Nice! Liking it so far? I always loved using extinguishers on small and nuisance fires!

Nice! Working with 1 & 1/2" or as we call it here, Trash Line, was always fun, you could always roll it and deploy it fast and it was just, in general, a fun hose to deal with, especially for the fires you got to put it out with! Glad to hear you're doing well and you did it from prior knowledge and some inferences!

Aye

Is it true that you are a firefighter? Unrelated wallpaper post

Yessir! Volly for 3 years now!

I just started my Wild Land academy last week. Any suggestions or things too look out for?

Hmmmm...... Not as experienced in the whole Wildland scene, but I have fought quite a few brush/field fires over time. Actually got a really good story from the most oddball fire we've ever had around here from my dad. It's just odd because we're in Indiana, and this is the first real "Forest fire" we'd ever had in all of our farmland/rural country area. Sometime in the early 1980's, these farmers were burning a fence row during a drought (Why they did it in the first place is beyond me). But the fire ran down the fenceline, spread to a low-lying ditch, and spread into a small wooded area, which then spread to a larger field and forest-like area. We had every grass truck, tanker, and engine in our county as well as most of the grass trucks, engines, and tankers from surrounding counties. my dad was on our old Tanker 34, a 1968 Chevy, and he loved that truck like hell. He had incorporated an old trick my grandpa taught him, which was putting a 2&1/2" nozzle directly on the discharge, because the truck had "Pump-n-Roll" capability. My dad would drive the rig sideways by the fire line and put it out. However, the truck only had a 1200 Gallon tank and a 375 gpm pump. Once you do the math, he ran out of water in about 30 minutes at the PSI he had the pump at. He was eventually literally surrounded by a huge ring of fire, and it was closing in fast. All of the sudden, he heard a really loud chopping noise and the tanker got absolutely DOUSED in flame retardant. Turns out, dispatch had called in air tankers from southern Indiana to dump retardant on the fire, because it was getting to be too much and we weren't getting too much done. As it turns out, my dad told me that he would've died in that tanker if it weren't for those guys from the forestry service down south. If you're waiting for a moral or lesson from this, here it is: Never, and I mean NEVER let yourself get surrounded by fire. ALWAYS make sure you have some sort of escape route, or atleast a means of getting away from the fire if it gets to be too much. That's about all I can help with from there. Also another thing my dad taught me, that's more true for "Residential" or "Regular" firefighting, is NEVER get off the truck without some sort of tool in your hand. If you get off the rig with a tool in your hand, you show the Captain/Chief/Leader that you're ready to fight some fire and just in general that you're ready to go. Anyways, what state are you in that has a forestry service?

Here's the old girl he got trapped in. Sadly, she was retired last year because the amount of money it would cost to get her completely repaired was more than what she was even worth. Most of our trucks have pretty interesting histories, and that's one thing you'll get with this job. Stories. Tons of stories. For god's sakes, when my dad was just 17 starting on an Ambulance service run by a Funeral home that ran Hearses as Ambulances, his first call was pulling a stiff-dead-for-3-weeks-hoarder-80-year-old-man out of his home, and it was pretty bad. He was on Aid Ambulance at the Indy 500 during one of the worst wrecks they've ever had, and he was on TV quite a bit.

Wow that is one hell of a story haha I have heard many stories about "pump-n-roll" going wrong... From running things over to crashing, now even getting caught in a ring of fire. I am in the burning state of California where wild land fire's get out of hand so fast haha The program is through Cal Fire and its a small academy with about 10 people. We are going on a hike next week and going over some chainsaw safety stuff. And it looks like that truck has seen some better days but it also looks like it has seen some good action too. I appreciate the help

No problem man. Cal Fire is a badass bunch of dudes, and you'll see some crazy **** out there. We still use "Indian Cans" now and then here, but not hardly anymore. I doubt if you guys will use the real metal ones out there, but newer versions. Be safe and you're very welcome for the advice. Touch base with me every once in awhile, I'd love to know how your training is going!

Yes.....
PRAISE THE DARK LORD CHIN-CHIN

This picture will do nicely. I will print out a huge copy, frame it and nail it to my wall, then forever praise Lord Chin-Chin!

WOAH YOU'RE A CREATURES FAN TOO??

Yes, I am.