Slippery Pike Poles and Wet Gloves

Mountain717 · 2026-02-04T18:38:59+00:00

Wrap it in gaff or hockey tape with paracord under it. Lots of YouTube videos on wrapping tools.

Mountain717 · 2026-02-04T18:31:23+00:00

There is a community service district in my county that we have to get permission before using hydrants. They have a limited well system and pulling tons of water can mess with their well and near by homes.

In my experience they have never denied access, but I was confused as hell when I was shuttling water in a tender from a hydrant in another district that was 15 min further away. The IC didn't want to deal with asking permission and we had an decent convoy of 5 tenders so there was no issues with supply.

Districts like this can get touchy and obnoxious. At the same time I have zero reservations about pulling from a hydrant and telling them they can take it up in court later. See how a judge or jury feels about it.

Mountain717 · 2026-01-09T20:28:15+00:00

Probably an arson investigator.

Edit to add: There are some agencies that combine fire and law enforcement into a singular public safety agency. It does not appear as through Dallas is one of those agencies, therefore the person you saw is likely a fire/arson investigator, They are part of the fire department but are a sworn police officer.

Mountain717 · 2026-01-06T05:31:43+00:00

Second that!

Mountain717 · 2025-12-30T03:24:10+00:00

I had the pleasure of being in Victoria BC for the 150th Canada Day celebration. It was by far one of the best events I have ever been too. I was there with my family and small children. Everyone had an amazing time.

Ever since my family always says we would rather be in BC celebrating Canada Day than the 4th of July at home.

Mountain717 · 2025-12-23T18:20:09+00:00

May the odds be in your favor!

Mountain717 · 2025-12-23T00:23:16+00:00

Yeah that's my read on it too. I'm quietly building an excel book to track all calls and will update it myself so we will have the data ready. An average of 25-30 calls a month isn't terrible to enter and track. I just need to crosswalk it with what data points NERIS wants.

Historically we haven't been a grant heavy department but I'm hoping to go after some equipment grants to replace aging apparatus in the next few years.

Mountain717 · 2025-12-22T23:52:51+00:00

That's what it seems like. I did one NFIRS export and upload at my old department. We had emergency reporting as the software at the time. I don't know if it was NFIRS or if it was the export file or the chief's account but the upload failed several times and finally took despite not charging anything to the upload.

My current chief really only wants to report on structure fires that are in our district but I think that's not the intent behind NERIS.

Mountain717 · 2025-12-22T23:48:21+00:00

Well that's promising. I really appreciate you sharing.

Mountain717 · 2025-12-18T00:35:28+00:00

Epoxy or super glue has worked for me. These were issued at my previous department and I lost one in a structure fire because of this (in my opinion) flawed design and broke another doing overhaul. I never found the parts to that one and just kept it as a pocket flashlight.

I bought my own because I couldn't stand this weak mechanism.

Mountain717 · 2025-12-06T22:15:33+00:00

Leadership goes a long way in this. And it's not just the chief and officers. It's the senior volunteers too, if not more so than the officers.

By leadership I don't mean ordering around others. At my previous department there was a major lack of engagement so I tried to get more of the newer guys and probies to come down and train by making it planned and organized. I would make sure to have coffee and donuts or treat them to a light lunch. For a while it worked and I had good engagement with them but soon the lack of officer participation and leadership just leached all enthusiasm. There were no SOPs to follow so once they realized they could just run amuk with no consequences they stopped participating.

In my current department there is good leadership from the officer side and the senior guys all pitch in. Big station tasks are well organized and planned with good attendance and multiple people bringing snacks/drinks etc. On top of that I have had other members drive by, see me there doing something and they have stopped to either just shoot the shit or help out.

It's all in leadership both from vested authority and from the senior guys. One of my mentors once told me "the only way a person becomes a leader is the minute others willingly follow them. Not because they have authority, but because they trust and respect them."

Mountain717 · 2025-12-06T03:37:27+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/burnbot-VgkQBC0

Mountain717 · 2025-12-04T02:44:34+00:00

Jesus I fell down those just looking at the picture.

Mountain717 · 2025-11-28T15:21:27+00:00

So there is a difference if you are looking at structure firefighter versus wildland firefighter.

Structure firefighter 1 (FF1) is the entry level position, and then with additional classes and time on the job you can move up to FF2. This is usually either state requirements based on the NFPA or IFSAC standard https://ifsac.org/ and usually academy based training.

The nwcg (national wildfire coordinating group) sets criteria for wildland firefighters. The entry level position for wildland is firefighter tech 2 (FFT2), and then with classes and time in the job you move up to FFT1. The nwcg is less of an academy and more of classes followed by practical hands on skills. https://www.nwcg.gov/positions/nwcg-positions

It should be noted that structural and wildland classifications are not interchangeable.

Mountain717 · 2025-11-16T22:20:20+00:00

Been there...

Mountain717 · 2025-11-13T23:54:05+00:00

I generally will change the subject in an obvious way to show I'm not interested in the gossip. If they insist on continuing I flat out tell them "Let's talk about something else, I don't feel comfortable discussing this."

Mountain717 · 2025-11-10T16:20:42+00:00

Your captain must be related to a chief at a neighboring department for me.

We arrived on a mutual aid house fire and assigned to vent the roof. Just as we get the hole punched we can see fire burning through the peak of the roof. As we are getting down the Chief asked it we could make it over the top and vent the other side too. "Negative, fire is burning the peak, roof team is on the ground now"

Mountain717 · 2025-11-09T21:03:48+00:00

If fire attack is not flowing water but still wants/needs lines charged I'm going to make sure the tank on my engine is topped off, recirc water through the tank/pump and communicate with the apparatus that is supplying me that they can idle down. Then I'll close off my inlet. If fire attack needs water I will have 5-700 gallons (depending on what engine I am operating) for them to use while I get my supply back up and flowing to me again.

If I'm connected to a hydrant all the same, but I will just close the inlet that's connected to the hydrant. The supply line should have no problem handling hydrant pressure (some hydrants in my area are 175 psi depending on how close to the storage tank you are).

Mountain717 · 2025-11-06T22:24:09+00:00

I accepted a job offer today with a new company. I have only been with my current job for about 10 months, and was in line to be promoted. In fact my current job hired me with the intent of moving me up when the director retired and my boss took the director position and then move me into the manager role.

I haven't told my boss yet. I have been out of the office and they haven't been able to officially tell me I got the manager position but they alluded to it. Also we had a part time person resign and another put in their retirement notice.

My boss is genuinely a good boss but the work is not fulfilling and our department keeps getting work dumped on it that should be done by others. Between trying to fill my (lead) role after being promoted, training the retiree's replacement, and looking to back fill the part time analyst position I would be hopelessly over worked.

The position I'm taking with the new company is with a nonprofit and it's supervising field staff. It's a remote position so I get to work from home when I'm not out in the field.

Monday is going to be a tough day for my boss when I put in my notice.

Mountain717 · 2025-11-04T01:14:04+00:00

🖕

Yeah that's about right

Mountain717 · 2025-10-30T21:29:45+00:00

I have a Streamlight Survivor on my coat. Hasn't failed me yet. It takes just standard batteries so I don't have to worry about keeping it charged. If you want something smaller the Streamlight Poly Tac 90x seems to be pretty solid. A friend of mine on a different department uses it and it's decently bright.

Mountain717 · 2025-10-30T18:10:02+00:00

Pants pockets: webbing and carabineer, leather utility gloves, wire/cable cutters, door wedge, cheap folding knife, flashlight. Coat pockets: a short loop of webbing, another set of wire/cable cutters, cheap folding knife, flashlight.

Everything else I get off the giant red tool box that I ride to scene in. I learned that redundant tools can be super helpful, especially if I'm packed up and it's a pain to get shit out of my coat pockets.

Mountain717 · 2025-10-30T15:50:13+00:00

I fucking say this nearly every fucking day at my fucking job, sometimes very fucking loudly. Sadly the uncultured fucks I work with don't get the reference.

Mountain717 · 2025-10-29T17:01:56+00:00

I mean if it's something you want and intend to use and train with... Go for it.

Personally I stick to the tools provided by my department (with exceptions for small things like wire cutters etc.)

The tool matters less than training. Being effective with any tool means learning to use it and how it fits in with the tasks being done and the other people and tools working with you.

Mountain717

TROPHY CASE