Tri-C Live Fire Burn

When the phone rings from your mother at 8:30am; you answer it. When the phone rang Tuesday morning, I answered it like a good boy should.

"They are burning today!" my mother said rather loudly in my ear for being 8:30am.

On Lake road in Avon Lake, there was a house that was prepped for a live burn. My mother, God Bless her, has a keen eye for firemen, and when she saw apparatus heading into the house, she knew they were going to light a fire and let it burn.

She had been bugging me for week that they are burning it down and that I should call and see when. I called the ALFD, but didn't get a call back, so I was convinced they didn't want a snooping photographer on scene, and besides it is 8:30 on a Tuesday and my back was killing me.

But my curiosity got the best of me and I headed to the house. I knew exactly where it was, I knew where to park to stay out of the way. I was from Avon Lake. I walked on scene with a barely charged battery and a nearly full memory card and a pocket full of business cards. I wasn't prepared and that scared me. I walked up to the police officer on traffic duty, and he immediately asked if I was with the paper. No, just a snotty fire photographer looking for some fun. I asked if he was cool with me crossing and seeing if I was cool to come on scene. There was no way I could get photos from the street.

Thankfully the Chief let me come on scene. I told them who I was, what I do, and who I have worked with. When all else fails, drop the names of a few fire chief's that like you. Not only did they give me incredible access to their live burn for the Tri-C Fire Academy, but they gave me better access than the local paper. Where I was close enough at points I could touch the building, the local paper guy, who as it turns out is really cool, was stuck outside the command post with a short lens.

The safety officer took me around the building where he thought there might be great photo opportunities. The backside where they were doing roof ops, the front where they were coming out onto a flat roof. It was great access for a guy who just walked on scene, didn't know a single person in charge, but yet they seemed to trust me. They trusted me enough to hold the ladder for a trainee while they went up and down because they had to run and grab a tool for them and instruct them.

It was a great experience, and I hope they like the photos I sent them.

Lighting the Fire

My favorite part of some of the live fire training I have been to is the very beginning. The first evolution starts and the first team goes into the structure and gets on their gear in the dark. Then breaking the darkness is a flare that lights up the fire. For the next 8 hours or so, there will be a fire burning, and evolution after evolution, the crews will run in, and practice putting them out.

Dreams

I have a respect for firemen that goes way beyond the obligatory, thanks for your service mindset. I think some people just say stuff like that because that is what they are supposed to say. I wrote about what got me fascinated at what our fire departments do on a past blog.  You can still read them over at my old blog. I wrote it in 3 parts.

Part I
Part II
Part III 

This particular series of blogs still is my most read work to date. When I snapped this photo of an Avon Lake Firefighter at a live fire exercise, it took me back to Thanksgiving 1994. I had a dream about this fire the other night. There are still unanswered questions I have about the fire; some of the firefighters on scene that night have retired or moved on and the official report destroyed. I have a feeling the pursuit of finding the answers might haunt be for the rest of my life.