Squad 51, man down ...

I'd like to see them bring back a modern day Emergency! Either in LA County, or in Seattle, like they originally planned after The Most Deadly Passage. And sticking with today's diversity, Chester B. Kelly could be played by an African-American, you have the Hispanic in Marco Lopez, Roy DeSoto could be a female (Royetta), Kelly Brackett could be a female, and Dixie McCall could be male or female. I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of being a transplant from the Deep South of the US.

And of course, it'd have to be more true to life, unlike other emergency shows of today. One example is; when the crew is responding to an emergency call, they're not holding a normal run-of-the-mill, everyday conversation about looking for houses, hair dressers, or child care. They should be reading maps, talking about what they might find at the scene, or how they're going to handle the situation when they arrive. And of course they'd have to keep the pregnancy, divorces, and unfaithful relationships to a minimum. Emergency! of the 70s was a great show (for its time).

http://fire.lacounty.gov/

CHICAGO

Chicago Bears, Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Chicago Fire, Chicago Fire, and the Chicago White Sox, just to name a few great things about Chicago.

Why does the Chicago Fire Department have black over red vehicles with green emergency lights?

Chicago is a city of deep tradition. The Cubs didn't put lights on Wrigley Field until 1986 because they wanted to keep the tradition of playing baseball games during the day. Fire departments are traditional too. Fire fighters rode the buck boards of steam pumpers, then the tail boards of more modern fire engines. Now a days, everyone rides inside the cab. So what's this have to do with black cabs and green lights?

The department chiefs drove Ford Motor Company buggies. These cars had black canvas tops that couldn't be painted. Not to mention, the cars were painted black. Red was an expensive paint color, and fire departments wanted their equipment to stand out. Bright red paint with shiny brass was a symbol of great pride in the fire service.

Then, in 1927 Albert Goodrich became a Fire Commissioner. He came from a family with strong ties to the steamship industry. If you've ever noticed a boat, they have red light on the port (left) side, and green lights on the starboard (right) side. This allows other boats, at a glance, to know which way the surrounding traffic is heading. So Commissioner Goodrich put green lights on the right front, and red lights on the left front of all fire department vehicles.

Personally, I'd like to see green lights on all fire department vehicles. And I know amber lights are supposed to mean "caution", but aren't the red lights supposed to mean "stop"? So why are there amber lights on emergency vehicles? To me, amber lights just tells drivers to slow down instead of pull over and stop.

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cfd.html

These Fire Fighters REALLY Are the Bravest of the Brave!

Especially if they were around in the 1970s.

One of my favorite books is, Report from Engine Company 82, written by Dennis Smith.
He tells his story of working Engine 82 in the South Bronx of New York during that time span.
And not to mention the 343 fire fighters who gave their lives on September 11, 2001.

A fire fighter rushes into a burning building when everyone else is running out.

God Bless every fire fighter. Especially the ones in FDNY.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/home2.shtml

Home Town Heroes

I could talk about my experience of collecting shoulder patches and where I got them all. But the stories are all the same.

I got started collecting when I was a dispatcher with SPD (Seattle Police). Went on a ride-along and the officer gave me a shoulder patch. Said it was great fun to trade patches. Well, one patch doesn't give you much bartering power. Wound up getting about two dozen SPD patches from one of the TRU (Telephone Reporting Unit) officers. From there, I took all those patches with me and hit every fire department in the area that I could. Other than that, I bought some, and got some from other police officers and firefighters that I know. And yes, it is great fun to trade shoulder patches. I've met a lot of very nice people.

I like this Edmonds patch with the Maltese Cross and the Washington State Ferry in the center of the cross.

Seattle Fire Department

Glad to be back on the horse, so to speak. Let's start with my favorite shoulder patch. I grew up in Seattle, not far from Station 17. Those big Kenworth engines made the coolest fire trucks. Not to mention the noise they made. I could hear the roar of the engine and exhaust for what seemed like miles. I also like the design of this patch. Tells me who they are, and what they do. And that's an image of Chief Sealth in the middle of the Maltese Cross.

http://www.seattle.gov/fire/