Day #587 Here We Go Again

Remember last April when I had to stop attending the Gwinnett Citizen Fire Academy?

I’d made it all the way through the hose work in Class #5,   but was in too much pain to go any further in the training. 

Well, I’m back in class again—this time it’s the 18^th GCFA. I’m not going to bore you with a repetition of all the stuff we’re learning for the next five weeks. After all, I already told you all that stuff in March and April. 

I was just getting ready to say that I’ll be happy to tell you all about classes 6 through 12 -- but it occurred to me that I’ll be past my 600 days well before those classes happen. 

What to do?

I’m going to think about it.

Should I change this to a once-a-week blog posting?

No. Here’s a better idea. My brand new website (with an associated blog) should be launched within another week or so. Fran Stewart dot com as we now know it will disappear, to be replaced by a new (improved!) site. I’m thinking what I’ll do is transfer all my blogging activity to that site. After all, with the bee allergy, I’m really not interacting with bees much anymore, and these blog entries have ranged far afield of beekeeping.

I know, I know. I can hear you saying—they've ALWAYS ranged far afield. Yeah. You’re right.

So, I guess I’ll just have to wait for Day #600 to let you know what’s going to happen. 

With maybe a preview a little before then.

BEEattitude for Day #587:

       Blessed are those who know where the best pollen is, for they shall fly home laden with gold.

_______________________________ 

The teeny details:

my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.

my eBooks for Kindle:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Fran+Stewart 

Day #562 Two Announcements

The GOOD NEWS:

Just in case you’re interested, here’s a blurb about a writers workshop I’ll be teaching next week at the Harris Arts Center in Calhoun, GA www.harrisartscenter.com:

Mystery Writer's Workshop & Book Signing With Fran Stewart, May 5

Fran will be signing her new book from the Biscuit McKee series entitled Violet As An Amethyst and then will have a Q & A session from 10 am until 12 noon. Mystery Writing Workshop 2:00 - 5:30 / $40 Join Fran Stewart as she teaches you how to polish your prose using colanders, stinky feet (not real ones), and avalanches as learning tools. This light-hearted interactive workshop is, in essence, a masters class for writers.  Fran will focus on one of the biggest problems that haunt most writers—how to make characters come alive. Using her writer’s workbook, From the Tip of My Pen—a compilation of six years of monthly essays she wrote for the Atlanta Writers Club—Fran will lead you through easy-to-follow steps for writing effective dialogue and building dynamic characters. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- THE NOT SO GOOD NEWS: And then there’s the not-so-happy news. I’ve decided I need to drop out of the Citizens Fire Academy for now. I hope, after I have the surgery this summer, I’ll gain a lot more energy and be able to pick up the last seven classes the next time around. For now, though, I feel like I’m carrying around an anchor. As much as I’ve enjoyed the classes, my body simply isn’t cooperating.

Happy Birthday, Savannah!

BEEattitude for Day #562:

       Blessed are those who fly as well as they can for as long as they can, for they shall find wonderful nectar.
       Blessed are they, also, who know their limits, for they shall  find their nectar close to home. 

_______________________________ 

The teeny details:

my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.

my eBooks for Kindle:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Fran+Stewart 

Day #549 Citizen Fire Academy Class #4

Just so you’ll know -- I’ve decided not to quit my writing career to become a firefighter.

I came close to flunking Thursday evening when we had to don all the PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), including a 40-pound SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus). But, I did make it through the burned-out training building, holding onto someone’s arm because I couldn’t wear my glasses with that face mask on, and couldn’t see a blinkin’ thing.

I wasn’t quite in panic mode, but close to it. I am such a wimp. So they took me back to the starting point and helped me take off the mask and air tank. Then, when I stopped hyperventilating, I joined the rest of the group.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. This was our first view of the Gwinnett County Fire Academy Burn Building:

Then we went inside a different building to get into our gear. 

Trevor had his on already, 

so I handed him my camera:

That coat alone is HEAVY, but if I were in a burning building with a temp between 400 and 1,200 degrees, I should think I’d appreciate all the protection I could get. As you can see, the top of the pants were nowhere near my waist, so the next step was the bright red suspenders (no picture of that).

Then we learned how everything went on properly, and watched as one of the instructors showed us how to do it right, so we could make it through the obstacle course. 

One of the people helping us was Lt. Wade Crider, the arson investigator who told me he’d help me get my facts right for BROWN AS FUDGE, the next mystery in the Biscuit McKee Series.

We didn’t have to go over the stones of through the barrels  -- thank goodness. Imagine crawling through one of these, hauling a fire hose, with more than 40 pounds of clothing and gear.

Then we got to watch four of the Fire Explorers go through a training run. The Fire Explorers are young people between the ages of 14 and 19, who “explore” what it means to be a firefighter. The young woman on the right was accepted into the Fire Academy, by the way, and she’ll start as a new recruit next Monday.

They stood at attention and, when the instructor said, “Go,” they donned all their PPE in 46 seconds. I couldn’t take pictures fast enough. The hood, the boots and pants, the snaps, the buckles, the velcro, SCBA with strapping and air hoses, helmet, and gloves, and hands up in the air to show they’d finished. When I donned my SCBA, it took two other people to help me get it up. These Fire Explorers threw their unit up and over their heads, where it settled onto their backs. Very impressive they were. The young woman finished first, incidentally. No wonder they recruited her.

Then they had to pick up a fire hose, climb through a 20” x 20” opening and over an A-shaped obstacle, through a tunnel, pick up the victim (a bundle of fire hose wrapped in pink, in the rough shape of a human body, with arms and legs dangling), and return with the “body” the way they came.

Like I said, I’m not gonna give up my writing job.

Next week: ladders!

p.s. Stop by your neighborhood fire station sometime soon and thank the people there.

BEEattitude for Day #549:

       Blessed are those who guard the hive, for they shall be appreciated by the rest of us bees.

_______________________________ 

The teeny details:

my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.

my eBooks for Kindle:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Fran+Stewart 

Day #528 Citizen Fire Academy - Class #2

Thursday evening I attended an incredibly exciting Citizen Fire Academy Class. The dozen class members sat through the classroom portion of the session, learning first about medical operations/EMT training from Lt. Michael Thomas (how the ambulances crews work). In the Gwinnett County Fire Department, all firefighters receive extensive EMT training, far more than what is required by the federal and state governments.

Then we were taught “Incident Command” (who’s in charge at a fire and why). Any one supervisor is in charge of no more than 5 to 7 people. That supervisor reports to the next one in the chain of command, who is responsible for no more than 5 to 7 supervisors. And so on up the line to the Fire Chief, to whom four departments report.

We learned how jobs are assigned at a fire. Divisions indicate a geographical area. 

• Numbered Divisions are assigned vertically inside a building. For example, in an apartment fire, if your crew is assigned to Division 1, then your job would be to go into the first floor and do whatever needed to be done there, while Division 6 would take the 6^th floor, and so on.  On the outside of the building, 
• Lettered Divisions are on the outside and they progress clockwise around the house. If you get to a fire and you’re assigned to Division A you know you’ll be responsible for the front of the house, while Division B will move to your left and cover that (left) side; C covers the back, and Division D is the right-hand side.

Groups, on the other hand, are assigned functions. If you’re assigned to the Ventilation Group, for instance, then your job is set the fans to blow the smoke out of the whole building (after the fire is out, of course). Likewise, a commander could assign you to Ventilation Group, Division 2, and you’ll know precisely what you’re supposed to do (ventilate) and where you’re supposed to do it (second floor).

After the classroom portion of the class, District Commander Chief Wayne Mooney led us all out into the station bay, where his vehicle sat. He opened the back and slid out an enormous tray that held more equipment than my kitchen contains. He walked us through the process he uses  at a major fire of pulling magnets from the lid of one of the handy little boxes on the back of the tray and placing them in the appropriate rectangles marked on the sturdy built-in white-board chart, so he can see at a glance who is where at any given time.

He has a different magnet for every unit (truck, ladder, car, ambulance…) that might be there, and every situation that might be going on (triage, helicopter, investigation...).

White magnets indicate cars (CAR 1, CAR 2, CAR 3 and so on), Red ones were for the fire trucks (ENGINE 1, ENGINE 23, LADDER 5 . . .)

Other colors showed other types of situations, items, functions. And he even had a marker in case he ran out of magnets

The white board was divided into blocks where he could put magnets to show 

1. where it was

2. who was there

3. what they were doing

As he explained all this, the ambulance and ladder truck, which had both been out on a call, returned. We all had to step aside so they could pull in through the doors at the back of the station and past us up to the front so they’d be ready to take off at a moment’s notice.

Lt. Thomas then jumped into the back of the ambulance and began to show us the equipment. 

I was perched on the step at the back of the vehicle when an alarm sounded. We were shooed out of the way, firefighters jumped into the ladder truck and ambulance, and they were gone. Just like that.

There couldn't have been more than twenty seconds between the sounding of the alarm and this picture of the ambulance lights on and the truck beginning to move.

You may notice in the second picture that the ambulance driver brakes and waits for the fire truck to pull out in front. At a fire, the truck is more immediately necessary (usually) than the ambulance. The medic part of it comes later.

We class members were all shooting pictures like crazy through the whole process. I wish I could share them all with you, but I don’t want to jam your computer. I would like to leave you with the photo below, though. After the ladder truck was out of sight, I noticed four pairs of shoes on the floor of the bay, where the four men assigned to the ladder truck had jumped out of them and into their gear.

Let’s hear it for the firefighters. 

BEEattitude for Day #528:

       Blessed are those who put out clean water for the birds and who float a stick in there so we bees can climb out.

_______________________________ 

The teeny details:

my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.

my eBooks for Kindle:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Fran+Stewart 

Day #522 How I Surprised the Fire Chief

Gwinnett County Fire Chief Bill Myers greeted our Citizen Fire Academy class Thursday evening with a little talk about the Values that are important to the Fire Department.

“Our Mission,” he said (and there was a handout, too), “is to Save Lives and Protect Property. Our Vision is to Deliver the Highest Quality of Service to all Customers, and the Values we hold as vital to our department are Truth, Trust, Respect, and Unity.” He pointed overhead, where four flags hung from the classroom ceiling.

A blue one to our left said TRUTH, a green one said TRUST, an orange flag said RESPECT, and  a red one carried the word UNITY. He gave a little speech about how those particular colors were chosen. I don’t recall why blue was chosen for Truth, but Trust was on a green flag because in the deepest, coldest part of winter, we trust that spring (green) will come. Orange represented the school colors of the number 1 school in Gwinnett County, which has an excellent school system, and Unity was on a red flag, because fire trucks (the symbol that unifies the whole department) are red.

I raised my hand and said, “Did you know that you inadvertently chose chakra colors that were appropriate?”

He didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.

I explained that the ancient system of explaining the energy of the body assigns red as the color of the first chakra, which represents community, foundation, unity. The second chakra (orange) is where creativity is centered in our bodies (and certainly where we must have respect for ourselves). The green chakra is number four, the heart chakra--and it is in our hearts that we must feel trust; when we’re open-hearted, trust flows out. Finally, the fifth chakra, represented by the color blue, is the throat chakra, the place in the body from which we speak our truth.

Isn’t it amazing that a department with a budget of $76 million a year, which employs 845 men and women, and serves a county of over 800,000 people, from 30 strategically placed fire stations, subconsciously built its value statement on an ancient tradition for health and healing?

I think it’s wonderful indeed.

BEEattitude for Day #522:

       Blessed are those who tap into ancient wisdom, for they shall be whole.

_______________________________ 

The teeny details:

my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.

my eBooks for Kindle:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Fran+Stewart