Station 2 And The “Garlic” Attack

This took place around 1975 or so at Station 2 located at the corner of Walker & Richmond. This was the “old” #2 that resembled a real fire hall rather than the updated version that stands on the same location today and resembles somewhat of a bus station. Our “chef” at the time was Greg Reitzel and he had just finished cooking up a massive amount of spaghetti and garlic bread. That may be surprising as Greg’s last name is clearly that of Germanic descent and you would have expected more of a schnitzel recipe to appear on a plate than that of an Italian dish. Anyway, Chef Greg LOVED garlic and obviously must have held major stock options in the local garlic industry by the profuse amounts of garlic that he used during this type of feast. Most of us had at least three helpings of this stuff and consumed at least six loaves of garlic bread amongst the twelve of us around the table.

What I find remarkable about garlic is that if everyone eats it you cannot detect the odor of garlic on each others breath. Having said that can you imagine how much garlic fumes were hovering around station 2 after dinner? No one in the room was aware of how much “garlic breath” we all had.

We hadn’t even began to have our tea when the alarm came in for an emergency in our area. We were the first arriving crew when we got to this little two bedroom war time house. When we saw the nice pretty lady who owned the house standing on the front porch informing us that everything was alright we all “ratcheted” down somewhat and all the firefighters traipsed into the house including the vehicle drivers. This was the usual custom whenever a really pretty lady lived in the house.

I believe it took her about thirty seconds to become aware of the unpleasant smell that was now permeating the small living room area where we we’re all congregating. One thing you might not know about garlic breath is that it doubles its volume every ninety seconds. The twelve of us started to make small conversations with her. At that point she quickly excused herself and went to the washroom for about a minute or so and then returned. She politely told us that everything was alright and that we could all leave. But the Cap had to take a report. It seemed at the time that she was getting a little impatient with us but we had no idea why. It appeared as though she was trying to breathe through her mouth rather than her nose while at the same time she was trying to hold her breath. I found that really strange. She wasn’t smiling any longer either.

It was then that we realized what the problem was! We all glanced sideways at each other with a sheepish grin; you could see when the next guy realized what was going on. After the Cap’s report we all said, “good bye” to the nice pretty lady who ushered us out the door with no formalities whatsoever.

I should have had my first clue about this problem when I noticed her eyes rolling back in her head and I saw the whites of her eyes. It would appear that the old wives' tale regarding garlic keeping vampires at bay is a very true superstition. We didn't see any!

The Benefits Of Methane

Did you know that agricultural animals such as cows, sheep and goats, etc burp and fart methane? This is really interesting as methane traps 21 times more heat than carbon dioxide. Wait!! It gets better! Were you aware that New Zealand has 10 times more sheep than persons?? Think about the consequences; that’s why New Zealand taxed every cow 58 cents and each sheep has been taxed 8 cents. This is the interesting part; they’ve named the new tax the “fart tax”!

Having learned all this wealth of knowledge it brought up some fond memories of a guy in the fire hall named “Wilf”. Now, I won’t reveal his last name because it may be embarrassing to him. Whenever Wilf drank copious amounts of Pepsi he would release enough amounts of methane into the atmosphere that maybe, instead of complaining, we should have either taxed him or somehow harnessed the potential power of his results.

Can you imagine the benefits of methane storage and the potential savings for the hall??

Just imagine:

· You could fuel the barbecue for an entire summer. Although the burgers may have a "smoky" flavor

· With a convertor setup you could replace the diesel fuel in the trucks. Watch out for the "backfires"

· Imagine filling the vehicles’ tires with methane! Stand back when overfilling!

· No more natural gas heating; we can use real “natural” gas to heat the halls.

· With a little imagination we could even replace the hydro in the buildings for a colossal savings. I would be a little leery in the event of faulty switches that could spark.

· Remember the 21 times more heat than carbon dioxide statement? We could replace the hot water heaters with a simple hose device. Turn on the valve for the hose; let the gas into the water holding tank. Presto; instant hot water! Neat, huh?

Let’s think progress, shall we? Why don’t we provide Wilf with a never ending supply of Pepsi!!! Wow, all that free energy. We might even have an answer to the global warming issue.

I think there’s a Nobel Prize looming in our future!

Mongo Learns How To Do The Riverdance

Wow, I never even realized that Mongo was Irish... and that he was also an accomplished dancer as well... I guess you just always never know : )

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Kind Of Reminds Me Of .....

Doesn't this kind of remind you of Tommy Serbu?

Visit Boblo

Here's a blast from the past... click on the link to see a great site about Boblo Island...

http://boblosteamers.com/

What Does A Firefighter Wear Under His Bunker Gear?

Ahhhh… I remember the adventurous nights working the shift at # 6 station with Bob Carroll. Picture this scenario. It’s around 3:45 AM on a summer night as the tones come in and the bedroom lights blind you as you get dressed. I climbed into the cab of Rescue Six and I wait for Bob, my officer, to climb on board. Numerous thoughts run through my mind. Where exactly is the fire? What is the best and fastest route to get there? How do I look? (Dennis Axford taught me that question).The apparatus doors open and we’re on our way to fight fires and save lives. It’s what we do. (I always wanted to use that line).

So, Tecumseh road is so empty that you could fire a cannon ball down the center line and not hit a thing.

Now this is where it starts to get strange. Bob looks at me and says, “Hey, guess what?”; so I reply, “I don’t know; what?”. Bob winks at me and makes a bold statement by stating, ”I’m naked under my bunker gear”. Then he breaks into a rather long belly laugh at my expense. I moved a little closer to my door during the run. It was a good thing that Tecumseh road was clear. It was when we returned to the station that I began to have visuals of his statement. I didn’t sleep well after that

Photo Op

Another blast from the past. Pictured left to right are: Ed Romanko, Father Mike Graham, a chief, I believe from Tecumseh and Jimmy Meyer.

Thanks to Freddie Meyer for this pic.

A Story About Marine One

Way back in the day, Windsor Fire used to own a boat that was used primarily for cruising up and down the Detroit River during the Freedom Festival fireworks. I remember everyone looking forward to see who was going to get the much desired role of "boat duty" that night on Marine One. Can you imagine the responsibility and the intense danger of cruising the Detroit River after dinner during the July holiday? "Networking" was also a dangerous endeavor! In some cases we had to use the boat to actually rescue or go retrieve victims from the river itself. This is one such story.

Our captain was Jack Gallagher; the driver Don Hall with Greg Senay and I on the back of the squad out of # four station. It was a Friday around 11:30 PM when the call came in and we had to pick up Marine One at the dock located at the corner of George and Wyandotte (I believe). We cruised down to the foot of Lauzon Road and Riverside Drive where two boats had collided and a report of four folks in the water with one presumably drowned.

I was on the job for about eight or nine months at the time and this was my first time on the vessel and Greg was showing me how to set up the grappling hooks to drag the river. I was a little nervous but pretty excited at the same time as we slowly cruised the water in the blackness of the night. It was one of those nights where it seemed much darker than usual. The constant “tug” of the ropes was startling at first as you think that every resistance you felt could be a victim in the water.

It was then that Greg told the Cap that he thought that he had something! The boat screeched to a stop (Well, it didn't really "screech") and Greg continued pulling on the rope. He said that it didn’t feel “right” because there wasn’t much resistance but he knew had had something on the hooks.

He slowly brought the contents to the surface and swung the object in front of me. Greg said, “Wow, take a look at this!!!”. My eyes slowly got used to the darkness and then I realized what Greg was holding about 10 inches away from my eyes. It was a bag of cats!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I screamed like a school girl. I could hear Greg and the rest of the crew laughing as I tried to compose myself and struggling to stop from falling out of the boat.

Things were never the same after that : )

To this day I am still afraid of cats and plastic bags!

A Tough Game Of Risk

Remember the game Risk? The board game where you shook the dice and whoever had the highest number got the chance to wipe out the enemy. There were these strange countries named Kamchatka, Irkutsk and Yakutsk, etc. One thing that you would have to remember at this point is that the players had their own colored pieces that represented their armies spread over the map in several of their own countries. It was a hard fought war dealing with strengths and defenses. Knowing when to attack was crucial to world domination..

Well, we were heavily involved in the game one afternoon at Station 2. I don’t remember all the players but I think one of them was Dave Stroud, myself and definitely Don Vernes. I have no idea who the fourth player was.

We were all just about equal in wins and defeats and while two players were “battling” it out Don came over to my side of the table and decided to share his prowess and knowledge of the manly game of Risk. It was at that time that he decided to share the strategy of the game. He leaned into me and quietly said, “You know…if the Blue team and the Green team make an alliance they can wipe out the Red guy."I thought about this piece of military genius and then I saw how clear this could happen. It was then that I whispered in Don’s ear, “Don, the Red team is YOU.”

There was a pregnant pause as Don looked more closely at the board and whispered back, “Bad plan.”

Awwwww.. A New Puppy

What a cutie... until....... : )

Ahhh.... Refreshing Water?

I have a feeling if I can sell these I might be able to sell a bridge or two also!

The Infamous Pot of Tea

Len Delorenzi was famous for his facial expressions and impersonations of the less fortunate. He could contort his countenance in a certain manner and you would swear that you were in the very presence of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. You even had a sneaking suspicion that there was a Gypsy woman named Esmeralda lurking somewhere in the building. What surprised us most about Len was that he was also a very good practical joker.

One story comes to mind. I don’t remember the day of the week but it was definitely supper time at headquarters and most of us enjoyed what we called “Sergeant Major Tea” (I still have no idea who named it that and why). The pecking order was in full mode with the senior guys at one end of the table with those with less seniority waning off towards the other end of the table. It was now that Len hatched his perfect joke.

I have no idea who was at the table that day but Len left the table and filled the tea pot with the boiling water from the kettle and returned to the table standing over us as he joined in the conversation while slowly shaking the tea pot in a circular motion in order to let the tea steep. He did this for at least five minutes. Then the unbelievable happened!

HE DROPPED THE TEA POT ON THE TABLE!!!!!

We all screamed like school girls and made a mad dash to avoid the imminent 3^rd degree scalding burns that we knew some of us were about to receive. The pot hit the table with a loud crash….the lid flew off and…..

Only then did we realize that the damned tea pot was EMPTY!!!!!!!!!!

I think I saw Len’s tonsils when he laughed.

Blasts From The Past

Okay…. I’ve been thinking of how much fun it was just to show up at the hall way back “in the day”. I have a very strong suspicion that those days may be a thing of the past. I’m not really saying that the new folks don’t have fun any more but I feel it just may be a little different today. It’s too bad that the OH&S act ruined our good times :) You can’t even have an old fashioned water fight without the fear that some one is going to lose an eye or break a nail!

Having said that I’m inviting those older folks to let their minds drift back and recapture some of the old stories that were hilarious at the time. I realize this may be quite a task for some. Some minds often drift back involuntarily! In the next post I’ll relate a great story involving Len Delorenzi and his famous “pot of tea”. Just email me at the email address at the top of the Blog or make a comment in this post. In any event; stay tuned.

PS> as an added bonus; who are the "old guys" in the photo?

GPS for the Firetrucks

Hummmm… A GPS for every fire apparatus. What a novel idea and just imagine; no more pesky street drill training. I wonder how this is going to turn out. Here’s a little scenario.

Sound of alarm

Captain: Oh oh.. Here we go. Everyone know where we’re going?

Crew: NO and it doesn’t matter either because the taxpayers bought us one of those nifty GPS thingys.

Captain: Ok; I’ll take a look at the screen here; Hummm… geeeeez the writing is really little isn’t it?

Driver: Put your glasses on!

Captain: Oh yeah.. Ok, that’s better. Wow the writing is still kind of small. Which way is north?

Driver: North is that way (pointing)

Crew: (in separate voices) NOOOO… it’s that way (pointing in separate directions)

Captain: The streets are still too small to read anything.

Driver: Well, I can’t see the darned thing, I have to keep my eyes on traffic. We’re going to have to figure out how to get the traffic to pay attention to us.

Captain: Try using the air horn!

Crew: That’s your job, Cap.

Captain: Hey I can’t do every thing around here. I’m still trying to read the little map.

Crew: We’ll have to demand an automatic air horn puller from the taxpayers then.

Captain: Great idea, guys. Ok, how close are we now? Anyone got any idea?

Driver: I think we’re getting close.

Captain: How do you know?

Driver: I live next door to the house on fire.

Crew: Do you know the name of the family whose house is on fire?

Driver: Nope, never looked in the phone book.

Captain: Wow, we got here. Good work everyone… lucky we had this GPS thingy.

Hey, We're Still Here

We haven't left the building.. just kind of busy for the last few weeks. We've been rather active with a new "adventure" that we're working on. Keep checking this site for an announcement coming soon.

Neat Magic Trick

Ok...YOU figure out he did this... I'm at my wit's end : )

A Firefighter's Life

Thanks to the Heikkinen's for this one

You stay up for 16 hours He's been up for 48 straight You take a warm shower to help you wake up. The rain in the middle of the interstate keeps him awake. You complain of a "headache", and call in sick. He's chilled to the bone, hasn't eaten all day, has the flu, and then runs into a burning building You drink your coffee on your way to the mall. He pumps on a five years olds chest on the way to the hospital. You make sure you're cell phone is in your pocket. He makes sure the pass device on his pack is working. You talk trash about your "buddies" that aren't with you. He watches his buddy fall through four floors. You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls. He walks down the highway looking for the motorcyclists missing limb. You complain about how hot it is. He wears fifty pounds of gear in the middle of July and drags a body out of 1600 degree flames. You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong. He hasn't seen a mea l since last shift ate breakfast. Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes. He's worn the same stinking, wet, grungy clothes for the past 24 hours....no time for a shower. You go to the mall and get your hair redone. He holds the hair of some college girl while she's puking in the back of the ambulance. You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over. His shift ended 2 hours ago and he on for another 24 hours at a station thirty miles away. You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight. He calls his girlfriend to tell her he made it back alive....then leaves abruptly for another fire. You YELL and SCREAM at the engine that just past you because they SLOWED you down. He's in the back of the engine, going to cut somebody out of their car only to find out that their dead and their daughter is barely alive. You roll your eyes as a baby cries. He cries as he hears his new born cry in the hospital.... but he was taking a drunk teenager in when his boy was born. You criticize your FIRE DEPT. and say their never there quick enough anyway. He blows the air horn while the person in front of them REFUSES to MOVE while talking on their cell phone and doing their makeup . You hear the JOKES about fallen firefighters and say they should have KNOWN BETTER. He feels the floor give way while he's carrying an old lady from her bedroom and tosses on to the hard floor and falls into the unknown. You see the bright lights when you go by. He sees the broken bodies lying around the car. You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't. He looks into buying a bullet proof vest because he has been shot at trying to save the shooting victims life. You stay at home and watch TV. He takes his spare time to wash the wagon, restock the ambulance and maybe call his mother to tell her not to worry, he'll be home the next night Y ou crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable. He tries to sleep on his spring board bed but keeps getting woken up by the gong and bell, ah, one hour of sleep, it should do till tomorrow night. You sit there and judge him, saying that its a waste of money to have them around. Garbage truck workers make more than he does, but its NOT for the MONEY, its for the people who DON'T appreciate what he does.

Recent Promotions

Wow, look at all the "old guys" : ) The pics at left are not in any "seniority" order. Actually there isn't any seniority for us retirees after we leave the job. That's a pretty good thing because I'm just as important as Tapak now!

Anyway, the guys at left were all promoted at 0800 hrs, on Sunday, January 6, 2008. Best of luck and congrats to the latest older generation :)

Captain Gary Meloche promoted to District Chief, Fire Rescue

Captain David Shuttleworth promoted to District Chief, Fire Rescue

Firefighter Greg Renaud promoted to Captain, Fire Rescue

Firefighter Dino Santarossa promoted to Captain, Fire Rescue

Firefighter William Craig promoted to Captain, Fire Rescue

Firefighter John Day promoted to Captain, Fire Rescue

Firefighter Ken Hunt promoted to Captain, Fire rescue.

What's The French Word For "Ooops!"?

Montreal city workers have finished cementing the pillars in front of this building to prevent vehicles from parking in front of it.

Ok, so the big problem now is how to drive their own vehicle back to City Hall. Obviously there must be a trap door in the sidewalk. : )

Thanks to Art Caza for this one : )

Latest Promotions

Isn't it sad when you see the guys getting older? lol.. Congrats to Roger and Joe. Wow, I remember when Joe first got on the job. Hummmm.... I guess we're all getting a little older. : )

This is from the dept. website

Captain Roger Beneteau is promoted to District Chief, Fire & Rescue Firefighter Joe Durocher is promoted to Captain,..