First responders and other civic heroes cleaning up our mess

[F250 28775]

35 minutes ago, Nicole44 said:

It sounds like a bar. I’m thinking of the Double Deuce maybe.

i wish someone would start a thread on bar fights. If you were in a bar fight, what song would you want to be playing in the background? 

The last time I threw punches in a bar it was while Streets of Bakersfield was playing. It was because I selected Streets of Bakersfield on the jukebox that started the fight. God damn, that was close to 30 years ago when I was still using a fake ID.

[Deej 76790]

59 minutes ago, Nicole44 said:

It sounds like a bar. I’m thinking of the Double Deuce maybe.

i wish someone would start a thread on bar fights. If you were in a bar fight, what song would you want to be playing in the background? 

Sometimes when you post, I picture this...

[Dbeasy 15051]

1 hour ago, 'stache said:

The firefighters I know are real shitheads. Real arrogant meatheads. But as far as I know they do manage to put out the three major fires a year that happen and haven't killed anyone for flinching at the wrong time.

There are assholes everywhere, but generally firefighters are regarded as pretty high quality people. They also, according to the Washington Post six days ago, have the most physically demanding jobs in the country. 

I’ve only noticed your existence by the sheer volume of terrible viewpoints you express on this site. So your comment is no surprise and says way more about you than it does the firefighter community. 

['stache 21815]

I was being facetious, but ok, lol.

[Braff Zacklin 13573]

1 hour ago, MissingInAction said:

He may have had as many yards receiving as Vince did in total.

Hate to tell you, but Vince never had that many yards as a receiver.

[BillyGoatHill 4312]

1 hour ago, wood said:

 

Yeah every flight nurse I ever met during my career was a total badass. Sadly, one that I met is no longer with us, having fallen from Star Flight years back during a rescue attempt at Barton Creek. 

 

RIP KM 1023 

[DigglerontheHoof 21199]

16 hours ago, F250 said:

There are civic workers that literally clean up our mess and never get any love despite preventing the collapse of civilization every day. They also manage to do this without being abusive assholes like cops.

Shout out to the people that literally get rid of our shit and keep the water drinkable.

Also, power plant workers and linemen work to keep the power running when the rest of us are bitching in the ERCOT thread. The linemen in particular are climbing utility poles in extreme heat and cold or right after a hurricane just knocked a bunch of lines down. Sometimes these people die while on the job and get zero recognition.

Unfortunately, society doesn't appreciate these workers. Well, Glenn Campbell had that one song "Witchita Lineman."

 

Don't forget the dudes who pick up the trash and keep our streets free of garbage.  Hell, I appreciate what they do much more than what cops do. 

[StassneyHorn 6575]

3 hours ago, wood said:

Wut?

Clean up car wrecks, kitchen stove fire, andthen  hope Paramedics beat you to scene. Thats what every LT and Capt would come in to tell you. This was in Class 125 and 126

[StassneyHorn 6575]

2 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

There are assholes everywhere, but generally firefighters are regarded as pretty high quality people. They also, according to the Washington Post six days ago, have the most physically demanding jobs in the country. 

I’ve only noticed your existence by the sheer volume of terrible viewpoints you express on this site. So your comment is no surprise and says way more about you than it does the firefighter community. 

ill go 40/60 with AFD

[wood 11225]

25 minutes ago, StassneyHorn said:

Clean up car wrecks, kitchen stove fire, andthen  hope Paramedics beat you to scene. Thats what every LT and Capt would come in to tell you. This was in Class 125 and 126

Ah, yeah. Gotcha. And those dang paramedics hardly ever beat us in. There are just more of us and we're usually closer. I didn't do a whole lotta OT work. At shift's end, I'd usually seen enough and was ready to go home or do something fun. It's a helluva lot better than a real job though in most ways, and now my 20 yo is in the process of tryna get in with AFD. So we got that goin' for us. Which is nice.

There's some sitting around, mostly after like 6:30 pm, but not as much as you'd probably think, and less and less with every passing day. They train pretty much every shift, and PT a lot, and do a lot of Medical and Fire/Rescue CE of all sorts, and inspections, Captain's Schools, Pre-Fire planning, hydrant maintenance that the Water dept used to do, the station's yard maintenance, keep all the equipment clean and in good working order, clean the station, the trucks, and their PPE, public education, and a whole lotta other shit. But in the end it's not so much about how much they do, but more about what they're willing to do.

Quote

ill go 40/60 with AFD

Not sure how to read you here. Were/are you in the AFD Training Academy or something? 60% assholes or 40%? Just trying to keep track on my scorecard here at home.

Edited March 7 by wood

[Herbie Hancock 7347]

The turds I run the combat challenge against from Team ATX do quite a bit of training. Good dudes, but still turds since I’ve yet to beat them.

[wood 11225]

1 hour ago, Herbie Hancock said:

The turds I run the combat challenge against from Team ATX do quite a bit of training. Good dudes, but still turds since I’ve yet to beat them.

Combat Challenge. Good times. I was in training back in 1993-94, right around the time the FFCC came into existence. The hammer/sled always whooped my ass. The people that run really run fast times are some fit/strong mofos. Where do you work? (if'n you don't mind me asking)

Edited March 8 by wood

[Herbie Hancock 7347]

Combat Challenge. Good times. I was in training back in 1993-94, right around the time the FFCC came into existence. The hammer/sled always whooped my ass. The people that run really run fast times are some fit/strong mofos. Where do you work? (if'n you don't mind me asking)

About 3 hours north of you. I run sub 1:40 and almost puke every time. I can move the sled in 4 strokes on a good day, the hoist always trips me up. Then guys like Clarence Parks and Matt Harvey sit around burning cigs and drinking Coors light between runs and go sub 1:30. It’s….frustrating.

[wood 11225]

1 hour ago, Herbie Hancock said:

About 3 hours north of you. I run sub 1:40 and almost puke every time. I can move the sled in 4 strokes on a good day, the hoist always trips me up. Then guys like Clarence Parks and Matt Harvey sit around burning cigs and drinking Coors light between runs and go sub 1:30. It’s….frustrating.

Heh, don't beat yourself up. Your time is phenomenal. I've always been convinced that after all the hard work, the biggest CC differentiator was genetic, all other things being equal, much as it is in any athletic competition. For the CC you don't wanna be too tall or too short, too muscled up or too skinny, etc. I always thought guys in the 6'2"-6'4", 220-240 ish range always seemed to excel, conditioning and skill levels being equal. Your post reminds me of seeing Olympic Indoor VB gold medalist Riley Salmon chugging beers at every timeout, in 100 degree heat, and still winning open beach vb tourneys back in the day, half hammered.  Speaking of hammered, you moving the sled in 4 hits is nuts. Wow. Impressive.

Edited March 8 by wood

[BillyGoatHill 4312]

16 hours ago, wood said:

Combat Challenge. Good times. I was in training back in 1993-94, right around the time the FFCC came into existence. The hammer/sled always whooped my ass. The people that run really run fast times are some fit/strong mofos. Where do you work? (if'n you don't mind me asking)

 

16 hours ago, Herbie Hancock said:

About 3 hours north of you. I run sub 1:40 and almost puke every time. I can move the sled in 4 strokes on a good day, the hoist always trips me up. Then guys like Clarence Parks and Matt Harvey sit around burning cigs and drinking Coors light between runs and go sub 1:30. It’s….frustrating.

Guy I worked with came on the job (probie) at age 52 (wanted to do the job his Dad did, a career FF with FDNY retiring from Rescue 2). He was always fit by doing running and swimming later in life and was a retired pilot from the USAF (flew gunships in VN). We worked together on one of our truck companies for a couple of years and besides doing stairclimb challenges yearly he was needing something else, so he started doing the FFCC's and was a world record holder in 97, 98, 99, 2000, and 2002 (injured and didn't compete on '01) for the over 50 age group with times of 2:03 or better. His world record time of 1:52 age 60 in 2002 stood for 14 years for the 60 + age group. 

[Nicole44 22060]

This one is tough to watch…first responders help a suicidal army vet. He was on the suicide hotline when they encountered them. I can’t watch it again especially not with sound. It’s painful. I hope it has an eventual happy ending for the vet but they got him help. 
 

 

[StassneyHorn 6575]

On 3/7/2024 at 3:56 PM, wood said:

Ah, yeah. Gotcha. And those dang paramedics hardly ever beat us in. There are just more of us and we're usually closer. I didn't do a whole lotta OT work. At shift's end, I'd usually seen enough and was ready to go home or do something fun. It's a helluva lot better than a real job though in most ways, and now my 20 yo is in the process of tryna get in with AFD. So we got that goin' for us. Which is nice.

There's some sitting around, mostly after like 6:30 pm, but not as much as you'd probably think, and less and less with every passing day. They train pretty much every shift, and PT a lot, and do a lot of Medical and Fire/Rescue CE of all sorts, and inspections, Captain's Schools, Pre-Fire planning, hydrant maintenance that the Water dept used to do, the station's yard maintenance, keep all the equipment clean and in good working order, clean the station, the trucks, and their PPE, public education, and a whole lotta other shit. But in the end it's not so much about how much they do, but more about what they're willing to do.

Not sure how to read you here. Were/are you in the AFD Training Academy or something? 60% assholes or 40%? Just trying to keep track on my scorecard here at home.

Yea 60% of the people around the academy are assholes and the “Look I’m a firefighter” type. I could probably revise it to 70% but I’ll give them benefit of the doubt.

Between DT station Lt’s posting overtime paystubs cause they think 100k is some VIP club, Captains telling us about 10k vacations they had to take for calling Hillary Clinton a cunt on FB, too most of the white shirts saying they can’t remember the last fire they showed up to, it was eye opening for sure. Even just the exaggeration of calls a day. 

Id tell your 20 y/o if he can make it past the first hour without going to the hospital due to collapsing, then he’ll have a nice job. AFD is/was notorious about that for awhile, and they can’t attract any laterals for that reason as well.

[Nicole44 22060]

Sometimes we are so stupid we prevent our rescuers from becoming heroes! Maybe he was Rocky Mountain high? The replies to this tweet or X thing are priceless:

 

[Brisketexan 105139]

Sometimes we are so stupid we prevent our rescuers from becoming heroes! Maybe he was Rocky Mountain high? The replies to this tweet or X thing are priceless:
 

The idiocy of young people’s refusal to use the “phone” function of their PHONE blows me away.
Found a lost phone on the walk to an Austin FC match. I picked it up, figured someone would call it, I’d answer, we could coordinate an exchange. Within minutes, an avalanche of texts from her friends. But the phone is locked…I can’t open a text. So, I assume they’ll figure it out and call (which I could answer). Nope. Never happened. Maybe 150 texts. Zero calls. I carried it with me all the way to the stadium, then just turned it in to lost and found because the people on the other end were too fucking stupid for words.

[wood 11225]

7 hours ago, StassneyHorn said:

Yea 60% of the people around the academy are assholes and the “Look I’m a firefighter” type. I could probably revise it to 70% but I’ll give them benefit of the doubt.

Between DT station Lt’s posting overtime paystubs cause they think 100k is some VIP club, Captains telling us about 10k vacations they had to take for calling Hillary Clinton a cunt on FB, too most of the white shirts saying they can’t remember the last fire they showed up to, it was eye opening for sure. Even just the exaggeration of calls a day. 

Id tell your 20 y/o if he can make it past the first hour without going to the hospital due to collapsing, then he’ll have a nice job. AFD is/was notorious about that for awhile, and they can’t attract any laterals for that reason as well.

Interesting. I've never seen or even heard of any such behavior in nearly 30 years in AFD. Can you shed any light on your reason for being around all of those folks out at Shaw Lane and why these people would tell you any of these things? I can't tell if you're in the FD, or PD, work out there in some other capacity, or what. There aren't many FD personnel actually assigned to Training, so that's a very small sampling from a department with more than a thousand people in it. Also, most of the white shirts who would go to fires, ie Operations Battalion Chiefs, Shift Commanders, the Safety Chief, and the like aren't hanging out at Training much. All of them have multiple stations to oversee and plenty of fires to respond to. Any who are saying they can't remember when they went to a fire are almost certainly working an admin position running a support division.

[Herbie Hancock 7347]

Yeah I don’t buy any of that at all. Were you or someone you know incapable of making it off of probation and are now pissed at the world and specifically AFD?

[StassneyHorn 6575]

Jesus Christ guys I already said I was in Class 126 and left. If you want the world to believe y’all are chasing down fires all day, I’ll call you out on that cause you aren’t and it’s straight from the people who come into teach the cadets. Whether it’s people in their two year operations stint that stop by, our own TLs, or whatever FF wanting overtime pay to teach I couldn’t tell you their names if you want specifics. Not here to dox individuals but Asian Steven who only knew how to communicate with Ricky Bobby jokes was one, some late 30s brunette lesbian was another. The dt lieutenant had like 4-5 kids which is why he was always on OT. The grumpy ass captain is below

Here’s the captain: https://www.kxan.com/news/suspended-afd-captain-posted-political-comments-on-facebook/amp/

The lieutenant worked in the same dt house this one worked at: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2022/05/19/austin-settles-lawsuit-firefighter-who-filmed-undressing/9842009002/

Here’s the civil worker who died our first day: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/afd-cadet-class-graduates-after-one-of-their-own-died-during-training/amp/

 

Edited March 9 by StassneyHorn

[StassneyHorn 6575]

Acting astonished by the behavior is weird when AFD probably fires more of their own FFs than any other department in the state, based on the gripes from my class I still talk to

[BillyGoatHill 4312]

 

 

 

 

6 hours ago, Herbie Hancock said:

Yeah I don’t buy any of that at all. Were you or someone you know incapable of making it off of probation and are now pissed at the world and specifically AFD?

 

2 hours ago, StassneyHorn said:

Jesus Christ guys I already said I was in Class 126 and left. If you want the world to believe y’all are chasing down fires all day, I’ll call you out on that cause you aren’t and it’s straight from the people who come into teach the cadets. Whether it’s people in their two year operations stint that stop by, our own TLs, or whatever FF wanting overtime pay to teach I couldn’t tell you their names if you want specifics. Not here to dox individuals but Asian Steven who only knew how to communicate with Ricky Bobby jokes was one, some late 30s brunette lesbian was another. The dt lieutenant had like 4-5 kids which is why he was always on OT. The grumpy ass captain is below

Here’s the captain: https://www.kxan.com/news/suspended-afd-captain-posted-political-comments-on-facebook/amp/

The lieutenant worked in the same dt house this one worked at: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2022/05/19/austin-settles-lawsuit-firefighter-who-filmed-undressing/9842009002/

Here’s the civil worker who died our first day: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/afd-cadet-class-graduates-after-one-of-their-own-died-during-training/amp/

 

Sounds like you're mad cuz you quit. 

 

[wood 11225]

3 hours ago, StassneyHorn said:

Jesus Christ guys I already said I was in Class 126 and left. If you want the world to believe y’all are chasing down fires all day, I’ll call you out on that cause you aren’t and it’s straight from the people who come into teach the cadets. Whether it’s people in their two year operations stint that stop by, our own TLs, or whatever FF wanting overtime pay to teach I couldn’t tell you their names if you want specifics. Not here to dox individuals but Asian Steven who only knew how to communicate with Ricky Bobby jokes was one, some late 30s brunette lesbian was another. The dt lieutenant had like 4-5 kids which is why he was always on OT. The grumpy ass captain is below

Here’s the captain: https://www.kxan.com/news/suspended-afd-captain-posted-political-comments-on-facebook/amp/

The lieutenant worked in the same dt house this one worked at: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2022/05/19/austin-settles-lawsuit-firefighter-who-filmed-undressing/9842009002/

Here’s the civil worker who died our first day: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/afd-cadet-class-graduates-after-one-of-their-own-died-during-training/amp/

Well, see, (1) you didn't say you were in a class or left a class. You said you heard stuff around training during 'classes 125 and 126', which makes it unclear, and (2) nobody here has said we chase down fires all day, but we get a lot more fires, even serious, active structure fires, etc than the way you're characterizing it. Fires aren't all we do though, by a long shot. 60-70% of our calls are medical, and the fire department gets all the calls nobody else wants or knows how to handle. And nobody's disagreeing that there are some not-so-shining examples of 'the perfect employee' working in the fire service or in AFD, but you're taking your very small sampling of AFD that you got at training and a handful of incidents across several years, and applying it to the entire department and the entire fire service. Every department has those people going against the values of the profession, as does every profession, and we're always trying to keep them out or get them out if they get in. Training is Training, but what you experience there is not what you experience out in the 'real world' of the fire department. 

3 hours ago, StassneyHorn said:

Acting astonished by the behavior is weird when AFD probably fires more of their own FFs than any other department in the state, based on the gripes from my class I still talk to

I'm not astonished and wasn't acting that way. What's weird is you projecting onto the entire fire service your narrow view that you formed in what was apparently not even an entire training academy term. Yeah I know about Devon Coney's death, which was horrible. A lot of AFD people knew Devon before he got in the academy. As Bob Nicks said in the article you linked, even though he was screened per fire service standards for incoming cadets, AFD learned from that and set about doing more than the national standard - which is typical of how AFD and some other departments work. I know about the crap that happened 7 years ago at station 15 at the hands of one bad actor, etc. That was all beyond despicable, but once he was found out, he was dealt with and was drummed out of the fire service because of it. In the old days, nobody would have ever heard about it. 

Painting the whole fire department and/or fire service with a broad brush based on your extremely limited experience and the actions of a handful of individuals is idiotic. If you're going to do that, you'll never find a single line of work that isn't 40-60-70% assholes in your mind. But hey, maybe you're right and we're all wrong.

Edited March 9 by wood

[StassneyHorn 6575]

1 hour ago, BillyGoatHill said:

 

 

 

 

 

Sounds like you're mad cuz you quit. 

 

Lol I’m doing plenty fine and Just sharing my experience with academy.

These are what members of the actual Austin fire department told us in the first 8 weeks of med classes leading up to the NREMT exam and at least 2 months after when going through confined spaces, ladders, water rescue etc before I left. 80% is med calls.

Making a broad brush stroke about all fire departments didn’t happened here but appreciate you calling me idiotic. If Billy goat or Herbie want to chirp in from the sidelines and start one, they can feel free.

If the classes are better run now in Austin I’d be happy to hear. Going in every day at 5am just to hear some instructor tell you how to bone the Austin taxpayer for overtime money and showing his actual check did happen and was hilarious for the wrong reasons. 

[BillyGoatHill 4312]

 

51 minutes ago, StassneyHorn said:

Lol I’m doing plenty fine and Just sharing my experience with academy.

These are what members of the actual Austin fire department told us in the first 8 weeks of med classes leading up to the NREMT exam and at least 2 months after when going through confined spaces, ladders, water rescue etc before I left.. 80% is aid calls.

Making a broad brush stroke about all fire departments didn’t happened here but appreciate you calling me idiotic. If Billy goat or Herbie want to chirp in from the sidelines and start one, they can feel free.

If the classes are better run now in Austin I’d be happy to hear. Going in every day at 5am just to hear some instructor tell you how to bone the Austin taxpayer for overtime money and showing his actual check did happen and was hilarious for the wrong reasons. 

I know 4 months in the academy is not enough time for some, but attention to detail dude....quoting me, but your reply is in response to someone else. 

I didn't call you idiotic, but I'll allow it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[StassneyHorn 6575]

My first sentence is aimed to you directly, that’s why I quoted you. The rest of my response is to wood who I posted directly under.

[Herbie Hancock 7347]

I don’t chirp; I’m a grown man that is in the top of his field. I’ll just say it’s probably best for everyone involved that you figured out this job isn’t for you.

[Braff Zacklin 13573]

[StassneyHorn 6575]

Herbie thanks for confirming you are in fact chirping if you can’t figure out this all happened 7 years ago.

[Nicole44 22060]

Within about 90 seconds, police officers responded that they had managed to stop vehicle traffic over the bridge in both directions. One said he was about to drive onto the bridge to alert a construction crew.

https://apnews.com/article/baltimore-key-bridge-collapse-03-27-2024-6a95340e5daeff6551fc999d23feb278
 

very sad about the construction crew. I wasn’t aware of how many construction workers die in the job each year and was kind of shocked-same for road crew types. Just a staggering number. 

[High Plains Drifter 11049]

On 3/8/2024 at 9:59 PM, Brisketexan said:

The idiocy of young people’s refusal to use the “phone” function of their PHONE blows me away.
Found a lost phone on the walk to an Austin FC match. I picked it up, figured someone would call it, I’d answer, we could coordinate an exchange. Within minutes, an avalanche of texts from her friends. But the phone is locked…I can’t open a text. So, I assume they’ll figure it out and call (which I could answer). Nope. Never happened. Maybe 150 texts. Zero calls. I carried it with me all the way to the stadium, then just turned it in to lost and found because the people on the other end were too fucking stupid for words.

 

I'll call my teen daughter, and she'll immediately text me with a "what's up". Infuriating. 

 

/old man rant over

 

 

 

 

[Poester 109]

https://nypost.com/2024/03/27/us-news/horrifying-footage-shows-supposed-moment-nypd-cop-jonathan-diller-fatally-shot-by-career-criminal-suspect/amp/
 

NYC cop shot and killed by man that’s been arrested 21 times. Just awful.