Firefighting & Rescue Social / Professional Network
-
Paul
- Male
- chicago,il
- United States
- Share/Send to Friends & Co-Workers
- Featured Blog Posts
- Discussions (26)
- Featured Events
- Featured Groups (6)
- Firefighting Photos, Fire Photos, Rescue Photos & Fire Photography (21)
- Photo Albums
- Firefighter Videos, EMS Videos, Firefighting Videos (1)
Music
Paul's Groups
-
Pennsylvania Firefighters
527 members
-
The Traveling Fire Helmet
40 members
-
The Firehouse
45 members
-
Firefightin Paintballers
182 members
-
Training Ideas
925 members
Paul's Discussions
Nicknames on helmets..
Replied 1 day ago
Would you?
Replied 1 day ago
Paul's Page
Latest Nation Member Activity
This is a bit of a sore spot with me. I do understand that the good old days of the fire service are fading away. Some of those “old habits” are better gone. One for example is drinking in the firehouse. Granted a cold one would be nice after a fi...
we shave our heads for charity.. hell yeah i would wear it.
Profile Information
- Hometown:
- Chicago
- I Live: (City, State)
- Chicago,Il
- Years in Fire/EMS:
- 12
- Why I Joined the Fire/EMS:
- KInda fell into it. Dad was a firefighter. Started in EMS then got hired part time in the burbs. Got My fire certifcation. Worked full time for a couple of years as a FF/Medic in the suburbs until i made it to Chicago. I still work with a great bunch of people in a POC department.
- Primary Fire/EMS Department:
- Chicago
- Department Type:
- Fire/Rescue Department - Paid
- Rank/Role There:
- Firefighter / Paramedic (or Other ALS)
- Years With This Department/Agency
- 5
- Second Department (if appl.)
- Summit
- 2nd Department Type:
- Fire/Rescue Department - Volunteer, Combination Fire Rescue Department
- Rank/Role at Second Department:
- Safety Officer, Lieutenant, Firefighter / Paramedic (or Other ALS), Hazardous Materials Team Member, Driver / Engineer
- Years With Second Department/Agency
- 11
- Other Past or Current Departments:
- Both departments are great. I work with good dedicated people. I consider myself lucky to be surrounded by the people I work with. Like talking about my mistakes so other will learn. I worked on both sides of the fence as a contract FF/medic, Part time and Full time in the burbs all well as Chicago.
- My Training:
- Like to drill. FF II, EMT-P/ FAE/ Haz Mat Tech- A
- About Me:
- I Enjoy the fire service. Some times I look at the firehouse while I'm at work at cant believe a job like this exists. I like both sides of the floor, Fire and EMS. I dont think we are heroes. I believe that other people benefit from the fact that we get to do what we love.
- Day Job:
- avoiding people that annoy me
- Side Jobs or Other Organizations:
- Carpenter
- Top Issues Facing Responders:
- Staffing and training
- I Love Being in Fire/EMS Because:
- Its f**king great.
Paul's Photos
Comment Wall (42 comments)
- At 10:58am on November 2, 2009,
Jeff Gaudio said…
- I forgot to tell you, I just started a profile facebook lastnight. So now I have a myspace and facebook.
- At 10:49am on November 2, 2009,
Jeff Gaudio said…
- I understand how the tunnel vision takes over. We had a building fire and nobody checked the unit below the apt that was on fire. I walked past and wondered why smoke was so strong below where they were doing overhaul. It was an arson fire but looked like it was started by kids.
Then my buddy was telling me how his company had an attic fire. Exactly like what you said, they didn't notice until later was that it was a basement fire and spread to the attic.
I stand corrected, the one guy who was flown to the burn center is going to be off from the department for a while but they say he's okay.
Ya things can get bad very fast. I've learned from my own experiences over time. It's hard to tell who or how many we will get on a truck for fires. The scary thing is that so many either lack training or don't go in for interior jobs. So if something happened here where a crew had to go inside, I hope the RIT crew that's assigned to respond knows their stuff because they're all we have to run inside for a MayDay.
Stay Safe bro!
talk to ya later.
- At 2:47am on November 1, 2009,
Jeff Gaudio said…
- Hey it's cool I understand. Good to hear back from you.
Nobody knows what really happened. They responded to a working fire on the 2nd floor of a house. They entered through the first floor where they said there wasn't even much smoke. They knocked the fire down, reported fire out, checking for extention. All of a sudden they called a MAYDAY and bailed out of the 2nd story window because the first floor went to shit and burned through their line.
I know what it's like being slow on the fire calls. But everybody says it's the calm before the storm. Well I don't know about that but when the big one hits, I hope I'm able to go. haha
Well I finish up at 8A.M. so I think I'm gonna gatch up on some rest.
Keep intouch bro.
stay Safe & I'll talk to ya later.
Jeff
- At 7:24pm on October 31, 2009,
Jeff Gaudio said…
- Hey whats up man. Havn't talked to you for a while...hope everything is goin good.
Stay Safe bro.
Jeff
- At 9:47am on September 23, 2009,
Jeff Gaudio said…
- Hey Paul how are ya? All is good here. A couple of my friends had a close call the other day. 1st floor flashed, burned through their line and trapped them on the 2nd floor of a residential family dwelling. My one friend had to jump out of the window but he's okay...landed in some garbage on the ground. They went up to the second floor after they got a ladder to the window and found the asst chief who got burned up a little bit. They pushed him out of the window and got him down the ladder head first. He got flown to West Penn Burn unit in Pittsburgh, he didn't have his hood on and got his hand burned when he took his glove off to activate his emergency alarm on his portable radio.
They are with the department that I was thinking about transferring to.
Anyway, just saying hi. Stay safe, small simple fires can really turn unexpectedly.
keep intouch buddy.
Jeff
- At 9:29pm on August 27, 2009,
Jeff Gaudio said…
- Hey whats up, how's everything going?
I decided to stay where I'm at and I'm not going to transfer out. My brother is thinking about buying property in Pittsburgh to rent out so if he does, I will have a Pittsburgh address and then I can test for the city. City regulations forbid out of city residents to apply. That really sucks.
Encore has been playing Backdraft and I saw a Encore extra that showed some of the scenes where the movie took place. Is that fire station that portrayed station 17 still open? I think it used to be station 65 but when I talked to Chief Stanley Span, he said that the station was shut down. Do you know if it's open and what station number it is?
- At 9:41am on August 19, 2009,
Jeff Gaudio said…
- You have a good point. Things change and all good things come to an end. It bothers me to see how my department has changed. Everybody that was there when I joined quit, except for a few guys. The department I'm thinking about joining has a tight group of guys and I'm closer to them than the guys in my own dept but like you said, that can change. I am probably better off staying where I'm at, atleast for now. We're all volunteer so either decision won't make any impact on my income.
- At 11:05am on August 14, 2009,
Jeff Gaudio said…
- I'm thinking about changing fire departments but I've loved the one I'm with now. It's close, I always make first truck out, I'm 2nd Captain and have over 9 years in there. But I'm starting to feel miserable there. The downfall is that if I join the department I'm thinking about going to, I would have to always keep my gear with me and respond directly to the scene in my truck. But I would run more calls & have more friends there. How do I know which decision is the right one?
- At 6:43pm on August 9, 2009,
Jeff Gaudio said…
- How do you become an officer? Do you have to put in so many years before you take the exam? Do you have to be a Lt. before you move up to another title?
- At 1:23pm on August 6, 2009,
Jeff Gaudio said…
- The pants make it tough to crawl around but I thaught you guys wolud love full turnout gear compared to what you had. I actually have an old chicago fire coat I got from ebay. I've always wanted one; I have a room dedicated for my fire dept collections and ya I do have the Code 3 Backdraft set too.
I work full-time on the ambulance. The EMS out here is seperate from the fire departments but fire depts do run AED calls. Most fire departments here are volunteer. We drive to the station, gear up and respond on the truck but some departments have their guys keep their gear with em & go directly to the scene.
I love being a firefighter. I would usually get the nozzle but since I got captain, I have to be the back up guy on the line so I can observe the conditions while the reg ff is on the nozzle.
Hows that work in Chicago? Is there SOGs on which particular ff gets the nozzle and who is the back up guy?
© 2009 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief, an Elsevier Public Safety & Go Forward Media, LLC Product - Partners: JEMS Connect - FireRescue - JEMS
• Contact Us: Report an Issue, Inquire About Advertising & Partnerships
This site is intended for use by current and former fire, rescue & EMS professionals. Non emergency service personnel may be subject to review and removal. Using this site inappropriately to spam/advertise or solicit members in any way will result in account termination. Commercial companies may have profiles, but blogs, forums, videos and photos may not be used for self-promotion.
Badges | Contact Firefighter Nation | Privacy | Terms of Service
