FIRE SCHOOL: A CLASS IN BROTHERHOOD

I spent this past weekend in Grand Island for the Annual Fire School put on by the Nebraska State Volunteer Firefighter Association (NSVFA). I am a relative newbie to my fire department so they sent me with two others “newbies” from the department for the Intro to Fire Fighting Class.

Going through that class we had to wear our SCBA (Self-Controlled Breathing Apparatuses) with our bunker gear for about an hour and a half while doing push-ups, jumping jacks and some light running. Then the instructors blinded us by putting saran wrap over our masks so we couldn’t see.

After standing around with a light feeling of claustrophobia with sweat dripping down my face we were led to a maze in which we had to crawl on our knees doing a search and rescue with our partner. After finding the two “bodies” we had to physically drag our partner 10 feet to the finish line.

There was no playing around. The instructors were great, but there was a aura of sobriety that surrounded the entire weekend. We were told many times that if you screw up during an actual fire, you could die.

They were saying this to a couple hundred volunteers.

Men and women who take time away from their families to go to department business and training meetings in order to be competent enough not to make the big mistake. They aren’t professionals, but they take being a volunteer firefighter seriously.

Reflecting on the weekend, I wonder what people who live in cities with professional fire departments would think of if you asked them to picture a volunteer fire department. I’m sure some of those pictures would be based off of some uniformed assumptions.

Instead try and picture men and women who spend an entire weekend going to classes like Fire Investigations, CSI, Basic Pump Operations, Building Construction, Basic Vehicle Extrication and Grain Engulfment Rescue. There is nothing enticing about sitting in these classes. But they are willing to do it.

We stayed at a hotel with a bar both Friday and Saturday nights. The bar was filled with volunteer fire fighters from all over the state. From where I was sitting I heard conversations ranging from equipment and funding issues to chemistry and fire behavior.

That isn’t to say that people weren’t having fun and blowing off steam at the bar. But everybody was doing it together because they were all there for the same reason.

The weekend reinforced my feeling of a brotherhood among first-responders. It reminded me of a grass fire we had in our district a little over a year ago and it started out small. Unfortunately the wind was blowing. It didn’t take long before the fire jumped two roads and stretched out a couple miles.

I remember seeing how quickly the fire spread and immediately thought that there was no way we could get this contained. But it happened.

Over the course of the following hours it was apparent that every volunteer fire department within 40 miles responded to help us with the fire.

That’s pretty cool.

So the next time your local volunteer fire department has a pancake feed to raise money for the department, I suggest showing up and chowing down on some pancakes.

Peremptory Angry Comment Note: This is to take nothing away from professional fire fighters. They earn every ounce of respect they get. This was just a reflection of a weekend at fire school.

#WINNING

Richie Incognito Place on Psychiatric Hold: Gym Altercation, Cops Called

Things are not going well for the former Husker. I hope he gets the help he needs.

NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES

Michael Rotondo, 30-year-old New York man being evicted by his parents, explains why he has no job

He added that he had been “working here and there, doing things, but mostly being a father.”

That is despite the fact that he has lost visitation rights to meet with the child.

Huskers Sports

5 players that give ‘Canes fans nightmares

A former husker made this list. Which one do you think it is?

Fischer, Wallace Named PGF Regional All-Americans

Infielder Carson Fischer and pitcher/infielder Courtney Wallace, who will both be freshmen on the Nebraska softball team in the fall, have been named Regional All-Americans by Premier Girls Fastpitch.

Husker Football schedule news could come “soon,” a look ahead at Nebraska’s future opponents

Nebraska Football likes to make its non-conference schedule many years in advance.

Mark your calendars – the Huskers travel to Tuscon to play Arizona on Sept. 13, 2031.

NCAA releases Academic Progress Rate for Nebraska sports programs

The NCAA released its most recent Academic Progress Rates for various sports programs at Nebraska. The Huskers’ women’s rifle and tennis teams scored a perfect 1,000 for the 2016-17 academic year.

Non-Huskers Sports News

LeBron James’ NBA story can’t be told without these 13 moments

I’ve been a Lebron James apologist for 15 years and there are several moments in this article I didn’t know about.

Permission for optimism: The Caps take on D.C.’s pain

“Being a D.C. sports fan is like constantly trying to catch a bus that’s going two or three miles per hour faster than you can run. You can see it. It’s right there. It’s tantalizingly close. But you feel like you’re never, ever going to get it. We’ve seen it so many times. And every time, you wonder how it’s going to reach through the numbness of being a D.C. sports fan, and still hurt me,” Johnson told ESPN this week.

News Outside of the Sports World

Meet the Man Who Has Lived Alone on This Island for 28 Years

Seventy-eight-year-old Mauro Morandi often walks along the rocky shores of Budelli Island and looks out over the disconsolate sea, feeling dwarfed by the phantom forces that tug and twist the tides.

“We think we are giants that can dominate the Earth, but we’re just mosquitos,” Morandi says.

Every Star Wars Movie, Ranked

Everybody is entitled to their own opinions. That fact doesn’t change the following fact: This list is a horse manure.

My personal rankings are as follows:

1. A New Hope
2. Return of the Jedi
3. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
4. Empire Strikes Back
5. The Force Awakens
6. The Last Jedi
7. Solo: A Star Wars Story (There is no way this could be worse than episodes 1-3 right?)
8. Revenge of the Sith
9. Attack of the Clones
10. The Phantom Menace.

No amount of alcohol, sausage or bacon is safe according to cancer experts

Maybe all the experts should get together and figure out why they disagree with each other. I’m generally thinking “all things in moderation” is a good rule but these experts disagree.

Then There’s This:

Have a good weekend ya’ll.