Brotherhood of Firemen

[Loony661]

Everyone here is going battery power with extrication equipment. I ran into the station tonight for a service call and noticed a shiny new battery Stihl chainsaw on the back table ready to be put in service. The winds of change.

Some background: we were the last department in the county to have purchased jaws, which we just got about 1.5 years ago. We don’t get many extrication calls, and if we did get one, we called for mutual aid from a neighboring dept about 10 miles away, in 3 different directions.

We would love the compact battery powered units, but it was a hard no when we saw the price, given the extremely low usage. So because a lot of dept’s are switching to battery, we were able to purchase this slightly used, nearly new, gas unit from the manufacturer for only a couple thousand dollars. The manufacturer also went through it completely, ensuring it would be trouble free. We demo’d it and decided this was the best route for us.

So now we try to train on it a few times a year to get familiar with the tools. We have the spreader, the cutter, and a mini extendable bar.

 

[Catbuster]

We did some indoor jaws training tonight. We have a gas power unit, so we set that outside and ran the hoses under the garage door. We took turns playing “Jenga” with the cribbing blocks, and then also everyone got a chance to try grabbing an egg and moving it from 1 traffic cone to another, about 12 feet away. It was fun. And everyone got involved. A lot of eggs didn’t make it, but a few survived!

Last fall we went from Amkus hydraulic tools to Hurst battery tools. They are a game changer. You can hear everything on scene now, and it’s so much less chaotic. If you had asked me about this stuff 15 years ago, I never thought I’d see this coming.

Everyone here is going battery power with extrication equipment. I ran into the station tonight for a service call and noticed a shiny new battery Stihl chainsaw on the back table ready to be put in service. The winds of change.

We put an MSA 220 on our field unit when we put it in service last spring. It’s okay… It’s left me wanting, but it’s a lot better than what was on it-no chainsaw.

 

[FederalQ]

Even here the need to use extrication is few and far between. Vehicles have become much safer in that respect but more prone to catch fire now than ever before after crashing.

 

[FederalQ]

A new MSA300 baptized tonight for a poplar fallen on a power line resulting in a small brush fire. Full chisel .325.

 

[Catbuster]

A new MSA300 baptized tonight for a poplar fallen on a power line resulting in a small brush fire. Full chisel .325.View attachment 454144

What are your thoughts?

Comparable to a 50cc gas saw?

 

[FederalQ]

It’s too new to draw any conclusions. Definitely a different animal compared to gas. It only made about half a dozen cuts and I did not operate it. It definitely feels heavier than the 50cc’s I own with the 20 inch bar. Of note, I noticed an accumulation of saw dust debris under the battery and it leaks a small amount of chain oil in it’s case! The chain is 23rs3. Busy day, had another call for a field fire. No chainsaw use though.

 

[FederalQ]

A couple more vent saws from the other staition: 272xpw and 390xp

 

[FederalQ]

Best wishes to all those involved in the northern Minnesota wildfires. Hopefully rain will show up soon. Stay safe!

 

[Loony661]

Best wishes to all those involved in the northern Minnesota wildfires. Hopefully rain will show up soon. Stay safe!

Crazy - first I’ve heard of this, and I live in Minnesota.

 

[Loony661]

We had a doozy on Thursday afternoon/evening.

Paged for mutual aid at a hay bale fire, which quickly turned into 3 structures also ablaze by the time we got there. 6 departments (3 full, and 3 water only) were on scene, as well as MN DNR Forestry. The woods had caught as well, from the 30-40 mph winds. All structures lost, but put out after 4-5 hours. A couple trees had to be cut down, and some fire line was dug with an excavator. It was 85*F when we started.

I was told 35 loads of water were brought in.

 

[Loony661]

Thoughts and prayers for those in Idaho and also the rest of the wildfire crews who now have another worry on their mind.

 

[redneckhillbilly]

drfinatley gonna be a discussion about being armed at wednesdays training. Its a big no-no when out on assignment, but I think we should talk about having something in the trucks.

 

[Catbuster]

Thoughts and prayers for those in Idaho and also the rest of the wildfire crews who now have another worry on their mind.

There are a lot of places in Appalachia (Daniel Boone & Cherokee NF primarily) where federal & state firefighters have been shot at in the past-they’ve always been wide, which makes me hink they were warning shots. And Coeur d’Alene and the rest of northern Idaho has always had some serious anti-government sentiment, even moreso than Appalachia, which unfortunately makes this… I dunno. I don’t want to say foreseeable, because it shouldn’t have to be. I won’t say preventable either, because let’s face it, our job it to put the fire out, and we’re programmed to do it. There are inherent risks with this whole fire deal, but getting shot shouldn’t be one of them.

I don’t think I’ll be able to make myself understand why anyone would just up and take someone else’s life. Ever. But that’s not the way I’m wired.

But overall it’s just sad, man. The shooter’s a coward. It’s senseless. I honestly expect to go home when tones drop. I hope their families are as good as they can be right now. I hesitate to say I hope they’re okay, because… I don’t think I could be okay with dead members of my department. I just feel bad for them.

drfinatley gonna be a discussion about being armed at wednesdays training. Its a big no-no when out on assignment, but I think we should talk about having something in the trucks.

I… Oh man. It’s always been interesting to me, because fire assignments are about the only time I’m in the backcountry when I’m not carrying a .45 or 10mm. But I’m carrying one of those for four legged things, not two.

I’d prefer to continue to not be armed on a fire assignment, for a multitude of reasons.

I also don’t think anyone needs to make any decisions now. I think the best thing to do is let the immediate reaction to this die and then make some informed decisions that will work for you and your department-preferably with some input from local law enforcement.

 

[redneckhillbilly]

I agree 100% with what you said there, we train for every darn near imaginable situation, but we havent ever really though of this scenario before, we wait for sheriffs on suicide calls but gettin shot at while performing an initail attack/size up of the fire it just nuts.

we had a call once of a shed on fire that we responded to, when we got there the old lady 95 years old told us she saw someone breaking into her shed and she wanted us to show up simply because we would scare them and would get there faster than the sheriff.

 

[Loony661]

There are a lot of places in Appalachia (Daniel Boone & Cherokee NF primarily) where federal & state firefighters have been shot at in the past-they’ve always been wide, which makes me hink they were warning shots. And Coeur d’Alene and the rest of northern Idaho has always had some serious anti-government sentiment, even moreso than Appalachia, which unfortunately makes this… I dunno. I don’t want to say foreseeable, because it shouldn’t have to be. I won’t say preventable either, because let’s face it, our job it to put the fire out, and we’re programmed to do it. There are inherent risks with this whole fire deal, but getting shot shouldn’t be one of them.

I don’t think I’ll be able to make myself understand why anyone would just up and take someone else’s life. Ever. But that’s not the way I’m wired.

But overall it’s just sad, man. The shooter’s a coward. It’s senseless. I honestly expect to go home when tones drop. I hope their families are as good as they can be right now. I hesitate to say I hope they’re okay, because… I don’t think I could be okay with dead members of my department. I just feel bad for them.



I… Oh man. It’s always been interesting to me, because fire assignments are about the only time I’m in the backcountry when I’m not carrying a .45 or 10mm. But I’m carrying one of those for four legged things, not two.

I’d prefer to continue to not be armed on a fire assignment, for a multitude of reasons.

I also don’t think anyone needs to make any decisions now. I think the best thing to do is let the immediate reaction to this die and then make some informed decisions that will work for you and your department-preferably with some input from local law enforcement.

Well said.