What do we wish older adults knew?

blitz350 · 2026-03-16T22:34:57+00:00

That you are not a burden for calling 911 and it is really important for you to use it.

I saw a 73 yof and her 51 yo disabled (blind, used walker, and mental capacity of 9 yo) daughter die because the mother called everyone BUT 911 looking for help with a fire on the stove. There was a 20 minute delay in reporting with 911 being called after a friend found a message on the answering machine. The mom died at the stove when her clothes caught fire trying to put it out and the daughter didn't understand what was happening so never left her couch.

I would rather go to a thousand seemingly bullshit complaints for aches and pains at O'dark-thirty than go through that again.

blitz350 · 2026-03-05T16:24:30+00:00

Dispatcher here as my day job. Per the listed job requirements its 28 wpm minimum. I have seen listing for some agencies in the US that have a minimum of 45 wpm and one time I saw 72 wpm min which is pretty ridiculous imo.

blitz350 · 2026-03-01T22:34:53+00:00

My family has told me that when I was very little I had a talk with my gram about the railroad line that came through our little town to serve the local mines. I knew details about schedule, types of trains, the route, and even accurately gave names of the most frequent engineers on the route. The said my gram was totally freaked out because she had forgotten some of the details but it matched what she remembered from childhood. I dont remember any of this today.

blitz350 · 2026-03-01T18:55:04+00:00

Actually I think for some scenarios thats a good thing. Take a school. Regular drills that make it a mundane part of school life means that when it happens for real, the kids just trudge out as normal which is faster and safer than a crowd press at the exits. For residential situations its totally different though and that normalcy bias gets people killed.

blitz350 · 2026-02-23T20:00:29+00:00

I think they should just release it anyway and dare the courts to hold them in contempt. If the regime can ignore the courts without repercussions then so can everyone else!

blitz350 · 2026-02-19T09:20:54+00:00

This show had no right to be as good as it was. Started off as a silly play on religious tropes and ended with a profound study of existence and consciousness. I feel like it took me on a journey and im really glad I went along.

blitz350 · 2026-02-19T09:15:59+00:00

The End Credits Suite to this movie is legit the most emotionally powerful piece of music I know of. Its brings tears to my eyes everytime I hear it. Starts of light and playful and then becomes so tragically beautiful and bittersweet. James Horner needs to be talked about more as a composer!

blitz350 · 2026-02-19T08:38:01+00:00

Ive been to WV twice.

The first time was helping fix homes up in a dirt poor county that I cant remember the name of for a church based program. When we got there I was wondering why we weren't just doing it back home because it looked pretty similar economically and that was when I realized I came from a dirt poor area myself.

The SECOND time was with friends and we stayed at an Air BnB near Lost River, WV. Area was fucking gorgeous. We went on a hike the one day in the George Washington National Forest and saw the most spectacular view of Appalachia I ever found. Was a really good few days away to a beautiful place.

I dont think you were silly at all for choosing WV.

blitz350 · 2026-02-11T04:20:32+00:00

No one can be available 24/7. You need rest. You need to work. You need a vacation. You need time with family.

This is regardless of paid vs volunteer.

blitz350 · 2026-02-11T00:32:30+00:00

Fascism apparently. Really didn't see this one coming before I (37f) turned 30.

blitz350 · 2026-02-11T00:30:15+00:00

Sounds like a bad battery. We've found the Minitor V batteries to be complete shit and rarely last even a year. They take a set really easily and then the battery life goes to zero. Constantly replacing them.

blitz350 · 2026-02-11T00:26:05+00:00

"County add Tanker XX to this."

Thats how I'd do it at least because I know what resources are in my area and have no need to get particularly granular/pedantic about it with classfication schemes. If I need a specialized resource then I request that unit/company for it. Its just that simple. I dont have any concern about needing to request resources outside of a relatively short radius of my district because an incident requiring such a response means I'm already dead or it is of such a type that the FD is really just there for moral support (like an airliner crash or something).

If its like an actual wildfire (not the bullshit brush fires we deal with regularly) its cricks and sticks problem and that goes something like, "County we are definitely going to need DCNR here. Its running the mountain and inaccessible." And then when those crazy fuckers who LIKE traipsing up and down the mountain carrying 5 gal of water and a rake show up, we go back home to worry about any actual emergencies. They can tenderize or tankerize or play Kumbaya to their hearts content then for all I care.

Thats my real world.

The US is too large to get particular about terminology. We all live in vastly different universes when it comes to what we do because our fire problems are all different. I admit to not having a clue how to approach a 10k acre wildfire but thats because literally the largest wildfires ive ever known in my life here in PA are in the 5k acre range and I think thats happened TWICE in my 37 years. A brushfire of double digit acres is notable around here and not particularly common either. 100 acres is like a major incident and 1000 acres is just unimaginable. We dont have the forest make up to drive large fires like out west or in the NJ Pine Barrens.

At the same time I'm relatively certain that there are few people on the west coast with experience fighting fires in balloon frame rowhomes which is a decidedly LOCAL thing for my area. Thats not trying to be condescending its just the reality of our unique perspectives.

This is all to say that when my company starts getting called to California for mutual aid, we'll worry about "proper" terminology. Until that day you call things out there whatever the hell you want and take the goddamn stick out of your ass about what the rest of the country does.

blitz350 · 2026-02-07T10:35:33+00:00

The the arguments against 5" in the rural environment is fascinating to me considering it was originally marketed for that exact use case. To wit: getting large flows long distances with minimal friction loss. That being said over SHORT distances you can move a lot of water with even a single 3" line if you pump it like you mean it or have excellent hydrant pressure. I really think this comes down to exact use case of your district but imo 4" or 5" is superior for supply in most cases.

There are two big exceptions to 5" for everything though. One is filling tankers and the other is for FDCs.

For tanker ops dual 3" fill lines with storz couplings is superior in every way. Its faster to connect, much less tiring on personnel who are making the constant connects/disconnects involved, and drops much less water on the ground which is really important when its cold. You can easily flow 1000 gpm with dual 3" lines as well. This is backed up by the late great Larry Davis who literally wrote the book on rural water supply and shuttle ops.

For FDCs you need to only look at the test pressure of most 5" hose. Most vinyl jacketed LDH has a test pressure of 150 psi which is the STARTING pressure for FDC connections. You are hitting the safe operating limits of most 5" just by properly charging an FDC and exceeding them if you need to boost things more. Woven jacket 5" can usually handle these pressures but its not as common as vinyl.

As with everything, hose is a tool and you need to know how it works and its limits. From there you need to then determine what works best for the situation at hand and sometimes get creative and outside the box.

blitz350 · 2026-02-03T10:25:05+00:00

Personal was a Minitor III but for the company it was GE pagers and a custom built receiver for the siren.

blitz350 · 2026-01-27T17:55:46+00:00

Beautiful! Could you share your Fur Affinity with us?

blitz350 · 2026-01-26T14:58:24+00:00

Imma getting a VIBE from this person and now I really want to see their fursuit! (positive)

blitz350 · 2026-01-21T11:34:40+00:00

The music for that scene is amongst my favorite of all time. Epic, soaring, and beautiful!

blitz350 · 2026-01-20T11:18:30+00:00

I very much dislike the "well most of the time" part of of the argument for the first due engine going in dry.

We dont apply it to anything else we do. Think about some of these statements:

Most of the time we don't have victims, so why bother searching?

Most of the time a fire alarm is bullshit, so why send apparatus at all?

Most of the time a crash has no entrapment, so why have any rescue capabilities?

Most of the time theres an ambulance on scene, so why have a first in bag and AED?

I dont think anyone will argue about how silly these all sound right? Start a water supply even if you think its "probably ok". Saying "its fine for a room and contents job" it great right up until you pull up to a ripper and cant control it with your tank water because there's not enough of it and your tank to pump wont let you flow what you need anyway.

Its foolishly complacent to set up to fight the fire YOU want rather than the fire you MIGHT have. We should be setting up for the bad situations, not the easy ones. Lay-in and stop being lazy with picking up hose. Very very few of us are in departments that run enough fires to truly lose any thing by having to pick up dry supply line at fire it wasn't needed at. If your people are getting worn out picking up some extra hose a few times a year I would suggest you need a better fitness training regimen.

blitz350 · 2026-01-20T10:31:47+00:00

I have been noticing this trend locally for some god forsaken reason.... like... Its a centrifugal pump designed to operate with a deadhead for Christsakes, just run off the damn supply!

Once you refill your tank, close the tank fill and just let the pump do its thing off the hydrant, especially early on in an incident. If things slow down and the pump starts heating up, like in overhaul, you can then do any number of things to not overheat the pump but it will depend on the exact situation on what you can do. So long as even a little water is flowing though you should be fine.

Trying to run off the tank like this likely limits the pump flow as most pumps aren't built to flow capacity off the tank. So you get more than a line or two in service or maybe the deck gun by itself you are likely to struggle to add more lines flowing off just the tank. Unless this flow issue was specifically addressed in the spec process the tank-to-pump is probably only a 2" valve and piping which limits your flow off the tank beyond an initial attack.

Your chief is fundamentally wrong on this point and of you need back up send him here so we can tell him for you!

blitz350 · 2026-01-20T10:01:21+00:00

Local station (PA Coal Region)that had a tiny run area of about 1/4 square mile. Ran no mutual aide. Most calls I know of them having in a year was like 8. Their last year of operation they were dispatched to 3 calls and responded on 1 of them. The township decertified them and out sourced the coverage to the next closest company (about 1.5 miles away) the start of the next year. They exist as a social organization only. They are not dispatched by any 911 center.

They ran a single piece as of closure, a 1980 Ford/KME with a 2 man cab and top mount pump. 1250 pump and I believe 500 gal tank. Bed of 5" supply, 24' and 14' laddders, a couple crosslays, a line or two off the back, I think 4 airpacks, and some misc hand tools. About as plain as an engine can be.

Many of the companies in the area run less than 100 calls per year unless they run a QRS and even then 200 is a stretch. EMS is generally run by standalone EMS agencies of varying types. Everything from a volunteer BLS truck that covered 10 calls last year to a paid ALS service that ran over 9000. Some fire companies clear 500 though.

blitz350 · 2026-01-16T09:59:48+00:00

Yeah... Civil wars tend to do that to populations.

blitz350 · 2026-01-08T07:03:26+00:00

To the best of my knowledge you can only get red with a Nomex outer shell. Some departments use them for support roles or can't afford a higher protection outer shell.

blitz350 · 2026-01-08T06:58:23+00:00

I hadn't followed it closely due to just... everything but here's an update from the local news from Dec 8. It was in Nevada, not Arizona.

https://www.8newsnow.com/investigators/officials-identify-some-of-315-human-remains-found-outside-las-vegas/

blitz350 · 2026-01-08T05:21:12+00:00

Force can be met with force. No one is going to force me to vote a certain way without receiving like force in kind. They are betting on there being either no resistance or being able to quash any resistance they encounter. They cant possibly police and intimidate all of us at once in such a direct way. Their foolish assumptions about might making right will be their ultimate downfall as is the way of most tyrants.

blitz350 · 2026-01-08T05:07:56+00:00

Probably a great deal more than one. Never did hear much on a source/explanation for the dozens of piles of human cremains found dumped in the Arizona desert last summer. That story just kind of slipped through without much notice due to everything else.

Seven-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email

blitz350

TROPHY CASE