Training Day

Keeping cool

I was lucky enough to spend part of an afternoon and early evening with crews this month from two area firehouses during a training exercise. Departments from the towns of Hadley and Leverett met on the site of an abandoned property along Route 9 to conduct some search and vent training with the help of a smoke machine in a house slated to be torn down in the coming months. It was a humid day and the focus was also on keeping hydrated during the exercises.

Directions being given from Hadley Chief-Mike Spankenbel

Giving last minute reminders to the Leverett crews

Small teams from each department alternated entering the structure and venting through a second floor window. Department chiefs observed both in and outside the structure, and gave feedback to the teams once their run-through was completed. The opportunity to watch this training session was fascinating to me,  I happily stood and watched for the duration of the training, swatting away bugs and dripping with the heat. (Remember bug spray for another session!) Thanks to Chief Mike Spankenbel for the opportunity to watch these teams in action. It was really difficult to pick photos from the over 200 that I shot that day for this post. My favorite ones are of course the ones that show the faces of the firefighters themselves- their intensity and focus on the training. 

Firehouses Abroad

Hi blog followers! It's been awhile but you know how it is-life moves pretty fast and sometimes it is hard to keep up with things. I recently was able to enjoy a family vacation abroad in Grand Cayman, somehow with all of the sun and beautiful views I found a few moments to stop and visit briefly one of the three firehouses that are located on the island. 

This particular firehouse is the Frank Sound Fire Station, and happily the trucks were out when I stopped by.

Left side view of the station below. I think we parked illegally on the side of the road here to get this shot. 

Below a closeup of one of the trucks, here is Rescue 2

Loved walking inside the bays to spot this.

The crew on duty inside were welcoming, and as they didn't have a patch on hand, they very generously gave me one of their older firehouse shirts to take home with me. Thank you to the guys there-it was nice of you and I was thrilled to have it (by the way, it fits perfectly!) 

Smiling firehouse crew-who wouldn't be happy to work on one of the most beautiful islands in Cayman?

A fantastic quick visit-I only wish I had more time to stop at the other two firehouses while I was on the island. 

But, the sun and sand was calling us to head north to Rum Point.

One of the most photographed docks on Grand Cayman-it is easy to see why everyone loves to take photos here.