Retired fire service group

[chief02]

The NFA was one of the best experiences I've ever had. Many times there as a student and adjunct instructor.

[Dutch Star Don]

I was with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for 34 years and did 15 years in the Arson/Bomb Squad. L.A. County does all fire investigation in the County of Los Angeles. I had an Arson dog for my last 8 years, a white lab who was never clean for long.

For years, the National Fire Academy would not give us any openings to attend because we were cops. We finally sent an envoy back to discuss the situation. Our investigators were investigating 100+ fires a year. They finally opened up the classes and we were able to send 20 of our guys through over a few years. We were really looking for the certificate as part of our overall California certification.

Now for the jokes.....They used to have a big paper easel at the front of the class and used if for instruction, flipping to a clean page as needed. One day, I stayed behind for a few minutes and flipped to a blank page. The following quote was written...."A hose dragger couldn't find a crook in the day yard at San Quentin". That one went over really well.

A few things I remember vividly....They told us if we went anywhere near Camp David, our stuff would be tossed in a bag and we would be on the first plane out of there.

I think it was building "C", but if you flushed the toilet while sitting on it, it could suck you down.

When I went, you had to buy one of their polo shirts and wear it to graduation. We had kind of a skanky girl in the class that wore ONLY the shirt and a pair of work boots to graduation.

It was really a beautiful place and I even joined their athletic/rental program and used some old beat up fishing poles to fish that river that flowed along the property...no fish.....fun times.

[chief02]

Great story Don. Did you ever spot any "Buffarillo's" grazing near the Ott House?

[Dutch Star Don]

No....only went there a couple of times. The County was good about renting us cars, so we did a lot of sightseeing.

The food at the facility was pretty good. I heard they got paid for performance. I would always grab an ice cream bar after dinner and take it back to the little refer in the room. It was a very professionally run facility.

I went to four weeks of Bomb School in Huntsville, Alabama too. It was another nice place to spend time.

Once the doors started opening up, I took over our grant money spending and started sending our guys to all sorts of places. Grant money was earmarked primarily for bomb related courses, but I was able to stretch the truth some and send our guys to a lot of fire courses.

I'm brain farting (would have to look at my certificate) but there was a class in Michingan that does a periodical and has a course where they have a room full of objects that have been burned and then disassembled, such as coffee makers, dryers, etc. That was a very interesting and informative class.

Just before I retired, they started offering another course, in California, where they used about six corpses in different fire situations. It was very informative, I sent several of our techs, but never got to go myself.

The bomb squad title brought the mystique awe to our unit, but I found the arson investigation was far more interesting. I enjoyed the challenge of determining a fire. My dog was very good and often sped up our investigations and revealed things we might have missed.

By the way, I was too fat and slow to be a fireman. Luckily we had several extra large bomb suits.

[ravens2012]

I did go to a bomb school located in Socorro New Mexico. Great class but there wasn't much there. A white accelerant detection K9, that had to be interesting.

[ravens2012]

And Bill, I haven't heard the term Buffarilo in a while. LOL

[Medico]

Originally Posted by chief02

Medico, I was told by the administrator that we dont have a group thread where we can post thats why we just started a thread here. Did you find something or a way to do it? Bill

This is the group thread.

It appears we can post there and have all the same communication options as in the general discussion forums. All indications are that it works the same as a regular thread.

It makes no difference whether we use this general discussion thread or the group thread for our discussions.

Quite a few years ago we visited the Fireman's Home on the Hudson in Hudson, NY. This is a retirement home for fire fighters. They have a very nice FD museum. If I'm not mistaken (my mind is getting older after all) there were one or two restored Ahrens there. If you get in the area, it is worth a stop and look see.

[chief02]

Thanks for the link but it doesn't want to work in my mobile app. I have been to the NY firemans home and museum as well as the NJ firemans home in Boonton NJ.

[ravens2012]

Not rv related but do any of you have retired firefighter organizations ?

[Firebug5]

Originally Posted by ravens2012

Not rv related but do any of you have retired firefighter organizations ?

Good Morning!

I belong to the CSFD Local 5 Association of Retired Firefighters. There are monthly meetings, social gatherings, and charity events. It is a good way to stay in touch, and the board keeps us updated on retiree benefits.

Bruce

[chief02]

We have the New Mexico Retired Firefighters Association that keeps an eye on pension legislation and lobbies. We also have our department Retirees Group that maintains communications with and about retirees. Here's a cool event we recently had..our local hosted a last breakfast for retirees at our Station One a week before demolition for a new station after 60 years of service..very cool

[RET FF]

All right guys, heads up. Today I saw a van with a BLACK IAFF sticker in the rear window. Anybody know about that?

[Meck51]

The IAFF stickers come in every color now on eBay. I've seen camo and team colors. Now of course it technically goes against the logo policy but I doubt anyone is getting kicked from the international for it.

[chief02]

The IAFF online store has multiple colors also.