Firefighting & Rescue Social / Professional Network
Ghosts in Firehouses?
OK, so I wasn`t sure where to post this topic. I figure the Non Duty Forum would be the best place yet my experiances have been on duty. If you have read any of my posts before, you`ll know that I`m a tad bit "off". That may answer a lot..... I won`t name the Fire Departments where my "contacts" have taken place. I`ll just use our company`s "System Status designator" name.
I work of the area`s ALS provider. We cover several counties in Michigan. We follow a system status protocol. We post at various fire stations within our coverage area. All the stations are volunteer. The stations vary in age from 10 years to well over 100 years in service. Some stations are within villiage limits and others are out in the "boonies".
One day during a class break, my bud John and I were BS`ing about ghosts at the various stations. Station 3 has one that stands in a corner near the TV. At station 2, the ghost seems to just appear anywhere in the tiny crew`s quarters. At station 24, the ghosts seems to like to hang out in the classroom area. That guy smokes a pipe, so I`m very fond of him. John explained how he encountered the ghost at station 3. Just a pale image of a person standing next to the wall. Station 3 is a beautiful old house. It has been in service since 1886 if my memory serves me right. The crew quarters now is in the back of what used to be the apparatus floor, maybe even in the barn area. 3`s is a classic firehouse. 3 story brick building within the villiage limits. Wonderful hose/bell tower still intact. The bell has recently been taken down from the tower. The chief has had a LOT of restoration work done on the exterior of the building. The bell is now on the floor of the newer part of the station and is being restored by dept members.
I have been working in the county where station 3 is located off and on for 2 years. My matrix is now in that particular county. I work there nights 4 nights a week. In the last couple weeks, when I get home from my shift, I noticed that my nametag was upside down on my uniform shirt. I thought that somewhat odd since I put the nametag on the shirt while it is on a hanger, after I iron it just before my shift. Our nametags are plastic with 2 straight pins that are held on with those round spring loaded backers. I figured that maybe in a hurry to get ready for work, I may have hung them upside down. Nobody had told me about the tag being upside down. We usually josh each other about uniform condition anyhow. So, last Friday night, I was at station 3. It was dead slow, which is crazy for station 3 on a Friday. The usual Friday "up north" traffic along I-127 always gives us a good MVC. Not this night. I read for a few hours, BS`d on my FaceBook a while and cleaned the back of the truck. Around 4 ish I decided to catch a nap. Something woke me up at around 4:30, I sat up and could feel something touching my chest. I looked down at my nametag, sure as shit, it was turning around almost in place to be upside down. I said aloud..."hey, what are you doing?" By now I`m standing up, in front of my face, I see the round backer clip floating. Just floating in front of my face. It slowly moved over the coffee table then dropped as if let go by someone`s hand. It fell to the table. Realizing what had just happened, I started laughing and said aloud..."you lil shit, it`s you that`s been doing that". I didn`t get a reply but I could feel a bit of that leftover humor you feel after a good laugh. This ghost has been known to change the TV channels or raise the volume up or down on the TV. He`s quite a character as I now see.
My experiance at station 24 isn`t as outward as the one at station 3. Station 24 is a rural firehouse. Maybe 20 year old building. It`s a very up to date, very "professional" volunteer department. When I have worked at 24, it`s usually at night. I take a book and sit in the huge classroom so I don`t bug my partners, who are usually trying to catch a nap as they watch TV. I`m a smoker. At station 24, we`re allowed to smoke out in the back of the apparatus floor. While I sit in the classroom and read, every once and a while I`d notice pipe smoke. A faint hint of an arromatic would pass by my nose, as if to say."smoke break". I`d laught to myself and say aloud..."sure, let`s go smoke"......If I`m there reading for more than a few hours, the "smoke breaker" would hit me about every hour or so. I was curious, so I walked around the classroom. Looking for a possible source to the pipe smoke. No AC units or heaters were on. No forgotten piper`s smoke bag left in the classroom.
At station 2 I only saw a "ghost" one time. I was asleep in the middle of the night. I woke up to see someone standing next to my chair. It was August and that station is usually very hot, even with the AC cranking. I woke up because I got really REALLY cold. When I woke up, this thing was standing there next to the lazyboy. I yelled."get the F outa here!".......I heard a low sigh type growl as this thing faded away. Now, I`m not sure if that was real of a dream. We had watched Escanaba In The Moonlight the night before. maybe I was just dreaming about the "buck fever" ghosts??.....lol.....
As John and I talked about our "sightings", a coworker and fellow classmate was listening in on the conversation. Mel said.......guys, you`re just doing that to scare me. I hate ghosts......We said, hell no, they scare us too.
So, imagine our delight that night. Mel was posted down to station 2. At about sundown her medic gets on the radio and asks MedCom if they can post at station 1. "My partner wants to see more action, she`s bored down here"......She wanted to get away from the ghosts John and I had planted in her head. She now works at station 24, 5 nights a week. I slipped and was telling another coworker about the ghost at 24 when Mel was within earshot. It worked.......Her partner, a pipe smoker, has been waking in the middle of the night. He`s lit a bowl in the classroom then put it out fast and gone back to "sleep". She wakes up and walks around turning all the lights on. Her partner said he`s going to give her a month of that then wake up screaming in the middle of the night, running to the truck yelling.."I`m not going back in there!!!!"........
Are we wrong for doing this?
Are these ghosts real?
Tell me about what you`ve experianced with "ghosts" in firehouses. My experiances have all been fun for sure.
Aside from ghosts at firehouses. I have had the wonderful pleasure of actually having contact with my grandfather. He passed when I was 14. I`m not crazy either, lol, my cousin has had similar contact with gramps. He was a warped mind alive, fun and full of life. He`s still that way long after he`s gone from here. I remember him taking us to his gravesite for picnics before he was even ill. Long before he died. He`d say...."I want you to know where I`ll be when I`m planted, so you visit". Even though it`s 180 miles from where I live now. When I`m in Toledo, I still go visit him. I walk up and start laughing, smiling all the while. Remembering those picnics right where I`m standing. With him, grandma and my cousins.
OK, talk to me. What "contacts" have you had?
Don`t take life too serious. Live , love, smile and laugh. It beats the hell out of crying!
I work of the area`s ALS provider. We cover several counties in Michigan. We follow a system status protocol. We post at various fire stations within our coverage area. All the stations are volunteer. The stations vary in age from 10 years to well over 100 years in service. Some stations are within villiage limits and others are out in the "boonies".
One day during a class break, my bud John and I were BS`ing about ghosts at the various stations. Station 3 has one that stands in a corner near the TV. At station 2, the ghost seems to just appear anywhere in the tiny crew`s quarters. At station 24, the ghosts seems to like to hang out in the classroom area. That guy smokes a pipe, so I`m very fond of him. John explained how he encountered the ghost at station 3. Just a pale image of a person standing next to the wall. Station 3 is a beautiful old house. It has been in service since 1886 if my memory serves me right. The crew quarters now is in the back of what used to be the apparatus floor, maybe even in the barn area. 3`s is a classic firehouse. 3 story brick building within the villiage limits. Wonderful hose/bell tower still intact. The bell has recently been taken down from the tower. The chief has had a LOT of restoration work done on the exterior of the building. The bell is now on the floor of the newer part of the station and is being restored by dept members.
I have been working in the county where station 3 is located off and on for 2 years. My matrix is now in that particular county. I work there nights 4 nights a week. In the last couple weeks, when I get home from my shift, I noticed that my nametag was upside down on my uniform shirt. I thought that somewhat odd since I put the nametag on the shirt while it is on a hanger, after I iron it just before my shift. Our nametags are plastic with 2 straight pins that are held on with those round spring loaded backers. I figured that maybe in a hurry to get ready for work, I may have hung them upside down. Nobody had told me about the tag being upside down. We usually josh each other about uniform condition anyhow. So, last Friday night, I was at station 3. It was dead slow, which is crazy for station 3 on a Friday. The usual Friday "up north" traffic along I-127 always gives us a good MVC. Not this night. I read for a few hours, BS`d on my FaceBook a while and cleaned the back of the truck. Around 4 ish I decided to catch a nap. Something woke me up at around 4:30, I sat up and could feel something touching my chest. I looked down at my nametag, sure as shit, it was turning around almost in place to be upside down. I said aloud..."hey, what are you doing?" By now I`m standing up, in front of my face, I see the round backer clip floating. Just floating in front of my face. It slowly moved over the coffee table then dropped as if let go by someone`s hand. It fell to the table. Realizing what had just happened, I started laughing and said aloud..."you lil shit, it`s you that`s been doing that". I didn`t get a reply but I could feel a bit of that leftover humor you feel after a good laugh. This ghost has been known to change the TV channels or raise the volume up or down on the TV. He`s quite a character as I now see.
My experiance at station 24 isn`t as outward as the one at station 3. Station 24 is a rural firehouse. Maybe 20 year old building. It`s a very up to date, very "professional" volunteer department. When I have worked at 24, it`s usually at night. I take a book and sit in the huge classroom so I don`t bug my partners, who are usually trying to catch a nap as they watch TV. I`m a smoker. At station 24, we`re allowed to smoke out in the back of the apparatus floor. While I sit in the classroom and read, every once and a while I`d notice pipe smoke. A faint hint of an arromatic would pass by my nose, as if to say."smoke break". I`d laught to myself and say aloud..."sure, let`s go smoke"......If I`m there reading for more than a few hours, the "smoke breaker" would hit me about every hour or so. I was curious, so I walked around the classroom. Looking for a possible source to the pipe smoke. No AC units or heaters were on. No forgotten piper`s smoke bag left in the classroom.
At station 2 I only saw a "ghost" one time. I was asleep in the middle of the night. I woke up to see someone standing next to my chair. It was August and that station is usually very hot, even with the AC cranking. I woke up because I got really REALLY cold. When I woke up, this thing was standing there next to the lazyboy. I yelled."get the F outa here!".......I heard a low sigh type growl as this thing faded away. Now, I`m not sure if that was real of a dream. We had watched Escanaba In The Moonlight the night before. maybe I was just dreaming about the "buck fever" ghosts??.....lol.....
As John and I talked about our "sightings", a coworker and fellow classmate was listening in on the conversation. Mel said.......guys, you`re just doing that to scare me. I hate ghosts......We said, hell no, they scare us too.
So, imagine our delight that night. Mel was posted down to station 2. At about sundown her medic gets on the radio and asks MedCom if they can post at station 1. "My partner wants to see more action, she`s bored down here"......She wanted to get away from the ghosts John and I had planted in her head. She now works at station 24, 5 nights a week. I slipped and was telling another coworker about the ghost at 24 when Mel was within earshot. It worked.......Her partner, a pipe smoker, has been waking in the middle of the night. He`s lit a bowl in the classroom then put it out fast and gone back to "sleep". She wakes up and walks around turning all the lights on. Her partner said he`s going to give her a month of that then wake up screaming in the middle of the night, running to the truck yelling.."I`m not going back in there!!!!"........
Are we wrong for doing this?
Are these ghosts real?
Tell me about what you`ve experianced with "ghosts" in firehouses. My experiances have all been fun for sure.
Aside from ghosts at firehouses. I have had the wonderful pleasure of actually having contact with my grandfather. He passed when I was 14. I`m not crazy either, lol, my cousin has had similar contact with gramps. He was a warped mind alive, fun and full of life. He`s still that way long after he`s gone from here. I remember him taking us to his gravesite for picnics before he was even ill. Long before he died. He`d say...."I want you to know where I`ll be when I`m planted, so you visit". Even though it`s 180 miles from where I live now. When I`m in Toledo, I still go visit him. I walk up and start laughing, smiling all the while. Remembering those picnics right where I`m standing. With him, grandma and my cousins.
OK, talk to me. What "contacts" have you had?
Don`t take life too serious. Live , love, smile and laugh. It beats the hell out of crying!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on -
Are we wrong for doing this?
Heck no, I would take advantage of such a situation too.
Are these ghosts real?
Not sure...you are in emergency services after all, you have to be a bit goofy. However, this definately sounds interesting. Have you ever thought about contacting one of those paranormal type of groups to do an investigation? Call me a geek if you want, but I like such stories and stuff and do like "Ghost Hunters" on syfy. Thing I like about their investigations is they look to debunk stuff, if such stuff is going on, it would make for an interesting investigation.
Tell me about what you`ve experianced with "ghosts" in firehouses. My experiances have all been fun for sure.
Haven't experienced any. Although it is easy to work oneself up and instill panic (such as Mel here) without anything going on. Just planting the seed that something is going on could be enough, kind of like camping and walking in the woods after hearing a great ghost story, or after watching a horror flick and walking into a dark room, it is easy for the mind to play tricks. Although, if such stuff is going on, that would be neat to witness and try and figure it out. Then again you stated you just did watch "Escanaba in da Moonlight" so, you can't be completely sane, right? :-D
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Permalink Reply by Ralph L. Carr IV on -
John,
So true. Jeff Daniels is a Michigan ICON!!! I love the man for his work, his beliefs and what he stands for.
You know. I never was a fan of those "paranormal" shows. To me it seems a bit of a "hype", to get folks interested in the show itself. I have read a lot about hauntings in lighthouses and places all over Michigan. I do love those stories, just not the TV shows about "this and that". It might be interesting to find out IF anything is actually going on that these houses. Then again, the chief`s and the "residents" of these houses may not be too thrilled by all of the commotion.
I`ll just let my passed on brothers do their thing. Smile and play along with them. It`s funny as hell though. To be sitting on the "pot" at 3 am at station 24 and some"thing" turning the lights out on you....lol....I had forgotten that one. Yep, like you may have figured, the light switch is across the room, away from the stahl. Nothing has fallen onto the switch.........
Station 3 used to be manned 24/7. Back in the day before phones and alarms. They sat on "watch" in the tower, looking over the villiage. We think WE get bored with what is on TV at 4 AM, imagine that life. Standing watch on top of the tower....waiting to see fire. I am sure there was the banter and praticle jokes that we do every day to our brothers and sisters.
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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You know. I never was a fan of those "paranormal" shows. To me it seems a bit of a "hype", to get folks interested in the show itself. I have read a lot about hauntings in lighthouses and places all over Michigan. I do love those stories, just not the TV shows about "this and that". It might be interesting to find out IF anything is actually going on that these houses. Then again, the chief`s and the "residents" of these houses may not be too thrilled by all of the commotion.
Yeah, I used to watch several of those types of shows, especially during this time of year, I find the stuff fascinating. However, for such "paranormal" shows, I do agree with you there and that is why I liked the "Ghost Hunters". I got sick of the shows with mediums and sensationalism, I liked how the "Ghost Hunters' make a scientific approach and debunk more things than prove, their pretty straightforward. I could see about the commotion stuff, but hey check out one of the GH shows, that would be the type of investigation I would want.
As for the books and stuff, I agree, WI also has many haunted places and have some interesting reads. I live close by to some places mentioned, like a bar, woods, etc, but never experienced anything there personally. Well maybe the bar, but then again alcohol was involved and I was more interested in the "scenery" than the ghosts.
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Permalink Reply by Ralph L. Carr IV on
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LOL.................maybe we just have too much time on our hands? Maybe I do?.....I hope my supervisor doesn`t read the thread. He may have more "work" cut out for me on those quiet nights.....LOL....
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Permalink Reply by Ralph L. Carr IV on
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She seems playful? Maybe she`s someone that FF`s helped or tried to help. She could be visiting them to thank them or maybe just a ghost that wants to play?
I`m sure our PA brothers and sisters will have "ghosts stories". My mom is from PA and I remember visiting those little backwoods towns. They ALL have at least 1 ghost story. The bride along the tracks, the lost miner, the bootlegger gone missing........
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Permalink Reply by FETC on -
Contacts: Are they real? Do they exist? That to be answered by the beholder I guess.
I work out of an real old station. Built in 1885, seen it's share of stories. Started in the hand tub, horse drawn days. We have guys around here that refuse to go into the basement, (we still have a full basement under the apparatus) and they swear they hear and see things... ghosts
Now, are they real? Not sure... I am not a believer I guess. I do know that in the same bedroom I am assigned we had a brother die in his sleep from probably a CO exposure many many moons ago.
I do know this for sure... I haven't seen him in my room, or talked to me either... probably because the damn call bell keeps him scared off now-a-days. I believe he worked when they did 100 calls (fire only) :)
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Permalink Reply by Jim on -
Nothing no where near even remotely dramatic, but over the years in my dept, there have been several sightings by members at one particular station of some sort of dark apparition in the dormitory always in the night. A couple have reported, not the typical coolness associated with these types of "sightings", but rather a warm air feeling. Most all of the reports have consistently said that the apparition has been seen usually at the foot of the Captain's bed. A few have reported awakening and seeing "it" at the foot of other beds, but usually the Captain's bed, the first bed on the right of the dorm or the last on the right of the dorm.
I saw it twice while assigned to this station and saw it move once towards the first bed on the right before disappearing. Another night, "something" awoke me and I saw it at the foot of the Captain's bed and we seemed to have a "stare off" before I made a move to get out of the bed--in which it simply disappeared into thin air..
It was without defining facial shapes or features. Just seemingly a human type shape cloaked in black.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on -
Yeah we have ghosts. Tools go missing, things get broken, dents and scratches appear on the engine. No one has any idea how these happen. We call the ghost, "notme".
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Permalink Reply by Chief Mike France on -
Jack i got those too but i callem "it wasn't me"
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Permalink Reply by Ralph L. Carr IV on
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Jack.........lol......In that case, our ambulances ALL have ghosts. The ghost of...."last lazy shift".....sigh....
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Permalink Reply by Chief Mike France on
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You know i got one for you , not so much in the firehouse but when i first became the chief , on my first call i kept having this weird feeling that someone was watching me , and i could not place it but a familier smell of cig. no one was behind me or even around , and i had a few months before buried my Former chief and was the smell that was around him all the time. it was weird his son had been my chief uptill he resigned and i took over. it never happened again. The day i was promoted by the board to acting chief i was stressed and my father had passed that prior month , and i went home very upset and it was just like someone put their hand on me to clam me down , thats what he would do. it's all very weird.
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