I promised that there would eventually be pictures again...

First things first! I owe a late thank you to the Mike and Michelle branch of the Towhey family for my birthday card and gift. I kept saying that I was going to call and thank them but I kept finding reasons that now wasn't the best time (work, too late, dinner, etc.). So sorry for being so late, and thank you very much. You too did a good job of picking out something in just my size (haha). The gift card will definately come in handy. Home Depot is one of the stores near my fire station that we wind up in almost every shift (the other being Publix).

Today was a busy day at work. We are behind in servicing and flow testing our allotment of fire hydrants at my station, so I was working hard to try and get them done today. I am at the very end and had hoped to finish them off, but it was just one of those days where I couldn't seem to get right. I'll spare you the boring details, but not only was I beating my head against the wall, my engine was actually busy for a change and I was across town so I didn't get to participate. I had left the station at 9am and finally made it back around 1:30 for lunch, and at 10 after 2 I was telling myself that I would get up in another 5 minutes and go try and finish up the hydrants. That was not to be, however.

Luckily I had convinced myself to rest for 5 more minutes so I got to go on a run down the road involving a chipper truck. No one is certain, but we think that his trailer got off the road and he either over corrected or it drug the whole thing off the shoulder.

If you look real close, there is a guy bent over in blue. Over to the left of him the guy in the turnout gear with a stripe running from left shoulder to right hip is me (I'm wearing a radio strap because my radio pocket had a blow out).

The only thing that kept him from rolling over completely was the telephone pole, which added a whole new set of problems to the equation. Luckily the lines didn't come down.

We had to call for help from the neighboring Fire Department. They have a true 'heavy rescue' truck, whereas ours just wasn't quite up to all the taks we needed. They were kind enough to use the weight of their truck and their winch to help stabilize the overturned truck while we worked on it. We had to use our winch to rip off the door (it was the driver's door but here it is the door in the 'up' position) and then put in a ladder to get one of the guys out. The other guy had crawled out on his own.

Needless to say that pretty much put an end to my hydrants for the day. Lucky for me they'll be waiting when I get back Monday! Check April's blog if you haven't already to hear about our upcoming weekend. Talk to you guys later. And thanks again Mike, Michelle, Heather and Hannah