This was a very busy weekend for the fire dept. We ran on five calls yesterday and another 4 or 5 today. I even got paged out during church this morning! Fortunately, the pastor knows I am a volunteer on the fire dept so she is used to me slipping out in middle of church and then creeping back in later on. I felt bad leaving my son sitting in the pew by himself with all the old people...but I was back before Church was over!
The calls ranged from fall victims, to general illnesses and to self inflicted shootings. We have a number of volunteers on the dept..I think we have about 2 dozen members right now. But, as with most volunteer agencies, it is the same 6 or 8 during the day that answer calls. At night, there is a small group of about 4 or 5 of us that get up to answer the calls. Most people won't get out of bed unless it's something big like a large structure fire, a shooting or a big wreck on the interstate. My guess is people don't care to be involved in the day to day mundane EMS calls but want to be in on the spectacular stuff...especially if it makes the news. You see, then they have something to talk about with their buds and family.
Me, I just try to answer the ones I can when I'm in town, regardless of the type of call. I guess that's just the way I am. If I am going to volunteer for something, I give 100%..but that's me. I've come to the conclusion after almost 6 years on the dept that people are involved to the extent they can and want to be and there is very little the rest of us can do to change that. Oh well...*sigh*
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Video of I-35 Wreck
Here's a follow-up from the news this morning:
From KWTX:
February 21, 2008)—Traffic began flowing normal as DPS officials cleared the scene around 6:30am.The accident happened just before 3:30am on Interstate at Highway 6 Flyover.DPS Officials on the scene said at some point the vehicle, a Dodge Durango, left the road way and began traveling south in the median between north and south bound lanes where it struck a bridge support beam head-on. The SUV then traveled up the beam and rolled back on to the roof.South bound I 35 was closed and traffic was diverted to access roads at New Road as emergency crews worked to clear the scene.Agencies working the accident included DPS, Robinson Police, Robinson Volunteer Fire and Rescue, Waco Police, Waco Fire and East Texas Medical Center EMS.There was only one occupant in the vehicle, an unidentified male, who died at the scene.
Video Here: http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/15834427.html
From KWTX:
February 21, 2008)—Traffic began flowing normal as DPS officials cleared the scene around 6:30am.The accident happened just before 3:30am on Interstate at Highway 6 Flyover.DPS Officials on the scene said at some point the vehicle, a Dodge Durango, left the road way and began traveling south in the median between north and south bound lanes where it struck a bridge support beam head-on. The SUV then traveled up the beam and rolled back on to the roof.South bound I 35 was closed and traffic was diverted to access roads at New Road as emergency crews worked to clear the scene.Agencies working the accident included DPS, Robinson Police, Robinson Volunteer Fire and Rescue, Waco Police, Waco Fire and East Texas Medical Center EMS.There was only one occupant in the vehicle, an unidentified male, who died at the scene.
Video Here: http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/15834427.html
Wow, What a Morning
We were paged out @ 1 am or so for a medical call. We eneded up getting cancelled on the way there so I was back home and in bed after 1:30 ish. A short time later ~3am~ we were paged out again to a one vehicle rollover on the interstate. Here is the article from the news website:
View from the North
I am the hands in the far right of this picture, along with 3 firefighters from our station, the tow truck operator and an EMT from ETMC.
WACO - Traffic on Interstate 35 is back to normal following a fatal accident in which a Dodge SUV climbed a bridge pillar for the new Highway 6 overpass.
Around 3 a.m., the Durango was headed southbound when it went up the pillar, rolled over and landed on its roof, killing its driver. Officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety indicated that there was no evidence of breaking.
The body had to be cut from the wreckage.
The victim is a 24-year-old Austin Man, whose name has been withheld pending notification of his family.
Around 3 a.m., the Durango was headed southbound when it went up the pillar, rolled over and landed on its roof, killing its driver. Officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety indicated that there was no evidence of breaking.
The body had to be cut from the wreckage.
The victim is a 24-year-old Austin Man, whose name has been withheld pending notification of his family.
News pictures of the wreck:
View from the North
Note Bridge Abuttment on far left of picture.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Been BIZ-EEEE
Hello Everyone!! My friend Jim was giving me a hard time because I hadn't posted any new news on my blog in awhile. I guess I haven't had anything to say or report on...can you imagine that??
Actually, I've been really busy. I'm taking a quilting class to refresh my skills - it's been years since I did any machine quilting. This really nice woman at Tomorrow's Quilts in Waco is being so patient with me!! I love ya Gloria!
We're meeting for only 4 classes so it requires quite a bit of piecing at home. There is one more class left and I have the top completely finished. It's 6 blocks big with the colors of cranberry, sage green and a golden yellow. It looks great for a rookie!! It is a Star Block pattern about the size of a crib blanket. A good starter quilt.
Our next class, Gloria is going to show us how to "sandwich" the whole thing together and start machine quilting. I have learned so much about my Singer sewing machine with this class. I've also discovered a quilters presser foot with a 1/4" guide on it - which makes keeping the seems consistant a cinch! I've also discovered a new kind of presser foot for the machine quilting part. There are parts for my machine in a plastic bag that I didn't have any idea how they worked - now I do! It's amazing I've had this machine for probably 10 to 12 years and I'm only just now putting it through it's paces.
I have really come a long way and am thinking about taking Gloria's next class which is making a log cabin quilt. She says everyone needs to make one of these in their lifetime!! I will post pictures of my quilt top in the future. Take care!
Actually, I've been really busy. I'm taking a quilting class to refresh my skills - it's been years since I did any machine quilting. This really nice woman at Tomorrow's Quilts in Waco is being so patient with me!! I love ya Gloria!
We're meeting for only 4 classes so it requires quite a bit of piecing at home. There is one more class left and I have the top completely finished. It's 6 blocks big with the colors of cranberry, sage green and a golden yellow. It looks great for a rookie!! It is a Star Block pattern about the size of a crib blanket. A good starter quilt.
Our next class, Gloria is going to show us how to "sandwich" the whole thing together and start machine quilting. I have learned so much about my Singer sewing machine with this class. I've also discovered a quilters presser foot with a 1/4" guide on it - which makes keeping the seems consistant a cinch! I've also discovered a new kind of presser foot for the machine quilting part. There are parts for my machine in a plastic bag that I didn't have any idea how they worked - now I do! It's amazing I've had this machine for probably 10 to 12 years and I'm only just now putting it through it's paces.
I have really come a long way and am thinking about taking Gloria's next class which is making a log cabin quilt. She says everyone needs to make one of these in their lifetime!! I will post pictures of my quilt top in the future. Take care!
How Would You Feel?
How would you feel if you were dispatched to house to help someone who had a health condition that would not require emergency care if they managed their condition? So.....the family called 911.
What do you think? Is this an emergency on our part because the pt didn't manage their condition? Is it worth being pulled away from your family, interrupting family meal times or delaying other personal plans because someone chooses to ignore their health problems?
Don't get me wrong - I'm always polite and professional in person, but it is frustrating to be a volunteer and have something like this get you out of bed or keep you from your family.
What do you think? Is this an emergency on our part because the pt didn't manage their condition? Is it worth being pulled away from your family, interrupting family meal times or delaying other personal plans because someone chooses to ignore their health problems?
Don't get me wrong - I'm always polite and professional in person, but it is frustrating to be a volunteer and have something like this get you out of bed or keep you from your family.
January 18th, 2008
I worked my first suicide..hope it's my last.
Strange, but sad event. What makes someone decide to go sit in a chair and take their own life? It is a shame that we as a society, have the appropriate resources to help people who are suicidal, but often they don't get the help. I wasn't bothered by the scene that much, just very pensive about what leads someone to think the only answer to their problems is to kill themselves.
Please pray for the family.
Strange, but sad event. What makes someone decide to go sit in a chair and take their own life? It is a shame that we as a society, have the appropriate resources to help people who are suicidal, but often they don't get the help. I wasn't bothered by the scene that much, just very pensive about what leads someone to think the only answer to their problems is to kill themselves.
Please pray for the family.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Early Morning Structure Fire 12/30/07
I saw this article in the local paper, so I figured it was okay to talk about the fire now.
We were toned out around 0351 for a structure fire. Several of us responded on the first page. I rolled Engine-1 as the driver, and we also rolled Tanker-1. We were more than 2 miles away from the address but could see an orange glow lighting up the eastern sky. We knew it was going to be a big one if it could be seen from the main road. After a second tone out, Engine-2 was also dispatched to the scene. Neighboring towns of Golinda and Lorena also sent appartus and fire personnel to help attack the fire. We were on scene for approximately 6 hours. Alot of that was mop up to ensure the fire was completely out. We did not get called back to the house, so we did an excellent job the first go round. It took almost 2 hours to put all the equipment back in service. See? I told you after the fire is the hardest part! I didn't get home until close to 12:30 pm and I was completely wiped out!
The article below sums up what the family had left after the blaze was extinguished. Although there was no HUMAN loss of life, many household pets perished in the fire. Very sad..please keep this family in your prayers.
===============
Family devastated by fire vows to rebuild
Friday, January 04, 2008
By Wendy Gragg
Tribune-Herald staff writer
The two girls picked through the charred remains of a teenager’s bedroom. They walked carefully across insulation littering the floor like burned marshmallows, turning over items, looking for something that survived the blaze — a blackened Robinson High School ring, a smoky blue letter jacket.
“There’s my diploma. It’s pretty much intact,” said Katie Franks, 18, to her friend Jaclyn Randolph.
Katie and her family lost nearly everything in the fire that destroyed her grandparents’ Robinson home early Sunday.
“My whole life was up here,” she said, looking around her dark room.
She was calm, though, as she looked at the melted 32-inch television and the ruined stereo. Her eyes paused on the huge chunk of ceiling that now covers her bed. She and Jaclyn, 17, had been sleeping in the room when the house caught fire.
Homeowners Butch, 56, and Linda House, 53, said the fire started between 3:30 and 4 a.m. in the ceiling above the back porch of their 3,250-square-foot home. Linda saw the fire first and alerted Butch, who burned his back and the bottoms of his feet trying to put out the flames.
“It was so engulfed. I couldn’t do anything with it,” Butch said.
His yells woke up Katie and Jaclyn, who could see the fire from Katie’s upstairs bedroom. On their way out, the girls grabbed Katie’s aunt Tiffany, 28, who walks with crutches, and helped her outside. Katie’s 13-year-old sister, Ashlyn, also made it outside safely, but a Jack Russell terrier named Molly, a three -legged dog named Ladybug and three cats died in the fire. The Houses’ 35-year-old daughter, Shalaine, was staying in a house where Linda’s mother, Jona Owens, lives, behind the house that burned.
One Christmas present survived the fire: Tiffany’s miniature dachshund puppy, who goes by the apropos name of Lucky.
“I got outside and thought, ‘Oh my God, where’s the puppy?’ ” Linda said. She raced back into the house, grabbed the tiny black dog from the playpen where they kept it, and got out of the house.
The Robinson Volunteer Fire Department responded to the blaze, but Butch said the house and its contents have been declared a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Sad remnants
Their home, sitting neatly behind a white picket fence and tucked behind generous landscaping, looks almost untouched from the road.
But the back is a gaping black hole. The heat twisted metal, melted glass and sent ripples through the metal roof.
Inside are sad remnants of the antiques Linda has spent her life collecting. Phantom shadows of once artfully placed pictures and wall sconces mark the singed brown walls.
Soot covers the hardwood floors that once made her proud, and dirty drip marks cover nearly everything, a result of the fire department trying to douse the flames.
The family had lived in the home for seven years. Butch, a construction supervisor, said their home was a labor of love. The family’s 6 1/2 acres were once a dairy farm.
The house was built around the remains of the dairy’s century-old farmhouse.
It took them a year to complete the house. Linda, who runs a cleaning business, has continued to decorate it, making every inch of it a home.
For now, eight family members are staying in Linda’s mother’s house.
Butch said the insurance company is going to move a couple of travel trailers to the property for them to stay in.
“We want to keep everybody at home,” Butch said.
Butch and Linda see the fire as an exclamation point on an already difficult year.
“2007 was a year from hell,” Linda said.
Butch had a triple bypass in September. Shalaine, who was already sick, was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia after the fire and was released Wednesday.
The family is sad at the loss of their possessions, but Linda said she has gained a new perspective: She plans not to hold onto every “thing” that comes into her life.
Katie is calm and pleasant as she scavenges for something to save from her fire-ravaged room. Her family is more important to her than worrying about her burned game systems.
‘I can’t be selfish’
“I know I’ve gotta be there for the family. It was an overall loss. I can’t be selfish,” she said.
Katie said she is optimistic about 2008. She has signed up for classes at Texas State Technical College, where she hopes to become a video game programmer.
“There’s only one way to go and that’s forward,” said Butch, who plans to spend 2008 rebuilding his home.
He added, “We’re gonna build back, and it’s gonna be as good as ever.”
We were toned out around 0351 for a structure fire. Several of us responded on the first page. I rolled Engine-1 as the driver, and we also rolled Tanker-1. We were more than 2 miles away from the address but could see an orange glow lighting up the eastern sky. We knew it was going to be a big one if it could be seen from the main road. After a second tone out, Engine-2 was also dispatched to the scene. Neighboring towns of Golinda and Lorena also sent appartus and fire personnel to help attack the fire. We were on scene for approximately 6 hours. Alot of that was mop up to ensure the fire was completely out. We did not get called back to the house, so we did an excellent job the first go round. It took almost 2 hours to put all the equipment back in service. See? I told you after the fire is the hardest part! I didn't get home until close to 12:30 pm and I was completely wiped out!
The article below sums up what the family had left after the blaze was extinguished. Although there was no HUMAN loss of life, many household pets perished in the fire. Very sad..please keep this family in your prayers.
===============
Family devastated by fire vows to rebuild
Friday, January 04, 2008
By Wendy Gragg
Tribune-Herald staff writer
The two girls picked through the charred remains of a teenager’s bedroom. They walked carefully across insulation littering the floor like burned marshmallows, turning over items, looking for something that survived the blaze — a blackened Robinson High School ring, a smoky blue letter jacket.
“There’s my diploma. It’s pretty much intact,” said Katie Franks, 18, to her friend Jaclyn Randolph.
Katie and her family lost nearly everything in the fire that destroyed her grandparents’ Robinson home early Sunday.
“My whole life was up here,” she said, looking around her dark room.
She was calm, though, as she looked at the melted 32-inch television and the ruined stereo. Her eyes paused on the huge chunk of ceiling that now covers her bed. She and Jaclyn, 17, had been sleeping in the room when the house caught fire.
Homeowners Butch, 56, and Linda House, 53, said the fire started between 3:30 and 4 a.m. in the ceiling above the back porch of their 3,250-square-foot home. Linda saw the fire first and alerted Butch, who burned his back and the bottoms of his feet trying to put out the flames.
“It was so engulfed. I couldn’t do anything with it,” Butch said.
His yells woke up Katie and Jaclyn, who could see the fire from Katie’s upstairs bedroom. On their way out, the girls grabbed Katie’s aunt Tiffany, 28, who walks with crutches, and helped her outside. Katie’s 13-year-old sister, Ashlyn, also made it outside safely, but a Jack Russell terrier named Molly, a three -legged dog named Ladybug and three cats died in the fire. The Houses’ 35-year-old daughter, Shalaine, was staying in a house where Linda’s mother, Jona Owens, lives, behind the house that burned.
One Christmas present survived the fire: Tiffany’s miniature dachshund puppy, who goes by the apropos name of Lucky.
“I got outside and thought, ‘Oh my God, where’s the puppy?’ ” Linda said. She raced back into the house, grabbed the tiny black dog from the playpen where they kept it, and got out of the house.
The Robinson Volunteer Fire Department responded to the blaze, but Butch said the house and its contents have been declared a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Sad remnants
Their home, sitting neatly behind a white picket fence and tucked behind generous landscaping, looks almost untouched from the road.
But the back is a gaping black hole. The heat twisted metal, melted glass and sent ripples through the metal roof.
Inside are sad remnants of the antiques Linda has spent her life collecting. Phantom shadows of once artfully placed pictures and wall sconces mark the singed brown walls.
Soot covers the hardwood floors that once made her proud, and dirty drip marks cover nearly everything, a result of the fire department trying to douse the flames.
The family had lived in the home for seven years. Butch, a construction supervisor, said their home was a labor of love. The family’s 6 1/2 acres were once a dairy farm.
The house was built around the remains of the dairy’s century-old farmhouse.
It took them a year to complete the house. Linda, who runs a cleaning business, has continued to decorate it, making every inch of it a home.
For now, eight family members are staying in Linda’s mother’s house.
Butch said the insurance company is going to move a couple of travel trailers to the property for them to stay in.
“We want to keep everybody at home,” Butch said.
Butch and Linda see the fire as an exclamation point on an already difficult year.
“2007 was a year from hell,” Linda said.
Butch had a triple bypass in September. Shalaine, who was already sick, was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia after the fire and was released Wednesday.
The family is sad at the loss of their possessions, but Linda said she has gained a new perspective: She plans not to hold onto every “thing” that comes into her life.
Katie is calm and pleasant as she scavenges for something to save from her fire-ravaged room. Her family is more important to her than worrying about her burned game systems.
‘I can’t be selfish’
“I know I’ve gotta be there for the family. It was an overall loss. I can’t be selfish,” she said.
Katie said she is optimistic about 2008. She has signed up for classes at Texas State Technical College, where she hopes to become a video game programmer.
“There’s only one way to go and that’s forward,” said Butch, who plans to spend 2008 rebuilding his home.
He added, “We’re gonna build back, and it’s gonna be as good as ever.”
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