A fun Saturday morning

Traci, Sam and I went into Apex this morning for their Emergency Readiness Expo. We got to see the Wake Med life flight helicopter and hang out with FF Ashley for a little bit. We were only there a short while when a call came in and all of the crew had to bolt. We decided that it would be a good time to head over to our second stop of the day, the live burn in Cary. On the way over, we passed by the location of the emergency call, an apartment complex in Apex. We didn't get too close, but it looked like there may have been a small fire in one of the units. I snapped a couple of pics, and curiosity satisfied, we headed to Cary.
The live burn was being put on by the Western Wake Fire Department. Not knowing anyone from that department, we didn't have an all access pass to activities, so I wasn't able to get very many good shots. We got to hang out with Lee for a little bit. He was close to the action so I'm sure that he got some good shots that I can post later.
Click HERE to check out all of my photos from today.

Calling all firefighters

Originally uploaded by Lee Wilson

Spring has sprung, the drought is over for now, fire departments are gearing up for some live training burns and Sam has been itching to hang out with you guys. He's so excited that we are going to a live burn this weekend in Cary.
If anyone knows about any upcoming training activities or burns, please let me know. We'd love to come. Until I can take some of my own, enjoy some recent training photos from Lee Wilson.

The big party

Well, as I said Sam had a nice surprise on his fourth birthday. On Saturday, we invited several of his friends from preschool over to the house for cake and ice cream. About half way through the party, the kids were all surprised by the arrival of a fire truck. The 1981 Ford Pierce Pumper came courtesy of 2 the Rescue. It arrived with lights and Q blaring. The kids had a great time playing on the pumper and the bounce house that was provided. The best part for me was when Sam asked the owner of the truck if he could turn on the siren. The owner said "Sure, but you'll probably not be able to find it. " Five seconds later came a long and loud blast from the air horn and a surprised look from the fire truck guy. He found the air horn and kept pressing on the floor board looking for the Q switch. He never did find the siren, but I still got a kick out of the fact that he knows his way around a fire truck so well. At the end of the party, they all got to go for a ride around the neighborhood. Pictures of the party can be seen here or by clicking on the photo to the right.

The big 4...nothing

This Saturday is Sam's 4th birthday party and we've got a little something special planned. Stay tuned.

Catalog Sam

Well, not only is he the poster boy for Aeromax Toys & their Get Real Gear, now he's the cover boy for their 2008 catalog. The president of the company was kind enough to send us some copies of the catalog along with 4' x 5' poster, that now hangs in a corner of Sam's room. In addition to kudos for Sam, how about kudos for Sam's Dad? I guess that now makes me a professional photographer. On a serious note, I was surprised that such a heavily cropped photo could be blown up so big and still have decent resolution. And I usually shoot at a medium quality. I might have to start shooting in RAW again, or at least large now that I never know where one of my photos might find itself. Time for a bigger SD card I guess.

St. Paddy's Day gear

I like to check out Ride Backwards website from time to time to see what new stuff they've developed. Here's a sweet shirt that they've come up with just in time for St. Paddy's Day. I would imagine that there will be lots of firefighters in Boston sporting this shirt soon.

Supermodel Sam

A few months ago I mentioned that Sam's blog had caught the attention of the president of Aeromax Toys, Mark Levine. Aeromax is the company that makes the realistic turnout gear that Sam wears. Mark asked if he could a few of Sam's photos for some upcoming advertising promotions. After some tough negotiations (kidding) I agreed.
Today, Mark sent me this photo of himself standing by the poster that he's been using at various toy fairs and conventions throughout the country. And apparently there are some more neat things to come.

The gauntlet has been thrown down

Firefighter Spot recently highlighted this video of a seven-year-old little firefighter with a great custom built fire truck. Cool stuff. And speaking of cool stuff, you should really check out Firefighter Spot. They have a huge collection of some of the best fire related videos on the web.

Apex Fire Explorers

The Apex Fire Explorers Post 263, has a new weblog. You can check it out HERE.

Sam's point of view

Last weekend took a quick trip to Apex. Sam got to hang out for a bit & eat some real firefighter food. He also tested out his photography skills. Click HERE or on the photo for some more shots from that day.

Wake County Fire Training Center

On Saturday Sam & I went to the Wake County Fire Training Center. They were conducting an Essentials of Firefighting course for rookies. Unfortunately we missed some of the more "impressive" drills, but we still had fun.
Click on the photo to the right for some more pictures from that day.

2nd Alarm w/ Mayday in Raleigh

Originally uploaded by Lee Wilson

Lee Wilson captured some good shots of this Raleigh apartment fire on Sat. 2/2. "Ceiling fell on FF's on 3rd floor. FF's rescued and out safely w/in 2 mins. No injuries." "Fire started by a discarded cigarette on a rear balcony. All occupants out safely. Several animals brought out. Had (1) canine fatality."

A friend in Greenville

So why is it that the only mail that I ever seem to get is bills, while Sam gets all kinds of fun stuff? Well it happened again. A recent trip to the mailbox resulted in a fat envelope for Sam. It was sent by Jeremy, a firefighter from the Greenville NC area. He doesn't know Sam, but had discovered his blog & was kind enough to send him some patches from his paid & volunteer fire departments. He also extended an invitation if we're ever in the area. The kindness of firefighters never ceases to amaze me. Thanks so much Jeremy!

All I got for Christmas was...

...a bunch of cool stuff. I forgot to mention Sam's Christmas. Santa was very good to him. He got all the typical sorts of little boy toys (Cars, robots, boats, games, etc.). In addition, he got some quite non-typical gifts (Like a ride in a fire tanker truck on Christmas Day & some real FF gear). One of the nicest gifts that Sam got was from our buddy Lee Wilson. Lee knew that I had started a small patch collection for Sam. So, he gave him a whole bag full of FD patches from across the country. Also he put together a photo book full of various 'action' shots of Sam that he had taken throughout the past year. A big "Thanks" to Lee for being so generous to Sam.

2008 Battle of the Badges

Tonight was the second annual charity Battle of the Badges hockey game between our local area firefighter & police hockey clubs. Proceeds from the game are going to the UNC Burn Center for Children. The game went down to the wire, but the Blueliners (police) took the cup from the Leatherheads (firefighters) in a close battle.
Traci Sam & I had a good time. We ran into a few of Sam's firefighter friends & Sam even got to sit next to his pal Ashley.