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Wednesday, August 06, 2008

FF hurt, Roanoke Cop Blog and an Update

Steve Dixon, a Salem (VA) Firefighter suffered a heart attack on scene of a structure fire Monday. Dixon is believed to have been venting a roof of a house fire when he became ill. He is recovering at the hospital and has undergone surgery. His family would like their privacy during his recovery from what I understand. Our thoughts and prayers are with him during this time.

The Roanoke Cop Blog is in full swing. The blog is an introspective look at what it is like to be a Roanoke Police Officer. The apparently anonymous blogger writes about life on the street working the beat in Roanoke. The writings are unlike this blog in that he writes about his day to day job and what he experiences. Check out the blog here.

Another Cop blog that I found out about a couple of weeks ago is one written from Memphis. If some of you think that this blog is bad at times you need to check out MPD Enforcer 2.0. The blog has uncovered supposed crime and cover ups within the Memphis PD.

As for me, I have been overwhelmed with a lot of things recently. That is why the blog is somewhat stagnant.

Roanoke City just hired at least one. Apparently, Mark Altman the son of Chief Altman was hired today. There isn't any word on any other hirings.

There have been some fires recently. The Sofa Warehouse on Williamson Road and the McDonald's on Orange are two of them. I cannot stress enough that in these times of companies out of service you need to be careful. The recent jobs have been put out quickly, you just never know when the shit will hit the fan.

Someone recently pointed out to me the amount of Opticoms out of service. For those who don't know, the opticom system turns the lights green when we come to them running emergency. This helps alleviate the traffic backup and gets us through the light quicker. Why haven't these been fixed. I know of a couple which have been out of service in 13's first due for around 6 years.


38 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love nepitism.

-Sol Rosenberg

The Self Dispatchers said...

The top 10 rules for self-dispatching:

1. You dont talk about self-dispatching

2. You dont talk about self-dispatching

3. Beat your feet like a bicycle clown

4. No matter where you are in the city, you are always closer than somebody else

5. If you self-dispatch at 3PM, you must also self-dispatch at 3AM

6. You must also self-dispatch on EMS calls

7. You can self-dispatch to either side of the tracks

8. If you self-dispatch on a call, you can send the first due truck to another call in their own territory

9. You must have a mock turtleneck with your company number on it

10. You dont talk about self-dispatching

Anonymous said...

now thats funny, gee I wonder who you're talking about there... lets "C".

Anonymous said...

You mean the turtle neck that has NOT been approved or proposed by the uniform committee to the Chief and is not part of our proper uniform attire which makes wearing it WRONG and should not be allowed by the company officer type turtle neck?????????????

Anonymous said...

umm, "nepitism" is spelled with an "O". so that would make it nepotism.

Anonymous said...

Whatever. Nepitism still rules!

-Sol Rosenberg

Also- is the CAD that out of date to where we have to self dispatch?

Anonymous said...

All those people and a EMS chief sons gets the job. Their going to bring him in as an officer, daddy has told him about all the fire he has watched, hell make him chief. maybe he is a good kid i don't no but this fuckin ems favortism is old.
little brothers watching

Anonymous said...

why the hell does it matter if someone has on a mock turtle neck..and most capt i know do not care if someone jumps them on a call..it lets them finish the nap..we have bigger things to worry about other than secretly wishing you were at 1 on C shift..how about only 1 person hired..and it is squinty's son. don't know if u know him, but he is the biggest 12 year old you ever saw.

Ten 80 said...

Thanks for the kind words about my blog. For a hose dragger you ain't bad, I don't care what everyone else says about firefighters. Wait, everyone loves you guys, nevermind! ;) Stay safe out there!

Anonymous said...

Great site. Keep up the good work.

FireFleitz said...

The word I got was that they hired 4 recruits. But that was not official by any means.

Anonymous said...

I heard they hired 4. Could be wrong?? Don't know much about the EMS cheif's son either??
By the way, we don't have bigger fish to fry. Instead of jumping calls (otherwise known as self dispatching) why don't you just do as you are instructed by dispatch. No, we are not impressed that you are at staion #1 jumping all of the calls in the city with your sleeves rolled up wearing your mock turtle necks.

Anonymous said...

Hey, they do what the hell they want down there. SOP's POP's dont mean sh!t to them. They follow NO rules, wear what they want, jump everyone elses calls, and think it makes the shift look good. I think its a direct reflection of the leadership down there. That station is setting BAD example for the rest of the department.
-Grumpy

Anonymous said...

Four were hired. 2 medics, 2 minorites. the son that you refer to will have a problem with rookie school because of his attitude, it is too much like his daddys. let's hope that the staff at the RTC will document and do what is needed before it gets out of hand. As for the jumping of the fire at the sofa store. was that before or after they called a second alarm. From what I understand the BC's have a understnading that if it sounds bad the other will head towards the call.

Anonymous said...

Lets just hope that everyone that is hired will do a good job for the department. As far as hiring 2 medics....I think that's great. The more medics they hire the better.
I dont know chief 3's son so I cannot make a judgement on him yet. I did hear that it took him several times to pass the CPAT so if I'm ever stuck inside somewhere and need help dont send him in after me.
I do love nepitism.....I mean nepotisim. I also love Willie Nelson, western movies, and drinks that are blue.

-Sol Rosenberg

Anonymous said...

Nepotism in the noke? ha - ralphs daughter makes more than a firefighter because uh? well there's uh. . .and uh. . .hummmm -
she kept her job but they let mary go? that's ok, vince sent out a dept wide email to pretend that someone in the office cared - wtf - altmans son got on - ha -no surprise there - sos -
and regarding self-dispatching - it's highly unprofessional unless your driving by within a couple blocks, but there isn't much professionalism left here anymore.
and most of the people at 1 - C are wannabes - always looking for attention. They are a wrecking crew on a fire but no one ever stops them. they do more damage than the fire. the young people there don't realize how bad their leadership is. sorry, it's true.

look in the mirror

Anonymous said...

I do not know three of the new recruits, but what was admin thinking when they hired #3's son. If you listen to him, he is the biggest cry baby I have ever seen or heard. Oh ... thats right, he is a EMT-I. Thats all that matters anymore. Everyone better watch out, word on the street is that he is a plant for admin. With phone in hand he will call #1 or #3 at anytime to rat someone out. Can't you just see it now ... #3 will have to live it cadet school for the entire class .... daddy ... they are picking on me .... Look at what the department has come to. Just sickening to watch ... no leadership at all. Too bad admin is not at old #1 station. Ghosts of old " firemen " could be leaving messages on note pads or mirrors to offer suggestions to #1 on how to run a real fire department.

Anonymous said...

I have no problem with the chiefs son getting on, but I have heard he does have a bit of a cocky attitude. I think he should get a fair chance, and let him make or break his career by his own doings, and from what I have heard it will not take long for him to rub people the wrong way. Hopefully he will understand when he comes in that he no different than anybody else, and that means that he needs to mind his Ps and Qs like a rookie should!

Anonymous said...

I dont understand why people diss Tiffany on here. Does anyone remember the last P.I.O. we had??? Probably not since "She" never did all that much. Not only does Tiffany do the P.I.O duties, she also does public education ( which I see her out there at just about everytime we are out there...on weekends too when she is suppose to be off.)She also is the accredidation manager( next time you're in her office, look at all those files and binders full of crap she has to constantly keep updated so we can have that fancy sticker!)and writes the majority of the grants this department get so we can have our "toys". She is constantly taking classes to do her job better not to mention having to take college classes too because chief 1 has instructed her to do so. And she also gives back to the citizens of this city by volunteering to deliever food in the Meals on Wheels Program with the L.O.A. and installs a crap load of car seats every month. Not to mention she comes to ever fire, unless her husband is at work because of her kids, and does her job. She also is always smiling and has a nice thing to say. As far as her pay goes...I doubt she gets paid for whats she worth seeing all she does. Let's not forget all those concert tickets she gets for us. She is also probably the only one in the office you can trust! Keep up to awesome job you do Tiff....alot of us out here appriciate what you do.

Anonymous said...

"this job at its worst is still the best job in the world."
Broadway

Anonymous said...

Thanks Tiff for all you do, and don't ever let this poop people write get to you. We owe you a great big thank you and an apology from the ignorant who know not what they speak of. You rock!

Anonymous said...

Tiff, if you are reading this stuff? May i make one suggestion to you when you are scheduling public events for us to be present.Please remeber one thing, we work 24hrs not 8hrs. When you have us out at lunch/ supper time. and we can not prepare our meals it is 2-3 hours later when we get to eat, and even later than that for the guys on the medic trucks. Try to remember and help us out with this in the future, you may even have to explain this to the public when they request us out at these times. Thanks

Anonymous said...

YOU ROCK Tiffany!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all you do for us, your awesome Tiff!

Anonymous said...

It is CCCCCCCCC shift at #1. Don't bring A or B shift in it. Jumping calls, if they called for a second alarm, a second Batt. chief gets dispatched, but it doesn't sound that way he probably jumped it LITTLE BUUUUUDDDDDDDDDDDYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!! I did hear they hired 4 people, I also heard that 1 of them scored really low, but because of his status he was bumped up. Tiff does a hell of alot more than the other PIO did. What we need now is more money! Pay up got to put food on the table. I'm tired of toe nail sandwiches, they smell!! One more thing, the turtle necks are used to wipe off their chins .

Anonymous said...

Its refered to as automatic aid. we have it with the county and salem why not within the city.

Anonymous said...

I don't know anybody that doesn't like Tiffany. She does apply herself. But she has been placed in an awkward position. Much of the stuff she is given to do was on a chiefs plate and shifted to her so they would have more time to screw with the troops. that's not her fault. Plus daddy wants to secure a job for his girl - can't fault that er uh well, what would you do? As to the one before her . . bi-polar arm candy for G - no she did nothing but go to events with them and stir a little body heat - ha -
look in the mirror

Anonymous said...

To the third post up, calm down man nobody said anything about A or B shift. Did that rock hurt that bad. Look if your BC's don't want to work with the other on your shift that is their problem. Don't hate us for doing things the right way.

Anonymous said...

People are hatin' you all for a LOT more reasons than that!!

Anonymous said...

Hey their, automatic aid. Spoken like a true tick.

Your a professional firefighter now. Act like one.

Anonymous said...

I believe there are more cry babies on this site than anything.. Im sure there are bigger problems to worry about, instead of wasting your time on dumb bs like this!

Anonymous said...

1 - why don't you all stop whining and bitchin about your new recruits? if one of them is related to a Chief, he's going to have a hard enough time because you have all prejudged him. let him be his own man and make it or break it on his own. remember he had a mother too, so maybe he took after her

2 - why does it matter who got dispatched to what? on one post ya'll bitch because you don't have enough men on trucks and now you're bitching because someone dispatched themselves as back up? what are you bipolar? either you want help to prevent injury or further property damage or you can continue to risk property and lives with too little personnel.

3 - learn how to spell - i know you have at least a high school diploma but the grammar and misuse of words in your comments is hilarious.

Anonymous said...

Dont read it then. Thats your choice.

Anonymous said...

You obviously have as much time to waste as the rest of us since you are not only taking time to read the posts, but posting a comment yourself. What an idiot for writing a post about having nothing better to do.
Well, I "C" a truck going down the road all the time but I cannot "C" where they were dispatched though the CAD. "C" what happens when you jump calls, it opens up a whole can of worms. Do as you are instructed instead of what you want. "C" you later.

Anonymous said...

"A" shift ROCKS........."B" shift Rocks.......well, what can I say about "C" shift (let me think about that).......Tiff your pretty cool also

Anonymous said...

When you self dispatch, who covers the calls in your assigned area?????

Anonymous said...

Ok So it is a pain in the butt to get a call to an address or area that is'nt in your run territory. What are you getting paid to do??? If another company jumps a call!!!! You have to look in the map book!!!!??? Then respond!!! An older Captain told me a very simple thing. When the bell hits, get the address, get on the truck, and go where you are told to go!!! Its that simple. We worry to much about what someone else is or are doing!
Dont we have enough to do already?

Anonymous said...

UMM When i self disp the compnay that is sitting on their dead ass doing nothing and ummm maybe 800 runs a years takes the call.What do you want to get paid for nothing again?? like to good ole days lol cry about it!!!