thought enough to include the extra stamping is AWESOME. It was the PERFECT gift!

In return, I got Rhett an APRON …. LOL..yea…. an APRON!

Not just any Apron mind ya …. I had him one custom made from Jamie Brads of Blue Ridge Rescue Suppliers .

It turned out AWESOME! It was WELL ABOVE my expectations.

The material is actually PBI (the same stuff our Turnout Gear is made of).

It has the reflective stripping just like our gear. The same buckles, snaps and even has pockets!

As much as Rhett LOVES cooking, this should make a great gift.

I even had em put our patch in the center (in case he gets lost at the grocery store).

If nothing else, he’ll stand out in the kitchen.

We’ve already had several folks ask where and how to get one. Even though this was a custom job, Jamie and I discussed the possible demand for them once we got some pictures out.

If you’re interested, use the link above (or just CLICK HERE ) and let Jamie know ….

So, I got off duty this morning and headed home.

As it turns out, I was better than I thought I had been and old Santa made a stop in Catawba!

This is where I received my best gifts of the season.

I arrived home to be surrounded by family.

The Buckaroo, my girls (Donna, Randi and Reba), my sister Marci (and Aaron) and even my mom and step father were in from North Carolina.

The stockings were hung and packages under the tree… it made for a peaceful morning.

The Buckaroo had a BLAST and that’s what it’s all about.

I hope that all of you had just a memorable Christmas as I did.

I hope that yours was spent with friends and family as well.

Thanks for all the well wishes, cards etc that we’ve received through the site, Face Book and even “snail mail” ….. it’s humbling.

For those of you who pulled a tour (or has to tomorrow) THANK YOU for the service. Thank you for covering the shift so that the rest of us can be at home, protected with our families.

We wrapped up the 2012 FireCritic / Ironfiremen 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way yesterday (we actually released the final winners this morning HERE). Congratulations to all of our winners and THANKS to our contributors!

The 2012 installments of the Ironfiremen.com’s Santa’s Sexy Helpers ends today. We worked our way up to see what ol Santa would find under the tree and I don’t think he was disappointed. Actually, I think Mrs Claus was also pretty happy.

Here is the final installment of Santa’s Sexy Helpers for 2012 … one for the guys and gals… ENJOY!

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 25, 2012 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, in-the-line-of-duty, line-of-duty, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: 2012 FireCritic/Ironfiremen 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way, 2012 Santa's Sexy Helpers, Blue Ridge Rescue Suppliers, building fire, Custom leather work, Dave Statter, emergency traffic, EMS, EMT, fire, Fire Blogs, Fire Department, fire service, firefighter, firefighter ambushed, Firefighter apron, firefighter down, firefighter shot, firefighter wounded, firefighters ambushed, Firefighting, Fireground Video, Fires, Glenn Usdin, grandmother, hammer, house fire, house fire video, IronFiremen.com, John Ritter, joseph hoffstetter, Joseph Hofsetter, Lake Road, Leather radio strap, line of duty, Line of duty Death, LODD, Michael Chiapperini, Mike Chiapperini, Monroe County, New York, paramedic, people shot, radio traffic, Rhett Fleitz, Shooting, shots fired, Social Media, STatter911.com, structure fire, Theodore Scardino, Tomasz Kaczówka, video, Webster, William Spengler, Willie Wines Jr, Wolfpak Leather

The 2012 FireCritic / Ironfiremen 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way

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(NOTE: This post was delayed out of respect for our fallen Brothers who were ambushed and murdered in West Webster, NY yesterday 12/24/2012. Please continue to keep their sacrifice along with their friends and families in your thoughts and prayers)

Today ends the 2012 Fire Critic / Ironfiremen 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way!

For the last 12 days, with the help of our contributors; we’ve given away 44 prizes great prizes. It’s been a huge success and we hope you’ve enjoyed it!

PLEASE take the time to visit our contributors to say “thanks” for giving back to the fire service.

BoxAlarmLeather.com, FDCam.com, Crosstitched.com ,ESSEyePro.com , SecondAlarmFire.com , CentreLearn.com , CommandSim.com , CommercialSolutions.ca , GloveCrafters.com , LeatherheadConcepts.com , NM-Coin.com , NYFireStore.com , RKECustomLeather.com , SmokeIsShowing.ca , and 1st In Leather Fan Page .

Learn more about our contributors HERE

Here are our final 4 prizes and their winners …….

Prize #41 - FD Cam

This winner will receive the 1080p “Bulldog” series camera packages (Which includes Cam, BlackJack mount & 16gb SD card)

Winner : Jonathan Secrest

Prize #42 - 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment

This winner will receive a Boston Leather glove strap.

Winner : Bronson Smith

Prize #43 - NM Coin

This winner gets a Fire Critic / Ironfiremen Challenge Coin and patch.

Winner : James Copas

Prize #44 - CommandSim’s Sims U Share

For use with Windows or MAC. This winner receives training technology aimed to help instructors rapidly create realistic, localized experiences they can use to train on and discuss.

Winner: Bryce Beuerlein

Special thanks as well to Rhett Fleitz aka the “Fire Critic” for pulling it all together. We believe this to have been the largest Give-A-Way held by Fire Service Bloggers EVER!

Be sure to keep up with us throughout the year … you never know where we may be or what we will be into next. Of course you can always find us here on FireCritic.com or Ironfiremen.com. You can also follow us via Face Book by using the links below …

Ironfiremen on Face Book

FireCritic on Face Book

Well, even though the 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way is over, we still have 2 days remaining in the 2012 Ironfiremen.com’s Santa’s Sexy Helper installments. I guess since we have just 2 days remaining, ol Santa may need 2 helpers! And, I’ll add in one extra for our female fans / followers. I hope Santa finds ya under the mistletoe and that everyone has a SAFE and MERRY Christmas!

Here’s our Christmas Eve installment ….. I’ll have a “regular” post up later and don’t forget to check back tomorrow to see what ol Santa will find under the Ironfiremen.com Christmas tree!

Stay SAFE and in House!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE from Ironfiremen.com

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 25, 2012 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, 1st In Leather, 2012 Santa's Sexy Helpers, 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment, Box Alarm Leather, CentreLearn, Christmas, Command Sim, Commercial Solutions, Crosstitched, ESS Eye Pro, FD Cam, FDCam.com, fire, Fire Armor, Fire Blogs, Fire Critic, Fire Department, fire service, FireCritic.com, firefighter, Firefighting, Glove Crafters, Holiday Give-A-Way, IronFiremen.com, Leatherhead Concepts, NM-Coin, NY Firestore, Rhett Fleitz, RKE Custom Leather, Sims U Share, Smoke is Showing, Social Media, Willie Wines Jr

2 days left to win!

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There are just 2 day’s remaining in the 2012 FireCritic / Ironfiremen 12 Days of Christmas but it’s not too late.

You still have time to score some FREE SWAG from our AWESOME Give-A-Way. The 12 Days of Christmas could possibly be the largest Give-A-Way held by Fire Service Bloggers EVER!

When it’s all said and done, we will have given away 44 prizes! None of this would have been possible without our outstanding sponsors. If you haven’t yet, please take a minute to find out who they are and what they’re all about. Be sure to use the links, visit and “like” their pages and THANK them for their support (unless you don’t like FREE STUFF that is..LOL).

Visit the 12 Days of Christmas sponsors HERE

View the prize schedule by clicking HERE

Click HERE to ENTER the 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way

Here are the Day #11 prizes and their winners …..

Prize #37 - Box Alarm Leather

This winner will receive a Fully custom carved and painted helmet shield.

Winner : Steven Price

Prize #38 - 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment

The winner will receive a Boston Leather glove strap.

Winner : Cesar Leos

Prize #39 - NM Coin

This winner will receive a Fire Critic / Ironfiremen Challenge Coin and patch!

Winner : Jon Knepp

Prize #40 - CommandSim’s Sims U Share

This prize is for use on Windows or MAC. Training technology aimed to help instructors rapidly create realistic, localized experiences they can use to train on and discuss.

Winner : James Lerch

Congratulations to all of our winners. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve; is the final day so don’t forget to register. Help me and Rhett beat ol Santa to the punch and get some swag under your tree!

Speaking of Santa, I’m still rounding up some help for the big fella. Here is the 11th installment of Santa’s Sexy Helpers … ENJOY!

Stay SAFE and in House !

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 23, 2012 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, 1st In Leather, 2012 Santa's Sexy Helpers, 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment, Box Alarm Leather, CentreLearn, Christmas, Command Sim, Commercial Solutions, Crosstitched, ESS Eye Pro, FD Cam, FDCam.com, fire, Fire Armor, Fire Blogs, Fire Critic, Fire Department, fire service, FireCritic.com, firefighter, Firefighting, Glove Crafters, Holiday Give-A-Way, IronFiremen.com, Leatherhead Concepts, NM-Coin, NY Firestore, Rhett Fleitz, RKE Custom Leather, Sims U Share, Smoke is Showing, Social Media, Willie Wines Jr

More prizes and another Santa’s Sexy Helper

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It’s day #10 of the 2012 Fire Critic / Ironfiremen 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way and the prizes keep coming!

12 days of FREE SWAG from The Fire Critic, Ironfiremen.com and our awesome contributors! It’s FREE and EASY to enter and it’s not too late. All you need is a valid e-mail address and you could win too!

ENTER the 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way HERE

View the schedule of prizes HERE

Learn more about our contributors HERE

Here are today’s prizes and winners …..

Prize #33 - RKECustomLeather

This winner will receive A custom leather radio strap – complete set up to include strap, case, sway strap, also stamped and paint job.

Winner : Michael Still

Prize #34 - 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment

This winner will receive a Boston Leather glove strap

Winner : Scott Repke

Prize #35 - NM Coin

This winner will receive a FireCritic / Ironfiremen Challenge Coin and Patch.

Winner : Josh Parker

Prize #36 - CommandSim’s Sims U Share

This prize is good for Windows or MAC. Training technology aimed to help instructors rapidly create realistic, localized experiences they can use to train on and discuss.

Winner : Brian Young

And, to warm your spirits on this cold and blustery day, here is Day #10′s installment of Santa’s Sexy Helpers … enjoy!

Stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 22, 2012 • Filed under: news • Tagged: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, 1st In Leather, 2012 Santa's Sexy Helpers, 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment, Box Alarm Leather, CentreLearn, Christmas, Command Sim, Commercial Solutions, Crosstitched, ESS Eye Pro, FD Cam, FDCam.com, fire, Fire Armor, Fire Blogs, Fire Critic, Fire Department, fire service, FireCritic.com, firefighter, Firefighting, Glove Crafters, Holiday Give-A-Way, IronFiremen.com, Leatherhead Concepts, NM-Coin, NY Firestore, Rhett Fleitz, RKE Custom Leather, Sims U Share, Smoke is Showing, Social Media, Willie Wines Jr

1st day of winter and the 9th of the 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way!

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It’s the first day of winter and here on the east coast, old man winter is making an entrance. It’s windy and cold but the Fire Critic and I can warm ya up with some FREE SWAG and another installment of Santa’s Sexy Helpers!

It’s Day #9 of the Fire Critic / Ironfiremen 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way and we have plenty of great prizes left to pass out! We started with 44 AWESOME prizes and have already seen 28 WINNERS!

It’s still not too late to enter for your chance to WIN. All you need is a valid e-mail address….

ENTER the 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way HERE

View the schedule of PRIZES by clicking HERE

Visit and learn more about our contributors HERE

Here are our 4 newest WINNERS … be sure to ENTER for you chance!

Prize #29 - Leatherhead Concepts

This winner will receive a custom radio strap with anti sway strap, custom chinstrap and glove strap.

Winner: Andrew Moore

Prize #30 - 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment

This winner receives a Boston Leather glove strap.

Winner: Timothy Newton

Prize #31 - NM Coin

The winner will receive a FireCritic / Ironfiremen Challenge Coin and patch.

Winner : Sandy Christenson

Prize #32 - CommandSim’s Sims U Share

Windows or MAC. Training technology aimed to help instructors rapidly create realistic, localized experiences they can use to train on and discuss.

Winner : Jeremy McKim

CONGRATULATIONS to all of our WINNERS! Please take the time to use the links provided and visit our contributors. Without them, these great prizes would not be available (and there’s MORE to come!).

With only 4 days remaining, it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. It’s a good day to stay inside the house and curl up by the fire. Can’t do that ??? No worries, maybe today’s installment of the 2012 Ironfiremen.com’s Santa’s Sexy Helpers will warm ya up a bit … ENJOY!

4 days remaining ….. 4 presents under the tree … how good am I? The tree … the Christmas tree … on the left! There’s presents under it …. ON THE LEFT! LMAO

Stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 21, 2012 • Filed under: news • Tagged: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, 1st In Leather, 2012 Santa's Sexy Helpers, 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment, Box Alarm Leather, CentreLearn, Christmas, Command Sim, Commercial Solutions, Crosstitched, ESS Eye Pro, FD Cam, FDCam.com, fire, Fire Armor, Fire Blogs, Fire Critic, Fire Department, fire service, FireCritic.com, firefighter, Firefighting, Glove Crafters, Holiday Give-A-Way, IronFiremen.com, Leatherhead Concepts, NM-Coin, NY Firestore, Rhett Fleitz, RKE Custom Leather, Sims U Share, Smoke is Showing, Social Media, Willie Wines Jr

Don’t be left out .. register to win today!

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It’s day #8 of the Fire Critic / Ironfiren 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way and the prizes are flying off the shelf!

This may be the largest Give-A-Way held by Fire Service Bloggers EVER! We have 44 prizes in all, valued at thousands of dollars and we’re giving them away!

There is still time for you to register to win. All you need is a valid e-mail address. It’s FREE and EASY … use the link below to sign up now.

ENTER the 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way HERE

As I mentioned above, we have 44 awesome prizes in all. The only thing better than our prizes are the contributors who supplied them. Use the links below to learn more about our contributors, the prizes and to see their schedule of release ….

12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way Contributors are HERE

Schedule of prizes can be found HERE

We’ve had 24 winners all ready … here’s 4 more to add to the list!

Prize #25 - 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment

This winner will receive a Boston Leather glove strap, and Boston Leather radio Strap.

Winner :

Robert Diamond

Prize # 26 - ESS Eye Protection

An ESS Eyepro kit including eye protection sunglasses, hat, shirt, huggie, and stickers.

Winner :

Dave Bucci

Prize # 27 - NM Coin

This winner will receive a Fire Critic / IronFiremen Challenge Coin and patch.

Winner :

Cory Hyland

Prize # 28 - CommandSim’s Sims U Share

This prize is Windows or MAC. Training technology aimed to help instructors rapidly create realistic, localized experiences they can use to train on and discuss.

Winner :

Douglas Smith

CONGRATULATIONS to all our winners! Don’t forget, it’s NOT TOO LATE to enter for your chance to win. Submit your e-mail address in the link above to register!

Today is also day #8 of the 2012 Ironfiremen.com Santa’s Sexy Helpers! A little something I’ve done for the last few years to help but a smile on your face and maybe take your mind off the hustle and bustle of the Holidays even if only for a minute.

This year, I’ve receive a little negative feedback. One of my Face Book followers called our Sexy helpers “trash” . Another demanded to “keep it off Face Book”. Some are asking for more “skin” but my biggest comment / complaint has been that I’m forgetting my female readers, followers and fans.

My apologies ladies … here’s a special installment for Day #8 … enjoy!

.Stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 20, 2012 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, 1st In Leather, 2012 Santa's Sexy Helpers, 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment, Box Alarm Leather, CentreLearn, Christmas, Command Sim, Commercial Solutions, Crosstitched, ESS Eye Pro, FD Cam, FDCam.com, fire, Fire Armor, Fire Blogs, Fire Critic, Fire Department, fire service, FireCritic.com, firefighter, Firefighting, Glove Crafters, Holiday Give-A-Way, IronFiremen.com, Leatherhead Concepts, NM-Coin, NY Firestore, Rhett Fleitz, RKE Custom Leather, Sims U Share, Smoke is Showing, Social Media, Willie Wines Jr

Counting down to Christmas with FREE SWAG!

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It’s day #7 of the Fire Critic / IronFiremen 12 Days of Christmas and the prizes keep coming!

Rhett and I have teamed up with some great companies to allow us to give away 44 prizes during our count down to Christmas. This could be the largest Christmas Give-A-Way by Fire Service Bloggers in history!

Signing up is FREE, EASY and it’s NOT TOO LATE !

ENTER the 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way HERE

We have given away 20 prizes already with 4 more going out today! The prizes are as awesome as the companies providing them. Use the links below to learn more about our prizes, the schedule of release and our contributors.

Learn more about and visit our Give-A-Way contributors HERE

View the schedule of prizes by clicking HERE

Here are the prizes and winners for Day #7 …..

Prize #21 - 1st in Leather

Today’s winner will receive a one Piece Custom Classic Helmet Shield and matching Glove Strap.

Winner : Michael Westrick

Prize #22 -ESS Eye Protection

ESS Eyepro kit including eye protection sunglasses, hat, shirt, huggie, and stickers.

Winner : Tom Jagla

Prize #23 - NM Coin

This winner will receive a Fire Critic / IronFiremen Challenge Coin and patch.

Winner : Dwayne Klepper

Prize #24 - CommandSim’s Sims U Share

Windows or MAC. Training technology aimed to help instructors rapidly create realistic, localized experiences they can use to train on and discuss.

Winner : Lee Powell

Congratulations to today’s and all of our winners!

Christmas will be here before ya know it …. I hope you’ve gotten all your shopping done. Better yet, I hope ol Santa is ready. Just in case he isn’t I’ve been rounding up some “helpers” to keep him motivated and going. Here’s the latest installment of the 2012 Ironfiremen.com’s Santa’s Sexy Helpers …. ENJOY!

(Just “click” on the thumbnail to get the full image.)

Stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 19, 2012 • Filed under: news • Tagged: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, 1st In Leather, 2012 Santa's Sexy Helpers, 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment, Box Alarm Leather, CentreLearn, Christmas, Command Sim, Commercial Solutions, Crosstitched, ESS Eye Pro, FD Cam, FDCam.com, fire, Fire Armor, Fire Blogs, Fire Critic, Fire Department, fire service, FireCritic.com, firefighter, Firefighting, Glove Crafters, Holiday Give-A-Way, IronFiremen.com, Leatherhead Concepts, NM-Coin, NY Firestore, Rhett Fleitz, RKE Custom Leather, Sims U Share, Smoke is Showing, Social Media, Willie Wines Jr •

The gifts keep coming!

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Christmas will be here before ya know it and I hope you’re ready. Around the FireCritic / IronFiremen World Headquarters, it’s almost like Christmas came early.

For the last 6 days, we’ve been passing out gifts like Santa Claus himself! It’s all part of the 2012 FireCritic / Ironfiremen 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way.

This could very well be the largest Give-A-Way by Fire Service Bloggers in history! We have 44 prizes in all …. $$Thousands$$ of dollars worth of FREE SWAG! Who doesn’t LOVE free swag?

Signing up is FREE, EASY and it’s NOT TOO LATE…. simply use the link below.

ENTER the 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way HERE

Learn more about the prizes and their schedule HERE

More about our contributors HERE

Here are the prizes and winners for Day #6 …

Prize #17 – Smoke is Showing

A Brotherhood Print, 16×24 plate mounted

Web Site – SmokeIsShowing.ca

Facebook - Smoke Is Showing Fan Page

Winner:

Gary Freundlich

Prize #18 - ESS Eye Protection

ESS Eyepro kit including eye protection sunglasses, hat, shirt, huggie, and stickers

Facebook - ESS Eye Pro Fan Page , Twitter - @ESSEyePro, Youtube - ESSEyePro

Winner:

Andrew Walker

Prize #19 -NM Coin

FireCritic / IronFiremen Challenge Coin and patch.

Facebook - NM Coin LLC Fan Page

Twitter - @NMCoin

Winner:

Tim Newton

Prize #20 -CommandSim’s Sims U Share

Facebook – simsUShare

Community – Command Sim Community , Twitter - @SimsUShare

Winner :

Chris Wuertz

Congratulations to all of our winners!

Today is also the 6th installment of the 2012 Ironfiremen.com Santa’s Sexy Helpers! With only a week left until Christmas, I’m sure Santa can use all the help he can get.

I’ve kinda taken it upon myself over the past few years to help the big fella out and conduct a search for suitable “helpers”. Since I’m the one doing the searching, I figured they may as well be “easy on the eyes”. Better yet, maybe I’ll find some “sexy” helpers…. in hooker boots …. YEA … in hooker boots!

I’m a sucker for “hooker boots” ….LOL

Stay Safe and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 18, 2012 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, 1st In Leather, 2012 Santa's Sexy Helpers, 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment, Box Alarm Leather, CentreLearn, Christmas, Command Sim, Commercial Solutions, Crosstitched, ESS Eye Pro, FD Cam, FDCam.com, fire, Fire Armor, Fire Blogs, Fire Critic, Fire Department, fire service, FireCritic.com, firefighter, Firefighting, Glove Crafters, Holiday Give-A-Way, IronFiremen.com, Leatherhead Concepts, NM-Coin, NY Firestore, Rhett Fleitz, RKE Custom Leather, Sims U Share, Smoke is Showing, Social Media, Willie Wines Jr

Santa’s Sexy Helpers and more FREE STUFF!

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It’s day #5 of the 2012 Fire Critic / IronFiremen 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way!

Rhett and I have joined with some GREAT companies to provide our readers with a shot at 44 AWESOME Prizes …. $$thousands$$ of dollars worth of FREE SWAG!

Signing up is FREE and EASY. It’s NOT TOO LATE. You can still register to WIN by using the link below ….

ENTER the 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way HERE

This may very well be the largest Give-A-Way by Fire Service Bloggers EVER! What else would you expect from The Fire Critic and IronFiremen.com? It’s HOW WE ROLL …..LOL!

In case you missed em, here are our 12 winners to date …Tim O’Connor, Rachel Deel, Doug Baker, Dan Miller, Peter Grocholski, Eric Klein, Ben Coffman, Jennifer Bolick, Miles Silk Jr, Cliff Phillips, Matt Johnson and David Walls.

Learn MORE about Give-A-Way Contributors HERE

View the schedule of Prizes by clicking HERE

Here are today’s winners ……

Prize #13 - Commercial Solutions

True North Gear bail out kit complete with hip pouch, 50 ft of FR Rope and F4 descender

Winner: Will Sergent

.
Prize #14 - ESS Eye Protection

ESS Eyepro kit including eye protection sunglasses, hat, shirt, huggie, and stickers.

Winner: Nick Butta

Prize #15 - NM Coin

Fire Critic / IronFiremen Challenge Coin and patch.

Winner: Eric Ciecko

Prize #16 - CommandSim’s Sims U Share

Windows or MAC. Training technology aimed to help instructors rapidly create realistic, localized experiences they can use to train on and discuss.

Winner: Colt Eberling

CONGRATULATIONS to our 4 newest WINNERS!

It’s also Day #5 of the 2012 IronFiremen.com Santa’s Sexy Helper installment! With ONLY 8 Days until Christmas, I’m sure ol Santa has his hands full. Of course if these gals were actually his helpers, I’d have to worry about what his hands were full of …LOL.

Every day until Christmas, we’ll bring ya another Sexy Helper. Maybe if for only a second, they will distract you from all the hustle and bustle of the Holidays and put a smile on your face … or at least a grin!

They’re getting better every day and I can’t wait to see what Santa will find under the tree on the 25th. You guys might outta keep checking back and find out as well …. enjoy Day #5….

Stay SAFE and in House … I’ll check back later!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 17, 2012 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, 1st In Leather, 2012 Santa's Sexy Helpers, 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment, Box Alarm Leather, CentreLearn, Christmas, Command Sim, Commercial Solutions, Crosstitched, ESS Eye Pro, FD Cam, FDCam.com, fire, Fire Armor, Fire Blogs, Fire Critic, Fire Department, fire service, FireCritic.com, firefighter, Firefighting, Glove Crafters, Holiday Give-A-Way, IronFiremen.com, Leatherhead Concepts, NM-Coin, NY Firestore, Rhett Fleitz, RKE Custom Leather, Sims U Share, Smoke is Showing, Social Media, Willie Wines Jr

The Newtown, Connecticut murders and Firefighter Stress

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I haven’t talked about the murders here on IronFiremen.com yet. Like many, I’m still trying to understand this horrific event. I’m not even sure what to say yet … what can you say?

I’ve watched a lot of the news and read several of the articles / stories. I was glad to see that tonight, at least some of the media got it right. Tonight, they quit interviewing kids and parents. They quit with the unbearable questions.

For what I’m sure will be a short lived period, they turned the cameras off the survivors / mourners and listed the names of those murdered.

To me, this should have been done much earlier (with respect to the families etc). I say that because the name of their murderer was up quickly. Every station had it up in bold. His name and picture.

I could care less about him. He’s not important to me. We will never know his motive or reasoning and there’s no reason to speculate. We can’t ask or beat it out of him. He took the cowards way out and died a much too easy death.

Here’s the thing … he will be remembered. His name and face was imprinted into our heads before we knew the victims. It’s still happening. They (mainstream media) are already posting his picture and making comparisons with other recent mass murderers ( Virginia Tech, Denver etc). His name could (and likely will) become more recognizable than his victims and that’s sad.

THAT’S WHO WE SHOULD BE REMEMBERING … THE VICTIMS.

Here are the names (and ages) of those we should remember. Don’t forget or lose them in the ensuing media circus ….

Mary Sherlach, 56; Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, 47; Lauren Rousseau, 30; Victoria Soto, 27; Olivia Engel, 6; Emilie Parker, 6; Rachel Davino, 29; Anne Marie Murphy, 25; Charlotte Bacon, 6; Daniel Barden, 7; Josephine Gay, 7; Ana Marquez-Greene, 6; Dylan Hockley, 6; Madeleine Hsu, 6; Catherine Hubbard, 6; Chase Kowalski, 7; Jesse Lewis, 6; James Mattioli, 6; Grace McDonnell, 7; Anne Marie Murphy, 52; Jack Pinto, 6; Noah Pozner, 6; Caroline Previdi, 6; Jessica Rekos, 6; Avielle Richman, 6; Benjamin Wheeler, 6; Allison Wyatt, 6.

I also hope the first responders are not lost or forgotten in the media’s search for “who” and “why”.

The Police, Fire and Rescue members who responded to the scene.

I don’t even want to imagine what they encountered. I can’t. Dave Statter had Police and Fire radio traffic up early. I’ll add the link …

Sandy Hook radio traffic HERE

I’m certain their lives will be changed forever. I’ve thought of their pain everyday since the shootings.

What I haven’t seen or heard about yet is how those Brothers and Sisters are holding up.

I’m sure there are Counseling Units / Services on site and that they will remain for some time. I’m not sure it will be enough.

Again I’ll say that this was a life altering event / incident.

From what I can tell, Newtown is a relatively “small” town / community. It is the 5th largest “Town” in Connecticut at only 60.38 sq miles.

Newtown Connecticut web site HERE

Sandy Hook is a Borough within Newtown. It was the Sandy Hook Fire Station that was shown so much in the media coverage.

Early in the incident, the station was used as a staging / assembling area. I would imagine that like with most small town Departments, the station was a familiar, comforting place for the community.

Sandy Hook has 2 Stations, 8 pieces and over 60 members. I haven’t heard how many member’s children attended the elementary school if any.

Sandy Hook Vol. Fire & Rescue Co. web site

Please keep these Brothers and Sisters in your thoughts and prayers as well. I would imagine that the population of Sandy Hook and Newtown has tripled with the sudden influx of media etc. That means that the possibility exists for the call volume of Fire, Rescue and Police to increase as well. They could be busier now than ever before and at a time when they can least afford it.

While I’m on the subject, let me say that this season (Thanksgiving / Christmas) is typically the worst for us on the job.

For whatever reason, we seem to see a lot of fire in these months and we tend to see an increase in suicides as well.

It’s supposed to be a time for family. A time of peace and joy but that’s not always the reality we see out here in the streets.

We never get called out because something “good” is happening but, at this time of year; it’s maybe a little more difficult see and deal with.

FireChief.com is reporting that Firefighting is the second most stressful job in the Nation and I think this is our most stressful season.

READ Firefighting the Second-Most Stressful Job in the Nation, White Paper Reports

As Company Officers, it’s our responsibility to take care of our members and that includes AFTER the call. Make sure you understand and recognize the signs of stress. Also make sure your members know that they have a place to “go” … someone to confide in and “talk” to.

Here are some links that may be helpful ….

Stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 16, 2012 • Filed under: administration-leadership, command-leadership, Emergency Communications, ems-health-safety, ems-topics, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, major-incidents, mass-casualty-incident, news, patient-management, special-operations, Uncategorized • Tagged: brotherhood, building fire, Captain Willie Wines Jr, Dave Statter, EMS, EMT Suicide, fire, Fire Blogs, Fire Critic, Fire Department, FireCritic.com, firefighter, Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance, firefighter pics, Firefighter Suicide, firefighters, Firefighting, house fire, IronFiremen.com, mass shootings, Newtown Connecticut, Paramedic Suicide, Rhett Fleitz, Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Co., Social Media, Suicide, sweeneyalliance.org, Willie Wines Jr

More free “swag” from The fireCritic and Ironfiremen.com

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It’s day #4 of the 2012 Fire Critic / IronFiremen.com 12 Days of Christmas and we’re just getting started! Thousands of dollars worth of FREE PRIZES … 44 in all and there’s still time for you to register. It’s FREE and EASY !

ENTER the 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way HERE

Who doesn’t love free swag? Just take a look at all those GREAT CONTRIBUTORS !

The prizes are AWESOME, just ask Tim O’Connor, Rachel Deel, Doug Baker, Dan Miller, Peter Grocholski, Eric Klein, Ben Coffman, Jennifer Bolick, and Miles Silk Jr.

Learn more about the contributors HERE

View the PRIZE SCHEDULE by clicking HERE

Here are today’s WINNERS …..

Prize #10 - Glove Crafters

A pair of Fire Armor structural firefighter gloves, a glove strap, and t-shirt.

Winner: Cliff Phillips

Prize #11 -NM Coin

Fire Critic/Iron Firemen Challenge Coin and patch.

Winner: Matt Johnson

Prize #12 - CommandSim’s Sims U Share

Windows or MAC. Training technology aimed to help instructors rapidly create realistic, localized experiences they can use to train on and discuss.

Winner: David Walls

It’s also time for our 4th installment of Ironfiremen’s 2012 Santa’s Sexy Helpers! It’s just 9 days until Christmas and I’m sure ol Santa needs all the help he can get. I hope you’re getting all your shopping done. If ya still have some last minute buying to do, try shopping with the contributors of the 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way.

Mean while, enjoy today’s pic ….

Yea …. I know. YOU’RE WELCOME!

Stay Safe and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 16, 2012 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, 1st In Leather, 2012 Santa's Sexy Helpers, 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment, Box Alarm Leather, CentreLearn, Christmas, Command Sim, Commercial Solutions, Crosstitched, ESS Eye Pro, FD Cam, FDCam.com, fire, Fire Armor, Fire Blogs, Fire Critic, Fire Department, fire service, FireCritic.com, firefighter, Firefighting, Glove Crafters, Holiday Give-A-Way, IronFiremen.com, Leatherhead Concepts, NM-Coin, NY Firestore, Rhett Fleitz, RKE Custom Leather, Sims U Share, Smoke is Showing, Social Media, Willie Wines Jr

Day #3 … Santa’s Sexy Helper and The 12 Days of Christmas Winners

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It’s day 3 of the 2012 FireCritic / Ironfiremen 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way!

12 days of FREE SWAG from the Fire Critic and Ironfiremen.com …. 44 gifts in all! Entering is FREE , EASY and it’s NOT TOO LATE! Sign up now for your chance to WIN!!!

ENTER the 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way HERE

The FireCritic, Rhett Fleitz and I have teamed up with some GREAT companies to provide 44 AWESOME PRIZES to be given away during the 12 Days of Christmas!

Meet / Learn more about our contributors HERE

View the schedule of prize give-a-ways HERE

Here are the WINNERS for Day #3 ….

Prize #7 – NY Fire Store

FDNY ball cap, Engine 34/Ladder 41 “Hell’s Kitchen t-shirt and hoodie (sized XL/able to exchange)

WINNER: Ben Coffman

Prize #8 – NM Coin

Fire Critic / Ironfiremen Challenge Coin and patch

WINNER: Jennifer Bolick

Prize #9 - CommandSim’s Sims U Share

Windows or MAC. Training technology aimed to help instructors rapidly create realistic, localized experiences they can use to train on and discuss.

WINNER: Miles Silk Jr.

CONGRATULATION to the WINNERS!

Today is also day #3 for the 2012 Ironfiremen.com’s installment of Santa’s Sexy Helpers! I figured since it’s only 10 days until Christmas (YEA …. 10 days!!) that we’d give ol Santa 10 helpers….

They should help get thing in order around the North Pole !

As always, THANKS for supporting FireCritic and IronFiremen.com If you’re not already, be sure to “Like” and FOLLOW us on Face Book as well …..

IronFiremen on Face Book / FireCritic on Face Book

Keep checking back … Santa’s Sexy Helpers are only going to get better, there are plenty more prizes for the 12 Days of Christmas and of course we’ll throw in a few “regular” posts along the way!

Stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 15, 2012 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, 1st In Leather, 2012 Santa's Sexy Helpers, 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment, Box Alarm Leather, CentreLearn, Christmas, Command Sim, Commercial Solutions, Crosstitched, ESS Eye Pro, FD Cam, FDCam.com, fire, Fire Armor, Fire Blogs, Fire Critic, Fire Department, fire service, FireCritic.com, firefighter, Firefighting, Glove Crafters, Holiday Give-A-Way, IronFiremen.com, Leatherhead Concepts, NM-Coin, NY Firestore, Rhett Fleitz, RKE Custom Leather, Sims U Share, Smoke is Showing, Social Media, Willie Wines Jr

Day 2 … Santa’s Sexy Helpers and The Fire Critic / IronFiremen 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way Winners!

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Are you excited yet?? It’s just 11 days until Christmas and the 2nd day of the Fire Critic / IronFiremen 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way !

We’re giving away $$ THOUSANDS $$ of dollars worth of FREE SWAG from now until Christmas day (44 prizes in all!)! If you haven’t registered yet …. YOU SHOULD. It’s not too late and it’s FREE and EASY .

Sign up and ENTER to WIN by clicking HERE

Congratulations to our “Day 1″ Winners, Tim O’Connor, Rachel Deel and Doug Baker !

Here are the Winners and prizes for Day 2 ……

Prize #4 - Crosstitched - Crosstitched t-shirt, hat, and stickers.

Winner: Dan Miller

Prize #5 – ESS Eye Protection - ESS Eyepro kit including eye protection sunglasses, hat, shirt, huggie, and stickers

Winner: Peter Grocholski

Prize #6 - CommandSim’s Sims U Share - Windows or MAC. Training technology aimed to help instructors rapidly create realistic, localized experiences they can use to train on and discuss.

Winner: Eric Klein

Congratulations to today’s Winners !

Remember, it’s not too late for you to SIGN UP to win !

View the complete schedule of Prizes HERE

Details and listing of contributing companies are HERE

Today is also the 2nd day of the 2012 Ironfiremen.com’s Santa’s Sexy Helpers! Every day until Christmas, We’ll post a new picture of a Sexy Helper in hopes of keeping your spirits high.

In true Ironfiremen.com fashion, the pictures will get better and better as we close in on Christmas (in my opinion anyway). On Christmas Day, I bet ol Santa will be surprised to see what we leave under the tree ….. keep checking back daily so you can see as well. H

So here’s Day #2 of the 2012 Ironfiremen.com Santa’s Sexy Helpers …. ENJOY

Ho Ho Ho ! Stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 14, 2012 • Filed under: news • Tagged: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, 1st In Leather, 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment, Box Alarm Leather, brotherhood, building fire, Captain Willie Wines Jr, CentreLearn, Christmas, Command Sim, Commercial Solutions, Crosstitched, Dave Statter, ESS Eye Pro, FD Cam, FDCam.com, fire, Fire Armor, Fire Blogs, Fire Critic, Fire Department, fire service, FireCritic.com, firefighter, firefighter pics, firefighters, Firefighting, Glove Crafters, IronFiremen.com, Leatherhead Concepts, NM-Coin, NY Firestore, Rhett Fleitz, RKE Custom Leather, Sims U Share, Smoke is Showing, Social Media, Willie Wines Jr

Fire critic vs Statter911 … deja vu!

1 comment

It’s like I’m stuck inside the movie Ground Hog Day.

The Fire Critic / Statter 911 feud is heating up again. It’s the same old story … “ratings”, “hits” and now … Face book “likes” … GEESH!

The battle has been going on since Moby Dick was a tadpole. Rhett has always wanted to be crowned the “King of Blogs” .

Well apparently, my telling him he was “King” wasn’t enough. Well … if it was, it sure didn’t last long. Rhett ended up in the ER over it. The one good thing that came out of that whole ordeal was that we finally learned that deep down … way, WAY deep down … Dave Statter really cares about Rhett..

Back then, it was all about our blogs (web sites). Life was simple. A post here, another there. A good title was all you needed to draw traffic.

But, now that Face Book steers Social Media; it’s a lot more difficult. It’s time consuming and labor intensive. Carpal tunnel syndrome is an accepted part of the job. Fire Geezer is even working on legislation to make it “presumptive”.

It’s a dog eat dog world out here in Face Book / Blog land. The sad news is there are often causalities … people even catch feelings. There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors …. tricks played, slight of hand, set ups and more.

In the latest of events, Rhett (Fire Critic) has been pushing to surpass Statter in Face Book “Likes”. This is a measurable “status” that could actually indicate who’s indeed the “King of Blogs” (or of Face Book anyway). Here’s how it went down ….

Statter has been running a Give-A-Way on Face Book.

Dave is giving away 5 individual “Bricks” from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s “Walk of Honor” !

It’s FREE and EASY to sign up!

You can enter to win through his Face Book Page (with hopes you’ll “Like” it while there) or by sending him an e-mail.

This is a never ending gift and an AWESOME gesture. You can never go wrong remembering our fallen or supporting the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

Rhett also has a Give-A-Way going. Well actually, Rhett and I are working together on the largest Give-A-Way in the history of Fire Service Blogs (that’s what we’re saying anyway …LOL)

We are giving away $$Thousands$$ of dollars worth of free “SWAG” over the 12 days of Christmas. There are winners EVERY DAY and 44 PRIZES to be handed out! If you haven’t registered yet, it’s NOT TOO LATE . It’s also FREE and EASY ….

CLICK HERE & Register to WIN

The 2012 Fire Critic / IronFiremen 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way has been a HUGE success!

You can see who our first WINNERS were by clicking HERE

It was the Give-A-Way that helped spur the growth on the Fire Critic’s Face Book Page . Mine has been growing as well (I’ve passed the 5,000 mark!!). Well Rhett was feeling his oats and made the statement that if the fans / readers helped him surpass Statter 911 in “likes” then we would give away a free leather fire helmet. Well, today he did it ….

Well, once again; it all got turned around on our beloved “Fire Boy”. That Dave Statter is smarter than he looks …. check out the latest video …..

LMAO … “T-Bone” … BaHahahahahahhahahahaha…

All kidding aside, both pages are great to follow (like) and it’s silly not to enter both Give-A-Ways. I hope ya got a chuckle out of this one. I’ll be back on Friday with the Day 2 WINNERS in the 12 Days of Christmas plus another installment of the 2012 IronFiremen.com’s Santa’s Sexy Helper!

Stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 13, 2012 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, 1st In Leather, 2nd Alarm Fire Equipment, Box Alarm Leather, Captain Willie Wines Jr, Captain Wines, CentreLearn, Christmas, Command Sim, Commercial Solutions, Crosstitched, Dave Statter, ESS Eye Pro, Face Book, FD Cam, FDCam.com, fire, Fire Armor, Fire Blogs, Fire Critic, Fire Department, fire service, FireCritic.com, firefighter, Firefighting, funny videos, Glove Crafters, IronFiremen.com, Leatherhead Concepts, NM-Coin, NY Firestore, Rhett Fleitz, RKE Custom Leather, Sims U Share, Smoke is Showing, Social Media, Statter 911, Willie Wines Jr, xtranormal videos

Fire Critic / Ironfiremen’s 12 Days of Christmas winners!

1 comment

Today marks the 1st day of the Fire Critic / IronFiremen 12 Days of Christmas!

We will be giving away THOUSANDS of dollars worth of FREE SWAG! Every day from now until Christmas someone will win! Signing up is FREE and EASY and it’s not too late …..

Sign up & Enter to WIN by clicking HERE !

Day 12 winners / prizes are as follows ……

Prize #1 - CentreLearn- 1 year unlimited subscription for one person to CentreLearn’s library of online continuing education courses. They have more than 200 hours of CE in for paramedics, EMTs, and Firefighters.

Winner: Tim O’Connor

Prize #2 - ESS Eye Protection - ESS Eyepro kit including eye protection sunglasses, hat, shirt, huggie, and stickers

Winner: Rachel Deel

Prize #3 - CommandSim’s Sims U Share- Windows or MAC. Training technology aimed to help instructors rapidly create realistic, localized experiences they can use to train on and discuss.

Winner: Doug Baker

Congratulations to our first winners and THANKS to all the companies who donated the prizes. Please use the links provided to learn more about these companies!

View the prize contributors HERE

View the schedule of prizes HERE

Today is also the 1st day for Ironfiremen.com’s Santa’s Sexy Helpers posts for 2012! Every day until Christmas, we’ll post a new picture of one of Santa’s Sexy Helpers here on Ironfiremen …. In true Ironfiremen.com fashion, the pictures get better each day and will end with a very nice surprise for ol Santa.

Be sure to check back daily to see the winners of the 2012 Fire Critic / IronFiremen 12 Days of Christmas and to have a little peek at the daily Santa’s Sexy Helper … Here’s today’s….ENJOY !

Stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 13, 2012 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: brotherhood, building fire, Captain Willie Wines Jr, CentreLearn, CommandSim’s Sims U Share, Dave Statter, ESS Eye Protection, fire, Fire Critic, Fire Critic / Ironfiremen 12 Days of Christmas, firefighter pics, firefighter products, firefighters, house fire, IAFF, Lt. Rhett Fleitz, product give -a-way, Rhett Fleitz, Santa's helper, Santa's sexy helper, Statter 911

Size Matters and this one is HUGE!!!

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Get your mind out of the gutters but don’t be fooled … SIZE MATTERS and in a variety of things!

On a personal note, for all my friends up in Wytheville, Va (especially the President of the Firefighter’s Auxiliary who has sent me several personal Face Book messages referencing my “size”) YES …… I HAVE A BIG ONE …. actually, it’s HUGE!

It’s long, full and thick ! It’s not very pretty but it’s MINE! It’s been seen by THOUSANDS, is fairly well known yet it’s not the biggest in the fire service ….

Chief Billy Goldfeder, without a doubt; has me beat in the mustache category (and many others) ! There’s nobody I’d rather play 2nd fiddle to other than Chief Billy. For all you folks out there searching for someone to look up to … to emulate … THIS IS THE GUY! Check out THIS LINK … click HERE.

And since I mentioned Wytheville, I may as well let ol “Jacob” in on a little secret.

Size also matters when selecting the diameter of your hose line.

Here’s an excerpt from a comment he made on my Face Book Fan page … “Chief King was smart not to send them inside with hoses and yes you are correct about ONE thing. they used small diameter hoses….. DUH did you really think they were going to drag the 5″ out and carry it into the house.” He wants to send me some rope and a vibrator for Christmas! (size matters there too Jacob… be gentle).

Read the entire comment in a previous post found HERE . Yes Jacob … those guys are using 5″ hose (in this case, for defensive operations) but what I was referring to in Wytheville was maybe pulling a 2 1/2″ line … just saying.

Anyway, I’m not talking about mustaches, Wytheville or hose diameter here … I’m talking about Give-A-Ways … you know … FREE STUFF … SWAG !

Dave Statter, he has a good one.

Dave is giving away 5 individual “Bricks” from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s “Walk of Honor” !

It’s EASY and FREE to enter.

You can do so via his Face Book Page or by sending him an e-mail …

Get all the DETAILS by visiting THIS LINK .

This is a GREAT gift idea and an AWESOME give-a-way! It’s big…. REAL BIG ….. but not quite HUGE. If ya want HUGE ….. I’ll give ya HUGE….

How about the Fire Critic / Ironfiremen 12 Days of Christmas!

THOUSANDS of dollars worth of FREE SWAG! Starting today ( 12-13-2012) through Christmas, The Fire Critic and Ironfiremen.com will be giving away free products from companies such as Crosstitched, Box Alarm Leather, FD Cam, and more ….

NOW THAT’S A HUGE GIVE-A-WAY!

It’s not too late to enter (you can actually enter right up until the final drawing). It’s EASY and FREE!

Sign up for the Fire Critic / Iron Firemen 12 Days of Christmas Give-A-Way HERE !

Don’t forget to check back on Thursday to see who our first winners will be. There will be 3 GREAT prizes to kick off the Give-A-Way ….

CentreLearn- 1 year unlimited subscription for one person to CentreLearn’s library of online continuing education courses. They have more than 200 hours of CE in for paramedics, EMTs, and Firefighters.
ESS Eye Protection - ESS Eyepro kit including eye protection sunglasses, hat, shirt, huggie, and stickers
CommandSim’s Sims U Share- Windows or MAC. Training technology aimed to help instructors rapidly create realistic, localized experiences they can use to train on and discuss.

THANKS for the SUPPORT ! Stay SAFE and in House ….

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 13, 2012 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: brotherhood, building fire, Captain Willie Wines Jr, Dave Statter, ESS Eye Protection, Fire Critic, Fire Critic / Ironfiremen 12 Days of Christmas, firefighter pics, firefighter products, firefighters, Give-a-way, Lt. Rhett Fleitz, NFFF, Rhett Fleitz, Santa's sexy helper, Statter 911

$$ Thousands $$ in FREE swag plus some eye candy!! … MERRY CHRISTMAS from Fire Critic and Ironfiremen.com

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Tomorrow is the BIG DAY ! Thursday December 13, 2012 kicks off what is possibly the largest giveaway by Fire Service Bloggers EVER!

The Fire Critic / Iron Firemen 12 Days of Christmas starts tomorrow and we’ll be giving away thousands of dollars worth of “swag: right up until Christmas. There will be 44 winners in all and the prizes are AWESOME!!!

It FREE and EASY to ENTER TO WIN. It’s also not too late. If you haven’t already, simply use the link below to register ….

Enter to WIN by clicking HERE !

We will draw the winners every day (afternoon / evening) right up until Christmas. You can see who won and the prizes they’ll receive by checking here or over at FireCritic.com

You should also be following our “Fan Pages” on Face Book. Join over 18,000 others an stay connected to The Fire Critic and Iron Firemen.com by using the links below …

Find Ironfiremen on Face Book HERE and The Fire Critic on Face Book HERE

Our banner (above) details the businesses who provided these great products for the give away. Use the links below for more details on these companies, including Face Book pages, web sites etc. You will also find a schedule of the products to be given out. DON’T FORGET … it’s NEVER too late to enter.

I will also begin the 2012 installments of Santa’s Sexy Helpers here on Ironfiremen.com tomorrow!

For all our new followers / readers, it’s kind of become a tradition for me to share a daily picture of some of Santa’s little helpers.

If these little helpers are as NAUGHTY as they appear, they most likely will not receive a visit from ol Santa. At least maybe they will earn some bonus points for next year due to putting a smile on our faces!

They (the photos) get better each day so be sure to check in daily! Just wait til ya see what we’ll leave under the tree for ol Santa Claus on the 25th!!!

I’ll check back with ya tomorrow with the 1st of both….. our 1st winners from the Fire Critic / Iron Firemen 12 Days of Christmas and the 1st installment of the IronFiremen.com 2012 Santa’s Sexy Helpers (the photo above is just a teaser) !

I hope you enjoy em both …. THANKS for the continued support! Until I get back, stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 12, 2012 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: 12 Days of Christmas, 2012 Santa's Sexy Helpers, brotherhood, building fire, Captain Willie Wines Jr, Dave Statter, Fire Critic, Fire Critic / Ironfiremen 12 Days of Christmas, firefighter pics, firefighter products, firefighters, free giveaway, Holiday give away, house fire, Lt. Rhett Fleitz, Rhett Fleitz, Santa's sexy helper, Statter 911, Working fire

WTF ! Rookie Randy leaving Lucky #13

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In the words of Chief Billy Goldfeder … WTF !

Well Trained Firefighter … and I hope that’s how our little “Rookie Randy” is leaving station #13… well trained.

It’s been a good ride and I’m gonna miss him. Yesterday was Randy’s last tour assigned to Station #13C. Next day, he’ll report to Station #5C.

I hate to see him go, but it will be a good move for him.

I never agreed with a “rookie” being assigned to our house in the first place. We are not the busiest company in the Battalion nor do we have a Medic Truck (ambulance). All new hires are required to become ALS providers within 3 years so assigning them to a station with an ambulance only makes sense.

Anyway, on July 10, 2011 Randy Armbrister was assigned to Station #13 C.

Read “Our new Rookie … “ by clicking HERE

Even though he had just completed our 16 week Rookie School (Class #14), we still hit the streets on day 1 to assure he had the “basics” down.

We spent that first day catching hydrants (snap and screw), stretching and advancing lines and learning to stick with the Captain.

We also worked a lot with SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus). Some of my readers / followers of the site thought I had gone crazy.

I had Randy sweeping, mopping and even mowing the grass while wearing his air pack.

It may have looked crazy from the outside looking in but I wanted to be sure he was familiar and comfortable with his SCBA … he life depends on it.

He did well with it … VERY WELL. Come to find out, Randy actually received an award from his Recruit Class related to SCBA. It didn’t matter to me because we were going to go over it again and again and again anyway.

We tried to teach him everything he’d need to know for a 30 year career.

We covered everything from making his bed, brushing his teeth, washing cloths, showers, cooking etc. We even talked about girls … yea … GIRLS.

Ya see, Randy is not from around here and one day I caught him in a “stare” .. “transfixed” even so I had pull the book.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, PLEASE take the time, use the link and read the post from that day… it’s funny as hell! Read “I had to Pull the Book” by clicking HERE .

LMAO … Randy was progressing just fine …. his mom would have been so proud. Read “Randy’s Moma” by clicking HERE .

Of course safety was our TOP priority as is evident in this picture. There had been heavy rains with a good chance of flooding so we had Randy wear his PFD (Personal Flotation Device) all day … the Chief was VERY impressed! LMAO

All kidding aside, we worked very hard with Randy of things such as ROAM (Rules Of Air Management), MAYDAY, RIT (Rapid Intervention Team), self rescue and more.

It’s a good thing because before too long, Randy caught his first job.

We were 2nd due but got the nozzle. A 2nd floor bed room, well off extending into the attic.

I got to the top of the steps and closed the bedroom door until Randy was in position. When I opened her back up, the fight was on and Randy had it darkened down in no time!

We also got to do a little salvage and overhaul operations. A good learning experience for a Rookie Firefighter. Randy put in some SOLID WORK.

Of course there was a lot more of burning up the books than our customers homes around Station #13.

Don’t get me wrong, Randy has seen some work over the last year and a half but we’ve kept him in the books more than anything.

It takes a lot of discipline for a young firefighter to keep his nose in the books.

If you don’t have an assignment from the Officer, you should be studying or looking over something.

Mouth shut, ears open is a good rule of thumb for the Rookie firefighter.

Randy did a good job at that. Of course he always had that Max Meadows smile on his face and knew to ask questions whenever he had em (other than on the scene).

I’d say he learned a good bit just by watching and listening. I hope he did anyway.

We made a lot of progress over the last 17 months and logged some valuable training.

Hands on, on the job, book, computer, simulators and more.

We trained just about any and every way I could think of and Randy passed every test.

Of course sometimes it took more than one try …LOL

Just look at the windshield of the driving simulator …. LOL

I wish we had just a little more time with Randy because we were just starting to work on pump operations and driving the Engine. That may have him a little behind the others in his class but I felt as if there were more important things to focus on. Im not 100% sure that a 1 yr man should be driving anyway. Let em learn the job of being a firefighter before worrying about friction loss and all that.

So you can tell that we stayed busy but we also have had a lot of fun along the way.

Our Company is more than a group of firefighters … we’re a family and we’ve watched Randy grow into Well Trained Firefighter.

We’ve watched him grow into a husband, having married the love of his life… Mrs Dana.

And even watched him grow into a mustache! If you can call that think on his lip a mustache ….LMAO

Our Lieutenant, George Perdue and Senior Firefighter Todd Harris have both worked equally as hard to ensure Randy received the training he needs.

We’ve done our part and now he’s “leaving the nest”.

He’s not excited about going but we’ve told him that in no time, he’ll realize that there’s more out there than Station #13.

It’s a chance to learn, to grow and to become a better firefighter. We told him to hold his head high and maintain the work ethic etc that we taught him. I’m sure he’ll make us proud because he already has!

Firefighter gatherings, a Priest and leaving the nest …

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I started my day off yesterday by joining the Brothers and Sisters of the Salem Fire – EMS Department and IAFF Local 3478′s for their 1st Annual Retiree’s Breakfast.

It was a GREAT event and very well attended.

The retirees LOVE these types of events.

It gives them the opportunity to spend some time with and visit members that they once worked with but may not have seen in a while.

It also gives them the chance to interact with the Brothers and Sisters still on the job and lets them know that they are still a part of the Department (family).

There were a lot of young members from L-3478 working, cooking and serving …. I was impressed. It’s a true display of BROTHERHOOD.

I tell every young member I can that if they ever get the chance to sit down with a retiree and chat … DO IT. All you have to do is ask a simple question and sit back listen. They’ll talk for hours! The stories you’ll hear are priceless and in cases like this, are part of your history. I recently wrote a post about Fire Department History here on Ironfiremen.com. If you haven’t already, click the title below to read it ..

“Fire Department History … it’s where we came from”

I know there were plenty of stories flying around yesterday. The Brothers had a ton of old photos, books and even slide show to bring back some old memories.

We’ve done several of these types of breakfasts here in my Local (L-1132) over the years. Rhett actually came up with the idea several years back and we made it happen. The most memorable one for me was about 3 years back. We captured several pictures and even some video of Retired Captain Pete Price. He died just 3 days later. Rhett covered the event on Roanokefire.com in the link below…

IAFF Local 1132 Retirees Breakfast

Thanks to the Brothers and Sisters of Salem’s L-3478 for inviting me to be a part of their special event…. I wish you many more successful ones. WELL DONE!

Yesterday (last night) was also the date of my Local’s Annual Banquet. It’s always a GREAT time with plenty Brotherhood, eating, dancing and yea … drinking.

It’s kind of a formal event as in the men always clean up and dress nice while the gals wear jaw dropping dinner dresses, high heels etc. With that said, by 11pm most of the men’s ties are off and around their heads like sweat bands. I’ve even been to a few where the dresses were over their heads too …LMAO.

Anyway, I decided to do something a little different this year (can you believe it…ME do something different??). I thought about wearing one of my kilts.

I wasn’t sure how it’d go so I asked the question on my Face Book Fan Page. The response was overwhelming to wear it … and I did. Shirt and tie, kilt and Black Diamond X2 Boots!

Find me on FACE BOOK HERE

I’m not certain but I’d bet that it was the first time a member has worn a kilt to a Local 1132 Banquet. I’ve got to tell ya … Rhett and I LOVE wearing our kilts. They’re a huge success everywhere we go.

The one I wore last night is new and came from Bunker Kilts. It’s an AWESOME kilt that looks, fits and feels great. Rhett and I will have a full review of the Bunker Kilts up soon over on our Firefighter Product Review site. We’ve already completed a review for our other kilt (Alt Kilt.com) . See that review by clicking the link below ..

Fire Product Review.com / Alt Kilt review

I made it through the night and into work this morning. Today was our vacation sign up day where every member of the Battalion signs up for the vacation (days off) they will need for 2013.

Chief Adkins pulls all the Captains down to his office to assist with sign ups so I just took my entire crew. After the sign up was complete, we ate breakfast with the Brothers and Sisters from Station #5 and had a special guest.

Chief invited our Department Chaplin, Father Sandy Webb to stop by … we had a special surprise waiting.

The North Battalion (C-Shift) purchased a “Fire Department” Bible for Father Sandy. We even had his name printed on it.

Father Sandy always talks about how much we mean to him and we wanted to make sure that he knows how much he means to us.

Father Sandy is our first “real” Department Chaplin and I can’t imagine having one any better.

I’m not sure if we (or Father Sandy for that matter) knew exactly what his “duties” would be but I can tell ya that he’s far exceeded our expectations.

He’s always there when we need him … even when we don’t know that we do.

I’m his biggest fan and have posted about him on several occasions. Like the time I first met him click HERE . When he blessed my new helmet click HERE or when he arrived on scene just when all hell broke loose .. click HERE .

Father Sandy loved his gift and I’m sure it will be put to good use.

I’m not a good Christian nor do I push my (or any) religion on others. I will say that if your Department doesn’t have a Chaplin, IT SHOULD. Father Sandy has been a great comfort.

I grabbed this picture by #5′s Christmas tree before we left.

Pictured from L-R (standing) Lt. Kenny Shelton, Capt. R.T. Flora, Father Sandy Webb, Chief Teddy Adkins, Lt. Rob Reid, FF James Gish, FF Randy Armbrister and Lt. Cortney Price (fill in from station #8). Kneeling L-R is FF Todd Harris, FF Travis Meador and FF Jason Anuszkiewicz .

Ok … and now for the BIG NEWS…… WE’RE LOOSING RANDY!

Yep, our favorite little Rookie Firefighter, Randy Armbrister is being transferred out. Tonight will be his last assigned here with us. Starting next cycle, Randy will be at Station #5 C-Shift.

He’s leaving “the nest” and we’re gonna miss him. Randy has been a joy to live and work with.

I’m also very proud of him. He’s accomplished a lot in just under a year and a half.

The ones of you who have followed the site for a while have watched Randy develop into a great young firefighter.

Although it saddens me, the move will be a good one for Randy. He’ll do well at #5 and will only be stronger, more experienced and better trained because of it.

I’m going to do a “stand alone” post on his leaving over 4-day break. I can’t wait to look back through all those posts and pictures. Be sure to keep checking back and look for it … it’s gonna be a good one!

Apparently the word about his move is out because the folks down around Station #5 were dancing in the streets this morning … here’s the video

LMAO .. ok, so I’ll get back with that post ASAP but until I do, stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 8, 2012 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: Alt Kilt, Black Diamond Boots, brotherhood, building fire, Bunker Kilts, Captain Willie Wines Jr, Captain Wines, Dave Statter, Fire Critic, Fire department Chaplin Program, Firefighter Bible, firefighter kilts, firefighter pics, firefighters, house fire, IAFF, IAFF Local 1132, IAFF Local 3478, Ironfiremen, Lt. Rhett Fleitz, Randy Armbrister, retired firefighters, Roanoke Fire/EMS, Salem Fire / EMS, Willie Wines Jr, Working fire

Roanoke’s Bravest face another heavily involved structure fire

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The Brothers and Sisters of B-shift had another busy night.

Lucky #13, led by Captain Phil “Triple D” Dillon was first in on a well involved 2 story residential structure fire.

It took firefighters about 40 minutes to get the fire “under control”. All searches were found to be “all clear” as the house was unoccupied and under renovation. The cause remains under investigation while damages are estimated at $80,000.00
Captain Dillon and his crew made a quick knock down and stretched inside while the 2nd due companies protected the exposure and performed other vital tasks.

You can tell by the photo above right that these Brothers and Sisters faced a pretty substantial amount of fire. The photo (above right) is actually a screen shot from video footage captured on the cell phone of a WDBJ 7 news reporter. The picture to the left is what they managed to save.

It’s obvious that the Brothers and Sisters of B-Shift, North Battalion put in some solid work. Nobody, civilian or firefighter; was injured in the blaze although Captain Dillon (#13-C … left in the photo right from 2007) said at shift break this morning that he hasn’t faced that much heat in quite a while.

Captain Dillon is an “aggressive” firefighter who has seen more than his fair share of work. When he says it was a “hot” one, what he means is that it would have melted the paint off the gates of hell …LOL.

When I say he’s “aggressive”, I should add that it’s a calculated aggression. An educated aggression …a cautious aggressiveness even though the two words contradict themselves (if that makes sense). How do you define aggressive? My good friend and Brother Bill Carey has a great post on that exact topic over on Backstep Firefighter. Click the title below to view that post …

Defining Aggressive, Part I Tasks and Identity

So anyway, I know that Captain Dillon follows my site and what I can’t figure out is why he didn’t deploy the newest firefighting technique recently discovered in Wytheville, Va by Chief Ronnie King. If you haven’t heard of this revolutionary technique, don’t worry. I covered it’s discovery right here in the pages of Ironfiremen.com. Read that post by CLICKING HERE .

I don’t know what Captain Dillon was thinking when he decided to put WATER on the fire! Maybe if he had “thousands and thousands of hours of training” his strategies and tactics would have been different? Anyway, you can see the entire video from WDBJ7 (where the screen shot, top, right photo came from) in the link below. I’ll also add the video from WSLS and the story from the local paper.

MUST SEE VIDEO from WDBJ7. Well involved structure fire Roanoke, Va

Story from Roanoke.com

Today has been just as busy around “Lucky #13″.

We even got to do a little work with our Brothers from Roanoke County.

We’re kind of “out on the border” here at #13. We are right at the line for Roanoke County on one side and the City of Salem on the other.

We have both mutual and automatic-aid agreements with both agencies and it goes both ways. We run into the County and City of Salem and they in turn respond into the City when needed.

Today, we caught a small fire contained in a very confined space above an entrance way.

The job took more overhaul than extinguishment but the members (City and County) did a good job of getting to it.

The location was actually a fairly large church.

Had this fire gone undetected, it could have resulted in a huge loss.

We were first in on this one.

Well, we were the first piece of fire “apparatus” on scene anyway.

Little Brandon Sheppard was actually first on scene and established command.

Yea … Brandon had command and ordered me to work! LOL

My long time followers may remember Brandon from back in our “Melrose Misfits” days. The “powers to be” worked it out where Brandon was allowed to spend a tour with us in the City. He was actually “assigned” to the City as a Roanoke County Firefighter. I’m not sure it had ever been done before.

It was actually an awesome idea and proved to be a great experience for Brandon. Take a moment and read my post (and the comments) from January 25, 2009

Roanoke County FF/Medic assigned to City Station for a day

I have a lot more to share with ya but I’ll stop here for now. Just for a teaser, I’ll tell that I received some AWESOME upgrades for my Phenix TL2 Leather Helmet. Tomorrow night is our Union’s Annual Banquet (IAFF Local-1132) so I should have some good pics for the next post. Saturday, we sign up for vacation and Father Sandy is scheduled for a visit. Lastly, I have some BIG news concerning our beloved “Rookie Randy” … you’re not going to want to miss it.

We’re also trying to boost my Face book presence. If you haven’t done so already, please visit and like my “Fan Page” Let’s see if I can get to 5,000 by Christmas … I promise to keep ya entertained.

“Like” Ironfiremen.com on Face Book. Click HERE

Until I get back, stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 6, 2012 • Filed under: command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighting-operations, fires, news, Uncategorized, videos • Tagged: Automatic aid, brotherhood, building fire, Captain Willie Wines Jr, Dave Statter, fire, Fire Critic, fire video, firefighter pics, firefighters, firemen, fully involved, house fire, IAFF, IronFiremen.com, Lt. Rhett Fleitz, Melrose misfits, Mutual-aid, Overhaul Operations, Randy Armbrister, Roanoke County Fire / Rescue, Roanoke Fire/EMS, Statter 911, Working fire, Wytheville Fire Department

Fire Department History … it’s where we came from

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I mentioned just the other day how Rhett and I talk a lot about Brotherhood. In our minds, it’s the foundation of the fire service. Of course you can’t talk about Brotherhood without mentioning Tradition, Pride, Honor, and Respect … to us, they go hand in hand.

It’s our HISTORY …. it’s why we’re here. Think about it … you wanted to become a firefighter for a reason. You seen or learned of something that you wanted to become a part of, or emulate. What you seen was built by other men … by the ones who came before us … the men from the days of Wooden Ladders and Iron Firemen!

It’s our job to continue building upon what they started and to never forget where it (or we) came from. The sacrifices made and lessons learned along the way. The names, their faces and all those stories in between that were told on the back step or around the kitchen table. They define us …it’s who we are.

How much do you know about the history of your Department? Do you have someone documenting or recording your history? Someone who archives news articles? A Department photographer?

We did at one time. His name was Maurice Wiseman. Now deceased, Captain Wiseman took it upon himself to document the history of the Roanoke Fire Department where he served for over 35 years.

Captain Wiseman collected every newspaper clipping that was fire related (or that mentioned the Roanoke Fire Department) from the early 1960′s until the mid-90′s.

He also documented our members.

Even after his retirement (March 2, 1985) he continued to visit the stations to photograph members.

Believe it or not, that’s me back in July of 1991. Captain Wiseman took the photo and archived it in what we now know as the Maurice Wiseman Project.

View part of the project on Face Book by clicking HERE .

After Captain Wiseman passed away, his family turned all of his collection over to The Roanoke Firefighter’s Association IAFF Local-1132. It was there that Rhett stumbled onto the collection.

Rhett was not a Roanoke native. Unlike many of us who were 2nd or 3rd generation firefighters that grew up around Roanoke’s firehouses, Rhett had no prior connection to the RFD.

That didn’t matter because Rhett “gets it”. He understands what it means to be a firefighter. He understands that it’s more than a uniform. More than running the calls. Rhett “bought in” to the Roanoke Fire Department (and the Fire Service as a whole) and he paid with sweat equity.

Rhett took over Captain Wiseman’s collection and created the Maurice Wiseman Project. He sat out to continue the work Captain Wiseman started.

He ended up even writing a book on our History…. Firefighting in Roanoke (use this link to purchase a copy for under $20 The picture right is the cover).

The book covers Roanoke firefighters from the organization of the first volunteer companies through the progression of a fully paid Department and the implementation of a 3rd platoon.

In his own way, Rhett continued to document the Department through a blog. .. RoanokeFire.com. Although he included a lot of personal opinion etc, he also captured a lot of our history. Sadly, some members became upset over some of his postings and forced him to abandon his efforts.

In the video below, Rhett was interviewed about his book, Firefighting in Roanoke.

We had another member who captured some good photos throughout the years. Lt Mike Overacker is now retired but until recently, could usually be found on the scene of fires snapping pictures. Mike often times focused on the members rather than the fire and posted them to his site, Roanokefirefighters.com. Because of a conceived lack of support etc, Mike to has abandoned his efforts and even taken down the site.

The loss of both these sites is a shame …. so much of our history will now be lost.

Follow Ironfiremen.com on Face Book. Click HERE and “Like”

I bring up all this talk of “history” for a reason. I recently got a refreshing reminder of just how important it is to us. You see, we’ve kind of gotten our little “Rookie Randy” interested in fire service history, antiques etc. He takes a lot of PRIDE in working for our Department and RESPECTS what the members before us have created.

He texted me the other day asking if I knew a “D. S. Wanson”. I didn’t. I thought maybe it could be one of the new kids but I wasn’t sure.

I texted him back asking why he wanted to know. He told me that he had found a Roanoke Fire Department belt buckle with that name engraved on it.

I asked if he was sure it was from the Roanoke Fire Department and he said yes. Then it hit me … it wasn’t “D.S. Wanson”, it was “D. Swanson”!

“UNCLE SWANSON” …. my dad’s first and long time Captain! I can’t tell ya how many memories I have of Swanson. As kids, my brother and I spent as much time as possible with dad, uncle Swanson and the men of Station #6. We spent just as much time around him when they were off duty … hell … we called him “uncle”.

Swanson was “old school”. He was one of em I think of when talking about the days of “Wooden Ladders and Iron Firemen”.

He served 43 years in the Roanoke Fire Department (1948-1991). When he retired, he had served the 2nd longest career behind Captain Givens. Today, I believe he’s 3rd because of now deceased Battalion Chief Bobbie Slayton’s tenure.

They weren’t easy years either … although he retired from Station #13 (which was considered a “slow” station at the time), he spent most of his career at the busiest downtown stations (#1 and #6).

Well obviously, I told Randy to buy it. He did. He brought the buckle in and I told him the story of who it belonged to. You could see the excitement in his face.

We did some digging and come to find out, another retired Captain actually made the buckle.

Apparently, Captain Mills (aka “Big Mills” due to the size of his hands) made several hose picks and buckles just like this one for the members back then.

I also have one of the hose picks he made.

I love to hear the stories of how the men made a lot of the tools they used back then.

Made as in “hand made”. There was a work bench and vice in every station and most times both were surrounded by the members on duty. Fixing this or building that. If they didn’t have it, they made it. If they broke it, they fixed it.

Well anyway, after hearing the story of the buckles origin, Randy wouldn’t let me pay for it. I thought “no big deal” … he’s probably planning to just give it to me … right? WRONG.

He knows me well enough to know what I was planning to do with it and he had the same idea … he wanted my dad to have it. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?

With just a little over a year on the job, Randy is already showing just how much he understands Pride, Honor, Tradition and Respect.

A one year man giving back to a 30 year man. A piece of history … Fire Department history as well as Dad’s history.

That’s just another small part of what the Brotherhood is all about and Randy “gets it”. I was humbled to have been witness. Dad was honored.

I hope this can and will be an example for all you young members out there. Don’t wait. It’s never too early to get involved with your Department’s History, Traditions etc. Remember the men who came before you and helped create the job you so dearly wanted. Tell the stories …document and share them. Most importantly, never miss an opportunity to listen to those of your fellow Brothers and Sisters … help keep our history alive ..after all, we’re now part of it!

Stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 4, 2012 • Filed under: administration-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, news, Uncategorized • Tagged: Bobbie Slayton, brotherhood, Captain Swanson, Captain Willie Wines Jr, Dalton Swanson, Dave Statter, Fire Critic, firefighter, firefighter pics, firefighters, Firefighting history, Firefighting in Roanoke, house fire, Ironfiremen, Lt. Rhett Fleitz, Maurice Wiseman, Maurice Wiseman Project, Randy Armbrister, retired firefighters, Roanoke Fire Department, Roanoke Fire/EMS, Willie Wines Sr

Fire truck roll over, working fire, a strange rescue, some rope and a vibrator

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Where else, other than Ironfiremen.com can you find a title like that? LMAO Ok, first off, let me update ya on the roll over accident involving Bedford Engine 1 yesterday. The accident happened as the Engine was responding to a brush fire on Peaks Road. There were 4 members on board and all were transported to local hospitals (at least 1 was air lifted). Initial reports were of 2 members having serious injuries. The good news is that none of the injuries sustained were serious and all 4 members were released from the hospital by late yesterday evening. Bedford’s Engine 1 is a 2007 Seagrave Marauder II. Rhett broke the story yesterday over on FireCritic.com you can read his post HERE . Read some local news coverage HERE and HERE.

Find Bedford Fire Department’s Web Page HERE or on Face Book HERE

Yesterday was a busy day in “The Noke” as well.

This picture is from Ladder 7 as they are responding in with smoke showing.

The fire was located in the 2500 block of Johnson Ave.

It was actually a storage building / warehouse for CMC Supply (plumbing supplies).

Members arrived to find heavy fire and smoke conditions. Damages are estimated at $300,000.00 and was the result of arson.

This is not the first time Roanoke’s bravest have battled a fire at CMC.

Back in the mid to early 90′s it took multiple alarms and a Department call back to control a blaze at this same location.

The buildings were (and are) full of plumbing supplies… PVC’s, plastics etc.

Yesterday’s fire occurred on B-shift and took the Brothers and Sisters only a few hours to control.

Members broke shift and remained on scene for days following the fire back in the 90′s.

No injuries were reported and by all appearances, the Brothers and Sisters of B-Shift put in some solid work.

One juvenile has been charge with arson while charges are pending on two others.

Find local news coverage HERE.

(more pictures in the link above)

For some odd reason, it seems as if arson is on the rise in Roanoke lately.

Earlier in the week, Roanoke Police arrested a man for ransacking a local Church. 21 year old Nathaniel Alan Lutz has been charged with breaking and entering as well as arson. It’s reported that several items inside had been set on fire. Church members became aware of the break in the following morning and called police. The fires had apparently burned themselves out and the Fire Department did not respond. Read some local coverage HERE .

Here’s a pretty cool video for all our animal lovers out there ( Smurf should REALLY love this one). One of my readers, Pat sent it in for us to take a look at. The video was loaded to YouTube by Jack Hillmann. His description says that while driving, he hit 2 falcons. One was killed and the other trapped under his vehicle. Apparently, Jack stopped at a local firehouse for assistance. I can see “Moline Fire Department” on the side of the rig and will assume it’s Moline IL. If you guys know who these Brothers are, please let me know so I can give them credit. I’m sure their efforts made a lasting and positive impression on Mr Hillmann … a positive public image. WELL DONE Brothers!

Speaking of positive publicity, my last post, “Pride .. Going the extra mile and making a kid smile” has received a fair amount of attention.

Apparently, you guys jumped into action and the cards etc have been rolling in to make little Nathan Norman’s Christmas wish come true.

Nathan is 6yrs old and lives in Rustburg, Va. He is battling terminal cancer and had a special request / wish for Christmas. He’s a huge fan of Firefighters, Police, EMS, and Hospital workers. He wanted (hoped) to receive some Christmas cards / pictures from those of us serving in those positions. Rhett and I sent a shirt, Challenge Coin and card …. apparently a lot of you did as well! THANKS! Here’s a post / update his mom recently posted to Face Book …

“We want to once again just thank everyone for your love and support!!!!! There have been so many cards/gifts/emails/visits from police, fire, ems, border patrol, secret service, etc from all over the country. The entire family is so grateful and humbled by the response of everyone. Just to update: Nathan is still on chemotherapy for hopefully up to 18 months. He is doing well on the chemo and as of last month the tumors were stable (cancer was there just not growing). He is still fighting strong while we pray for a cure!”

Follow Nathan’s Christmas: The Page on Face Book. Click HERE

Another previous post of mine has drawn a lot of attention as well. If you missed “New Firefighting technique developed in Wytheville, Va?” you need to take a minute and read it. Be sure to also read the article from SW Va Today as well …. you’ll LOVE the quotes from Chief King and it’s also what prompted me to write the post (find that article HERE). I did a follow up on the original post and that article can be found HERE . I did the follow up because a few comments I had been receiving. They were obviously from people within or close to the Wytheville Fire Department (or their Auxiliary) and were attempting to defend Chief King and the actions of the WFD.

What still amazes me is that in all of their comments, nobody has offered a rebuttal. They simply continue to question my training, credentials, character and more (including my mustache). They rant about how my information / facts are incorrect yet they fail to offer “their side” of the story.

They still fail to see the seriousness of the issues that were raised and the effects they could have on their Department and community … everything from liability to insurance, ISO ratings and more. Their silence and/or lack of a rebuttal also somewhat implies my information is correct. I also trust my sources to be accurate (one of which being the SW Va Today article where Chief King was quoted). I have spoken directly to at least one of their members over the phone. I even requested a transcript (and/or audio recording) of the incident from their 911 center under the Virginia Freedom Of Information Act . I made the request through Mr Davidson who is listed as “Emergency Mangager/911 Coordinator/Haz-Mat Coordinator” on the County’s web site under the Department of Emergency Management. I believe he is also a member of the Wytheville Fire Department.

My request was made November 21st and on the 26th Mr Davidson responded saying that the incident in question was actually a “Town” call and that he had forwarded the request to the necessary people (their PIO, Chief Dispatcher and Director of Public Safety for the Town). I haven’t received a response from either of these folks as of this post. I added a link to the FOIA a few paragraphs above. To save you the hassle of reading it all, page 5 is where it talks about requesting information and the time frame a Public Body has to respond to a request. Here’s an excerpt .. “Any public body that is subject to this chapter and that is the custodian of the requested records shall promptly, but in all cases within five working days of receiving a request, provide the requested records to the requester or make one of the following responses in writing:” It also says “Failure to respond to a request for records shall be deemed a denial of the request and shall constitute a violation of this chapter”.

I mentioned in my update post that the Wythe County Board of Supervisors has earned faith in being able to make the right vs popular decision on issues such as this. I maintain that faith and hope they work quickly to resolve some of these issues before someone gets seriously injured (or worse). Ok, so back to the comments. I’ve actually stopped replying to many of them. Trying to debate the issues with some of these folks is just a wast of time. It’s like playing cards with my brothers kids or something. Some of them are quite interesting though … like this one posted to my Face Book page from “Jacob” (I’ll need to censor some of it …you’ll understand)

“Wow I am very sorry to say that all your info on Wytheville FD is false. I have 2 presents for you so if you could send me your address you will kindly recieve a rope and a vibrator. GO FK YOURSELF AND HANG YOUR ASS WHEN DONE. Ron King is a great man and the 2 houses that are now a loss is not his fault. One was a fully involved structure fire when they arrived NOT “room and contents fire” like you mentioned. I do not hear the family complaining about the house being gone to the county or even the town. The fd did what they needed to do and thats it. Chief King was smart not to send them inside with hoses and yes you are correct about ONE thing. they used small diameter hoses….. DUH did you really think they were going to drag the 5″ out and carry it into the house. Your eyes must be in your mouth and that mustache is affecting your vision. You also said that you have not heard from the 911 dispatchers or the department.. HMMMMM So where are you getting your information on repsonse time and the fact that they had to call for a tanker. Maybe you should get all your facts together before you start running your damn mouth. OR in this case your fingers. If you are going to bash a fd do it to one that actually has problems like * Springs FD in NC or * cnty FDs since they dont let women in the departments and that ***** Springs has someone in the dpt just a year after he sexually assulted a female in training there. You are a disgrace. Iron firemen my ass. You panzy ass looking shit. Remind me to never live in your departments area. It would take you even longer to get to my house fire because you mustache would slow your asses down”

Rope and a vibrator?? …. WOW! This guy is going all out. He must be rich!

I wonder how he knows about my back ache? I’ve always heard that vibrators can do wonders for a sore back but I’ve never tried one.

I’m so excited in anticipation of these gifts that I researched them on the internet… who knew there were so many options? Different colors even! Decisions …decisions!

I actually though they were called massagers and I would have never guessed that you don’t have to plug them into an outlet anymore? You gotta love the power of batteries.

Anyway, I just wanted to thank Jacob for his comment (and gift offer). It was obviously very well thought out, to the point and very articulate. By simply pointing out that the family is not complaining about their house burning down, or that the WFD members didn’t stretch 5″ in for an attack, he has already educated me beyond my expectations on the issues surrounding these incidents. Maybe I should offer him a “guest post” here on Ironfiremen.com so others can share in his knowledge and experience. Of course, some of the other comments I’ve received are just as good as Jacob’s so I may have to allow for more than one.

I’ll think that one over and meanwhile, you folks stay SAFE and in house!

Captain Wines

Posted by Iron Firemen on December 2, 2012 • Filed under: administration-leadership, command-leadership, Fire Dispatch, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, news, rescues, Uncategorized, vehicle-operations-apparatus, videos • Tagged: animal rescues, apparatus accidents, Bedford Fire Department, brotherhood, building fire, Captain Willie Wines Jr, Dave Statter, fire, Fire Critic, fire truck, fire truck crashes, fire truck roll over, firefighter pics, firefighters, house fire, Lt. Rhett Fleitz, Nathan Norman, Roanoke Fire/EMS, Statter 911, Working fire, Wytheville Fire Department

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