Hello all,

It was quite an incredible weekend around here. On Saturday alone, the dept had 2 seperate fatal MVA's, a near drowning of a 2 yr. old and a confirmed drowning of a 18yr old. Not to mention routine medical calls in between. The first fatal MVA occured in the morning when a vehicle turned into the path of another vehicle on the BL94 at River St. The second fatal MVA occured about an hour later when a truck turned into the path of a motorcyclist who laid his bike down to avoid the crash however still hit the back end of the pick up and was killed. ...Read more

Hey,

It sure has been a tough week around here. Last week we lost a brother in the line of duty. PSO Eric Zapata with the Kalamazoo Dept. of Public Safety was shot and killed while attempting to apprehend a shooting suspect. He was only 35 yrs old and leaves behind 3 children.

Even though this isn't a fire LODD, the unique thing here is that with all public safety officers in Kalamazoo, they are crossed trained as fire and EMS as well as law enforcement. So not only do we have police officers from all over coming in for the service but firefighters as well. ...Read more

Hey All,

So here is the question of the day?? Does your Dept. do anything different when gas and diesel prices get this high? I know things are tough already for many depts. out there these days. We see it all the time in news stories and for those who get TheSecretList emails. The high prices at the pumps don"t help things either.

Let us know whats happening with your dept.

Hey,

I gotta tell you all its been very quiet around this place. The Rescue/Engine didn't make a run for 8days. I don't like when its this slow. It usually means that something big is coming down the line. We have had a few runs the last few days, mostly medicals.It sure does make for long shifts at the station for sure.

Next week is FDIC in Indy. It is such an awesome conference to go to. Anythig and everything is there that is made for the fire service and EMS. The class room sessions are very well done with the best instructors around the country. I am planning a day trip there to see the new products and possibly meet Dave in person. If you have the opportunity to go, take it, I am sure you will enjoy it greatly.

Later,

Shaner

Hey,

I gotta tell you all its been very quiet around this place. The Rescue/Engine didn't make a run for 8days. I don't like when its this slow. It usually means that something big is coming down the line. We have had a few runs the last few days, mostly medicals.It sure does make for long shifts at the station for sure.

Next week is FDIC in Indy. It is such an awesome conference to go to. Anythig and everything is there that is made for the fire service and EMS. The class room sessions are very well done with the best instructors around the country. I am planning a day trip there to see the new products and possibly meet Dave in person. If you have the opportunity to go, take it, I am sure you will enjoy it greatly.

Later,

Shaner

Hello,

I just wanna review this new product that has come out. Its called a BIGWIG, and it s a door stop you can hang over the hinge of a door. This product is heavy duty for sure. It is designed for optimum gripping so you an handle it with your gloves on. It also glows in the dark so you can see it easily. And in the end is a crayon so you can mark your doors when your done searching a room. I have been playing with it and using it and I have to say that not only myself but my fellow firefighters are quite impressed with this product. I definately recommend checking them out. Go to www.buyabigwig.com

Shane Peterson

Good Morning,

Well this morning was a chilly morning. This mornings training was cold water rescue. So we journeyed out to the local lake to take a plunge into the water. I think it was about 15 degrees out and the lake had about 7-8in of ice. For the training we had some of the guys that put our gumby suits and actually went into the water and then we went through how the rescue would go. Then once that was complete we moved on to the next station which was CPR recert. So it was a good drill overall.

So what equipment does your dept. have for cold water rescue? ...Read more

Hello All,

Last week I deciced to take a road trip into Northern Michigan for a couple days. I have been dealing with some personal strife and I needed to get awat a bit to refocus my life a bit. Anyway, whenever I head North I always have to make a stop in Roscommon Mi. This is were the Michigan Firefighters Memorial is located. Dedicated in 1980 it is the location where the names of deceased firefighters are put. There is a wall that have the names of members that have retired from the fire service. On statue itself are the names of members that have fallen in the line of duty. ...Read more