11 posts tagged “firestations”
My weekend was rather subdued. Saturday was spent with some spring cleaning and laundry. I shuffled the pictures on the wall and cleared up the long livingroom wall so we can put the projector there. We put new locks on the refridgerator and cabinets to keep Tommy out. So far it's been working.
This morning, I replaced a cache in Myakkahatchee Creek Nature Park with Gary's wife, Linda, and shot a few portraits of C Shift and the Battalion Chief at CCFEMS Station 12. The chief gave me a good tour of the Technical Rescue. Station 12 is down the road from San Antonio Catholic Church and it looks like the church is done with their new sanctuary.
Both my daughter and my husband are home so life can resume.
Tom now has an updated MCSE, the details of which he could explain more than I could. I'm very proud of him.
I retook station shots of CCFEMS 5, 6, and 7 and PGFD 2 and 3. Tomorrow, I have an attorney appointment after which I'll be able to redo CCFEMS 16, PGFD 1, and all the CCFEMS that are in El Jobean and over that bridge into Englewood. I also have to retake CCFEMS 2 because I just don't like what I have and I'm not selling something I can't put my name on.
At some point, I need to go to Myakkahatchee Creek Nature Park to repair a chewed up geocache that we'd adopted. Some animal gnawed on it a week or so after we adopted it to prevent it from getting archived. I'd scheduled that repair for this week but that was before the hospital gig came up.
I also need to remove some of my waymarks from the directory until I can update coordinates and photos. Many of the "Art About Town" exhibits that were scattered throughout downtown Punta Gorda have been relocated to a park across from Fisherman's Village. This effectively outdates all the information that I have for those waymarks.
This is Punta Gorda Fire Department Station 3. My photoshop skills have fallen short for this one. This was the shot I really wanted to sell for PGFD 3 but I cannot fix the hedges to their proper "PGFD" look. I'm really aggravated about it.
CCFEMS 7 always photographs beautifully. It is the station by the Punta Gorda Airport. This is the typical floorplan that's becoming the standard for all new CCFEMS stations, with very little variation from one to another; but, for some reason, Station 7 is always more photogenic. Lucky 7. Once I got done cleaning up the shot, I was very happy with it.
Tomorrow is, of course, my birthday. I am turning 29 (again).
Charlotte County Fire/EMS Station 12
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After:
North Port Fire Rescue Station 82
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After:
I visited Stations 5, 7 and 12 today. 7 and 12 were very cooperative and friendly. I have nothing but good things to say about B Shift for both of those Stations.
Lt. Brad Wasmus is an old friend of Tom's. I had been out to Station 7 before on C Shift and even earlier today but had missed him. I was worried about the afternoon and whether rain would come in but the sky cleared up and the sun came out! It was nice to meet him and be able to photograph his crew. If he's interested, I'd be more than happy to provide a portrait on the house. Station 7 has an engine, plus the two airport vehicles: the rescue and the crash truck.
Station 12 was another great crew. Lt. Jim Wilcox had a positive attitude and the great energy of the guys made this a fun shoot. Station 12 has an engine, a truck, a rescue, a technical rescue, a hazmat and the black sheep.
Tom's going on a MCSE boot camp starting on Sunday and will be home the evening of April 27th. I have to get as much work done as possible since I don't photograph with children in tow. While it's hard to explain why I'm doing this project. I'm not doing it for the money. I'm not doing it to sell to the papers or magazines. If that happens, I certainly won't baulk, but my intent is really PR. It's good for them and it's good for me. They really need photos that are available to them, not promises of "year"books that are painfully delayed after firefighters have already paid for them. It gets my name out there more, and Google can certainly confirm that it's out there. I also learn more about the apparatus which is important for emergency scene photography. I need to know what I'm shooting.
After stopping by my attorney's office this morning in regards to my stupid ex being stupid, I went over to Station 16 for another shoot. This was one of the stations where I lost the majority of the images in a technical malfunction while transferring from the camera to the USB stick. I'm pleased with the results. Go to the Charlotte County Fire/EMS Station 16 set on my Flickr to see some of those photos. Below are a few more:
I met Assistant Chief Kenneth "Kenny" Haun, Jr. at the station. By his lonesome, he pulled out Engine (Pumper) 1 and Aerial 1 for me to photograph. It was another gorgeous clear, but cold, day. I also photographed the interior of the station with the multitude of photographs, memoriabilia, trophies, artwork and honours adorning the walls.
The original fire station was located in the two-story section of the City Hall. The upper level was an apartment for a volunteer firefighter. Whoever resided in that apartment would be responsible for calling the other volunteers to a fire and hooking up the horses to the fire carriage, getting it ready to go. Kenny's uncle was that firefighter. Now, by Kenny's day, the horses were no longer in use but the apparatus was still kept in front of the building along Van Rensselaer, across from the Jasper County Courthouse. The fire station didn't move until 1976, when the new building along Cullen was constructed, but it's still in the Courthouse square vicinity. Since firefighting with the Rensselaer Volunteer Fire Department is literally in his blood, the Assistant Chief had a lot of information to share.
Kenny brought me to the warehouse by the water tower, where the antique apparatus, as well as numerous other items that they've squirrelled away, are kept. I photographed the carriage, their first gasoline-powered engine, and many other antique items.
After appreciating the old, he took me to see the new: the Mitchell Training Facility. It's mentioned on the Fire Department's page of the City of Rensselaer website. The Assistant Chief had a major role in the design and construction of the live fire training facility and all the volunteers are constantly brainstorming to create simulations of different fire and rescue situations. The department does not provide Emergency Medical Service, but it does provide rescue when needed. Currently under construction is a training tower that ought to be ready to burn in a few more weeks.
The property for the Mitchell Training Facility was donated by a Chicago firefighter's widow and hometown resident of Rensselaer. She had six lots and sold them to the department for $1 under the condition that the property only be used for fire department-related activity. It was this generous gift that allowed the department to build their training facility, which they had been fundraising hard for. The training facility is named after this good-hearted widow and her departed husband.
I really could not have asked for a better tour guide than Kenny Haun.
Later in the day, I stopped into City Hall for a photo op of the Mayor and also to pick up Kenny's business card. Since the Mayor of Rensselaer is the most open and friendly public official I have met - and this includes the previous leader of the category, Florida's Lee County Commissioner Bob Janes - getting his portrait was no problem... once we got him to stand still. He has more energy than my eight year-old! Kenny, who is also the City's Building Commissioner, invited me to a meeting at the fire house this evening. He said that it would be a good opportunity to take more photographs, especially of the men in gear.
He was right on all counts except for the light. Dusk was harsh tonight because of the approaching rain. The cloud cover brought darkness before it should have so my light was compromised. I still got good shots of the crew in front of Aerial 1. I got done in record time. I did have more ideas but they will have to wait for another time... hopefully with better light (and a warmer season!). I knew I was welcome to stay for the meeting but I thought it was better to grab some dinner and talk to Michael and Eddie back at the hotel.
I returned to the hotel, ate dinner, tended to my photos and spoke to my boys. Tomorrow they should be brought back to my parents' house and then brought here to Rensselaer. Weather permitting, I will take them down to see the Lourdes Grotto at St. Joseph's College and then we're on our way back to Florida.
I do have a telephone appointment with someone from the Historical Society in the morning. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to go to the hospital or just call her room. I think I'm going to call her room to ask my questions. I'm really not comfortable bothering someone when they're laid up in the hospital, even though I know hospitals can be so boring that an interview isn't an intrusion. Still, I'm not a reporter. I'm a photographer and curious person.
Here are some of the shots from today, more is available on my Flickr:
This statue of Christ at the Garden of Gethsamen is inside a cave at the Lourdes Grotto on the St. Joseph's College Campus in Rensselaer, Indiana. It was cold today but bearable until the wind kicked up. My stay was brief thanks to my very low tolerance of cold, but St. Joseph's College is an incredible place to walk around. The Lourdes Grotto depicts one of the eighteen moments in France when St. Bernadette saw the Blessed Virgin Mary and compliments the moment with a stone archway, waterfalls and koi ponds, with an altar in the center. The grotto was built over 100 years ago by a semarian of the college. If you walk beyond the Lourdes Grotto, you begin the outdoor display of the Stations of the Cross, which are constructed on a circular path so Station 12 brings you to Station 1. There are many benches and little seating areas, everything with a dedication plate on it to remind visitors of a loved one, former student, or friend of the college. One of the stones used as a dedication stated my life motto:
Past the college was a small cemetery called Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery, hosting a humble 100, if that, devoted Catholics. The grounds took a sudden steep decline, at the top of which was a sign:
I have to tell you, it would be a righteous sledding hill. I'd have to imagine that those resting would appreciate that fact. At the bottom of the decline was a small area platted for additional graves which have not been occupied, yet. In the center is an etched memorial stone for St. Katherine Drexel.
The firefighters weren't "home" so I took photographs of the outside and hope the weather cooperates tomorrow so I can return to take some vehicle and firefighter shots if someone is at the firehouse then. The old Rensselaer Carnegie Library, now the Carnegie Center, was a great experience. The main floor had an exhibition from the Senior Portfolio of St. Joseph's College. The work was spectacular and they allowed photography of the pieces. I have been careful to note the artists of the works that I've photographed when posting to flickr. The lower level was the offices of the Jasper Foundation, which is a charitable organisation that helps philanthropists donate to local programs that support the community. I spoke with Executive Director Linda Reiners, who was very friendly and informative about the history of the building.
I got some of the perspective shots of farms that my mother wanted, but I'm not sure she'll be pleased with them. I'll take more before the week is done but I hope she understands that I've done the best I can with the farms in the area.
My hotel decided to stain the coat rack and bathroom door in my room. It was a project for all the rooms, and I was assured that the smell would be minimal and I would not have to take my clothes from the room. The smell was horrible, even before they returned the door. I expect a refund for this day. She said I didn't have to take out my clothes or leave. I had left for part of the day and it was still a nauseating experience dealing with these fumes. In fact, the room still smells and I've had the window open and the bathroom fan running for hours. I can't sleep with the window open in freezing weather on the first floor of a hotel in a strange town.
Here are more shots of St. Joseph's College, the Rensselaer Carnegie Library, and the firehouse:
I tried to retake a capture of the North Port City Hall. Apparently, they hadn't considered the aesthetic benefits of keeping the median clear because now there's a gigantic tree blocking the view of the building from the center of the median. The shot doesn't work, the symmetry of the building is lost and there's no point. So, I went to North Port Fire Rescue Station 81 to take some daytime photos. The last time I was there, it was dusk. I had a lot of fun, but my light was limited. I had a good time today shooting R81, R83, an old engine, the MCI trailor and an off-road 4x4 cart.
North Port Fire Rescue Station 82 was next. I hadn't been there, yet and it's next door to where the old City Hall used to be. Again, I received lots of cooperation and got to shoot Truck 82, R82, two brush trucks and the technical rescue trailor. It was a popular station for visitors today with a number of people just stopping by to look at vehicles and get little tours for their children. I don't take pictures of other people's children without expressed permission so I had to be careful of where I was taking my pictures.
I went back to North Port Fire Rescue Station 83 to retake some photos. My first run just had too many sunflares. Morning is a bad time to shoot this house. The lieutenant was very accommodating and I was even able to climb up to the monitor. I got it all in before the rain started.
Something the firefighters keep bringing up is a calendar. Now, for firefighters to participate in a calendar, it must have the Chief's approval. There have been incidents with some departments elsewhere that have gone ahead with unauthourised calendars and gotten into serious trouble for it. I'm not adverse to doing a calendar for them but I don't think it is something that would ever, ever happen. I think it's bizarre that a calendar is the first thing that they think of when someone comes around with a camera to photograph the house and the vehicles. Even more bizarre is that, with all their talk, every one of them runs from the camera the minute they think it's pointed at them.
I still have a number of stations to go. It's been fun and I'm glad I've stepped away from landscapes to do this project.
I was down at the County Courthouse today so I rolled over to Station 6, to see that they were leaving. It wasn't a call, they were just leaving. So, I went around the corner to Station 16 and met up with Gary. I took a lot of photos there, including candids and a portrait of Gary. A large number of those photos were lost during a transfer malfunction. I know I'm welcome to redo the vehicle photos but who knows if I'll be able to get these guys to redo a portrait! It was enough to get them still once!
After that, I went to Station 12 in Deep Creek. That is where the Special Operations vehicle, Black Sheep (featured above), calls home. Again, I had a large number of photos of the truck, the Station 11 engine, the technical rescue, the hazmat truck and black sheep. Only a few turned up after the transfer malfunction. Thankfully, the firefighters were very friendly, open and accommodating. Not only did they ask for my card but extended an invitation to return to take more photos if I wanted to. This is good because now I need to go back.
The vehicles for North Port Station 82 went on call while I was bringing Bailey into CCD. This made it impossible to follow and with nobody left at that house, I went over to Station 15. This is in the boonies of North Port Charlotte so the small crew was surprised to see me, surprised more that I wanted to take pictures, and really didn't know what to do. The lieutenant seemed awkward, but, hey, they're not tour guides, they're firefighter officers. None of those photos were lost, naturally.
Tom had slow cooked a delicious rib roast for dinner with potatoes, onions and mushrooms. Delicious! Now, I'm going to go watch America's Next Top Model.
Here are the links to the Flickr sets of the stations and vehicles that I had photographed today:
New Waymarks for:
Everyone at all the above listed houses were friendly, accommodating and kind. I had a great time getting these shots and it's in great credit to the positive energy and openness of the firefighters.
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