The Library Vault

By: Librarian Briana G

I pulled into the parking lot at KidCity right before 7:30 a.m. My ride-along was about to begin in a few minutes, so I quickly made my way down Main Street to the Middletown Fire Department’s headquarters. This is my second time doing a ride-along with the MFD, but this time it was with a whole new station and platoon. I was a little nervous but super excited to start my day.

Before I go any further, hello readers! My name is Briana and I’m a librarian and the Head of Circulation at the Russell Library. Some of you may remember my blog post from last year about my ride-along with the firefighters at the Cross Street Fire Station. Lucky for me, I was able to go on another one with the firefighters at the Main Street Station. Through the Middletown Rotary Club, I bid on a ride-along during a live auction for charity once again and won (no one was topping my bid!) I worked with Deputy Marshal Lespier who got everything all set up for me to hang with the guys for the day in early October!

Ok, back to business.

While their shift starts at 7:30 a.m., many of the guys actually get to the station much earlier to begin their day. The day begins with checking the engines and making sure everything is working as it should. All the engines are pulled out of the garage and then checked. While they were out, the guys mopped the floors. I kicked back and watched.

I shadowed one of the station’s newer firefighters throughout the day. He began with showing me all of the different compartments on the engines once they were pulled out of the garage. On certain days, certain things are checked in a specific way, like looking through the medical bags specific times of the week to make sure there is an adequate supply of everything needed. Another thing that was done was taking all the chainsaws out and letting them run. It would not be good if those failed to work on a call, so it’s important to check. The firefighter also showed me the jaws of life and how those operate. I’ll talk more about my time using them later! They’re HEAVY!

The guys leave their gear that they wear to calls that involve a fire/fire alarms right by the door of the engines so they can quickly pull everything on and hop in. The Academy trains new firefighters to put their gear on extremely quickly. It took me more than just a few minutes to put my gear on later on in the day, so I can’t imagine doing so in two minutes or less.

Once the morning chores were completed, everyone enjoyed a nice breakfast and caught up with one another. I really liked that everyone ate together because so many of us don’t have that kind of opportunity where we work. We have a staff room at the library where staff congregate to get coffee, have their lunch, and chit chat, but you can’t fit the entire staff inside. I liked the way the kitchen was set up at the station to be very family style with one big table, chairs, and other kitchen appliances. Very chill vibes on a quiet morning. There is a TV monitor that shows all the calls to not just Engine 1, but all engines and trucks across the city.

While we all waited for a call, one of the firefighters spoke with me about his career as a firefighter and specifically his role on the Dive Team. Let me tell you, it is not as easy as you might think. You’re diving in fast moving murky water trying to rescue someone. It’s pretty intense stuff and it’s not for everyone, but it’s a really cool team to be a part of. He also showed me a binder he put together over his time at MFD which is filled with maps and important information to refer to on the job. I had a really great conversation with him. I really appreciated him, and the rest of the platoon, for taking the time to talk with me and answer my questions.

I was told lunch time is typically when calls start to roll in and that’s one hundred percent accurate. I got myself a yummy fruit smoothie at ION and remembered my wallet this time (see my last ride-along post) and as soon as I got back to the station and everyone started eating, we got our first call! I went on a total of three calls that day. Two of them were medical calls and one was a fire alarm. Medical calls are the most common calls the fire department responds to.

I rode around on Engine 1, which is one of the red engines you’ll see pretty often on Main Street and around Middletown. The guys all have an app downloaded on their phone which tells them when they get a call and they refer to it for information about the call they’re responding to from dispatch. It was fun riding around and seeing the city in a new way (much higher up in the air than I’m used to in my own car). Those sirens are super loud and people STILL take their sweet time moving over or just don’t move over at all. I find that incredibly frustrating to watch both when I’m driving in my car and when I was riding in the engine. Just move over however you can and don’t tailgate emergency responders. Rubber necking is also not very demure or mindful, so don’t do it.

I also had the opportunity to do some training with the guys on Engine 1, which was definitely my favorite part of the day. We had the opportunity to take the doors and roof off of a junk car with the jaws of life. Once we arrived at the location where the car was, we all had to suit up in our gear and put on some protective glasses. It was hot and sweaty with all that gear on, let me tell you. Mine was oversized and cozy, which I normally love when it’s not hot outside. I pretended for that hour I was a firefighter (with absolutely no idea about anything besides what I learned earlier in the day, but it’s fine). The purpose of this training was to practice using the jaws of life to help extricate patients trapped in their cars after an accident.

We began by breaking the windows using a punch, which is a tool you press into the glass and then it breaks. You don’t jab at the glass like I did the first time I tried (before I was on camera). I got to try my hand at it again and was successful! Windshield cutters were then used to break the windshield.

Once all the glass from the windows and the windshield were removed, we could begin taking the car doors off. This is when the jaws of life come into play. It takes a lot of power to snap a car door off and it was really cool to not only witness it, but actually do so myself. Take a peek below (if you’re impatient just fast-forward to the end).

Safe to say I need to up my game with strength training because the jaws of life were pretty heavy. One of the firefighters held it for me and I was able to turn the handle on the side to open and close them. I tried to imagine two or three firefighters using these to free trapped, potentially injured patients ,and it was pretty humbling to say the least. I’ve included below a few of the pictures I took while I watched the guys finish taking off all the car doors, as well as the roof, and pop the back trunk open. I am really glad they took me along for the ride to watch and participate in this training.

At the end of the day, I went to the Cross Street Station and got a quick tour. I learned something pretty cool while I was there looking at the ladder trucks. There is a difference between fire engines and fire trucks. A fire engine has water, while a fire truck has a ladder. Mind blown. I just assumed everything is a truck, but there is a difference. Now I know better! Of course I had to get a picture of me with the firetrucks. One of the guys was gracious enough to indulge me and take a few pictures. This one below is my favorite!

Overall I had a really fun day and was happy I was able to go on three calls and do a training exercise with the firefighters. I’m so lucky and grateful my administration supported me and were happy to have me to go as a representative of the Russell Library. The men and women of the Middletown Fire Department work so hard and I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to see what they do in a way most people don’t have the opportunity to. Thanks again to everyone at headquarters for making me feel welcome and making this all possible. The guys on Platoon 2 and Engine 1 were super cool and are great at their jobs. Y’all can stop by the library any time and say hi (and get a library card)!

I’ll end my blog with this thought: Firefighters are a kind of a big deal, especially when things get hot.