Roanoke City says Goodbye to Another One of Its Own

1952-2009

It is with great sadness that the Roanoke Fire-EMS Dept. announces the passing of Retired BC Billy Obenchain on Wednesday December 23, 2009. BC Obenchain has been battling a long fight against cancer for the past nine years. After 33 years of service in the department, his final assignement was as the Northside Battalion Chief on C-shift, housed in the #2 firehouse in Northeast Roanoke, where he retired in 2006. Funeral arrangements are as follows: Viewing will be held at Vinton Oakeys on December 27 from 1-4 & 6-9. Funeral service will be December 28 at Vinton Baptist Church at 1100 with the graveside service being held at Mountainview Cemetary. If there are any personnel that will not be attending the funeral & can work for anyone that would like to attend the services please contact Capt. Doug Rorrer via e-mail with a number you can be reached at. (below photo courtesy of Mike Overacker & RoanokeFirefighters.com)

House Saved in SE

The middle day for the crew of Engine 6 proved to be an eventful day. The Medic unit stayed busy throughout the day with the Engine catching a few runs as well. All, yes i said ALL of the downtime was spent preparing for upcoming promotional tests. I want to wish the best of luck to all the candidates but especially to three of our very own on A-Shift; Lt. Todd McFall who will be testing for 1st Lieutenant on Wednesday December 9, & FF David Wray & FF/Medic Adam Troutt, both of which will be testing for Lieutenant today. Good luck guys, you all have worked & studied very hard for this. Just as the studying was winding down around 2230 crews from E6,E1,E11,L1,M6,BC1,& RS1 were dispatched to the area of 5th St. & Bullitt AV SE for a fire in a house. Just after pulling out of the house, heavy smoke could be seen & BC1 immediately requested the dispatch of L7 b/c L1's crew was in HTR6 (no aerial ladder & only a 6ft ground ladder on this piece of apparatus) b/c L1 was out-of-service. BC1 arrived & reported heavy smoke pushing from the eaves of the house & marked it a working fire. Interior lines were stretched & only a small access was found to the attic. It was said that the access to the attic was so small that even "Slim" wouldn't be able to get in haha. Great job to all the crews that responded & provided a quick knock down that isolated the fire to the large attc.

The Search For A New Name

It's been a fairly steady Friday in Southeast. To start off with, the usual daily checks were done & then the floors were stripped in waxed. Through out the day both units ran enough calls to keep us busy with the Engine running two during the day & the Medic unit running a total of four. Just before midnight both units were sent on a pedestrian that had been ran over by a car in the 700 blk of Mountain AV SE. Upon arrival a male subject was found to have severe lacerations from the incident & was transported to RMH. Hopefully the rest of the night will have peace in store.
Just a reminder to all members of the Roanoke Bravest Football Club, a team meeting will be held on November 5, 2009 at the Union Hall at 1830. The meeting will include a finalization of the list of all individuals that are commited to playing in the 2010 season, a decision on team colors will be made & another team name will have to be decided. A new rule in the league this year prohibits the duplicate use of team names so a new team name will be decided that evening. If you are unable to make the meeting, please make every attempt to contact Capt. Stone or Chris Price. Be safe out there!

Rest Easy Brother

Capt. Chris Brown

1965-2009

It is with great sadness that the Roanoke Fire-EMS Dept. announces the death of Capt. Chris Brown. Capt. Brown was a 15 year veteran of the department with his most recent assignment being the Capt. of the Roanoke Fire-EMS Station #1. He will be greatly missed but not forgotten. Capt. Browns 1st. Lt. JJ Price recalled that "...he was a fair man, always gave someone a clean slate no matter what he had heard about someone...". Our hearts & prayers go out to both his family & his fellow brothers & sisters of the Fire Department. Visitation will be held on Sunday October 25, 2009 at Oakey's East Chapel in Bonsack from 2pm to 6pm. Funeral service will be held Monday October 26, 2009 at the 1st Baptist Church at 1pmw/ a graveside service held at the Evergreen Burial Park.

FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL

JUST AS A REMINDER, THE INFORMATIONAL MEETING FOR THE 2010 NATIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY FOOTBALL LEAGUE SEASON WILL BE ON TUESDAY OCTOBER 20, 2009 AT 1830. THIS MEETING IS FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN JOINING "THE BRAVEST" & IT WILL BE HELD AT THE TRAINING CENTER. CAPT. STONE HAS RECEIVED MULTIPLE PHONE CALLS OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS FROM TEAMS FROM CHARLSTON, SC, WASHINGTON D.C., & CLEVELAND ALL HOPING TO GET A SHOT AT US THIS YEAR. THIS IS A GREAT THING FOLKS, LET'S NOT LET THIS DISSOLVE!!

Busy Last Day

Today, started off to a busy start. It all began with a pub-ed event at Fallon Park Elementary School. The crew of E6 & M6 were joined by Capt. Bedwell, FF James Rivers of the Melrose Misfits, FF Colin Humphries of The Rock, FF Rachel "Stormy" Winters of The Green House, & our very own PIO Tiffany Bradbury. The Fire Safety House was taken to the elementary school so that five classes were able to go through it with the guidance of our firefighters, instructing them on some fire safety tips they can take home with them.

FF Zimmerman instructing students on fireplace

safety.

The "Good Son" in the control center

Lt. Mcfall going over how the students should get as low to the floor as possible if the room has alot of smoke in it.

FF Humphries instructing students on things "not to do" in the kitchen.

"Would you like fries with that"?

Later in the day the medic unit was sent w/ E1, E8, L1, RS1, & M101 to North bound 220 for an MVC w/ possible entrapment & possible four calls involved. M1 was later dispatched for the possibility of multiple patients. Upon arrival of E8, it was discovered that this was a minor MVC w/o serious injury. Later in the evening it seemed that one of the men needed a hair cut. Slim had requested that Adam to the cuttin' but we had a guest barber in the house that took his part in the cutting. Otherwise it was a fairly quiet night w/ only two calls after midnight. We'll see yawl next cycle!!

Middle Day for A-Shift

Out here in the East was a pretty busy day. The medic unit totaled out at 11 w/ two after midnight & the hose jockies only ran two; one of which you will see pics of below. At 1956 both units along w/ E11, E1, L1, BC1, & RS1 were dispatched to a residence on Church AV in Southeast for a chimney fire that was extending into the roof. E6 arrived to find a 1 1/2 story residential structure w/ some fire visible from the chimney. The normal chimney bombs weren't enough however to extinguish the fire due to the high buildup of residue in the chimney. L1 then took the electric fan to the basement where it was placed in front of the clean out. A dry-chem extinguisher was then discharged into the chimney & the fan was utilized to blow the agent up through the length of the chimney to extinguish the fire. A water can was used from the roof by M6 personnel to extinguish some hot spots near the top. After a small clean up all crews returned to service.

"Fooseball Is The Devil"!!

Do you have a desire to live a healthier life style? Do you want to be a part of an exciting opportunity? Or do you just want to hit someone? Well, if you answer yes to any of the three & are a part of a local public safety department (Roanoke City FD, Roanoke City PD, Roanoke City Sheriff, Roanoke County FD, Roanoke County PD, Roanoke County Sheriff, Salem FD, Salem PD, Vinton FD, & Vinton PD), then we have just the thing for you. Capt. Stone along w/ Chris Price & Richard Lipes are putting a semi-pro football team together to compete in the 2010 season in the North American Football League (NAFL) or the National Public Safety Football League (NPSFL). You have until 2010 to get in shape & lose those pounds you put on after you became a fireman or police officer, so if this seems like something you are interested in, be at the informative meeting at the Roanoke Valley Fire-Rescue Regional Training Center on October 20, 2009 at 1830. If you can't make it, you can contact Capt. Todd Stone at the #6 firehouse at 853-2413.

Teein' It Up

Today has been a pretty uneventful day in Southeast, a couple EMS calls, medic unit has ran three up to this point. At 1802 E6 & M6 were dispatched to a car into a house in the 1700 block of Wise AV SE. Upon arrival it was determined that there was no injuries or immediate life hazards. Details are not clear yet but an elderly woman escaped injury after her pickup truck drove through a back yard hitting another small car which caused the car to take out a brick supporting column in the rear of the house. Additional units were requested to place a temporary shore to stabilize the back porch of the house. Additional units that responded were E11 who brought HTR6 from #6 Firehouse, and the crew from L1. After successful stabilization utilizing of the back porch utilizing a simple T-Shore, units returned to service. Let's hope that the quiet day continues through the night, so long folks.

Extreme Home Makeover-Southeast Edition

On Saturday August 15, 2009, A-Shift revealed it's talent for replacing our very own Lt. McFall's roof on his house. The crew began around 0800 & by the time it was over at 1800, we all realized how great of a job we have now, & also how we all have no desire to be roofers for a career. Beverages and food were provided by the McFall's & a big thanks goes out to all who provided their services. Capt. Todd Stone, FF David Wray, FF Rusty aka "Slim" Zimmerman, FF/PM Derek Surratt, FF Brad Creasy, FF/EMT-I George Harris, & our brother from C-Shift FF Adam Flemming.

A-Shift "Doin' Work"

It's now 1800, & we are finally able to sit down & take a break. Here in the great East, we started the day on a project that was projected to be done at 1500, quitin' time. A wall mounted rack was built & mounted for our collapse shoring. Leading the way on welding the stuctural components of the rack was FF Zimmerman, with the rest of the crew doing their part as well w/ assembly & mounting. This rack is being built in response to a recent call on C-shift where the City was called for mutual aid in Vinton for a car in to a structure. This rack will help to better organize, store, & keep track of inventory of shoring lumber. Monday, a full load of lumber will be delivered here to fully supply our stock for future collapse runs. Unfortunately as we all know though, if you have a project you need done, you will constantly be pulled away on runs. Speaking of runs, we recently returned from car into a house w/ a child in the vehicle. When crews of E6 & M6 arrived, it was discovered that an SUV had rolled down a hill, striking the B/C corner of another house & finally coming to a rest against a large tree which prevented the vehicle from going down another small embankment & into the middle of another house. Fortunately the child escaped w/o injury & no significant structural damage that would compromise the safety of the occupants who lived there was found. A little over 13hrs left folks, stay tuned...

5 for 5, will the streak continue?

Well folks, we reached a milestone on A-Shift last cycle; 5 fires in 5 cycles. The first was in NE at1322 Johnsburry Ct., the second being 1929 Wise AV SE, the third being at Abbots store on the Boulevard, the forth at 532 Highland AV SE, & finally the second fire of last cycle being on Wayland in the NE sector of the city where one patient was transported, no word of his condition. So far it's been a pretty quiet first day of the cycle w/ the Engine running three, & the Medic unit totaling seven thus far. Have a good night brothers & check back to see if we continue our 6-cycle stretch of battling the beast.

Multi-tasking

First order of business, congrats to David Wray & his wife Mindy on the birth of there daughter. Madelin Grace Wray was born between 10PM & 11PM on June 2, 2009. Both mom & baby are at home doing great & The Good Son hasn't lost that proud papas grin. We also want to congratulate Lt. Brian Wray of #8 A-Shift who is now a proud uncle. On to todays business...

lawn was cut, 28 hydrants flowed, both the Engine & Medic both switched out units, & oh yeah by the way, the working house fire at 532 Highland AV SE. Photos are below, and folks, it's only 5'oclock.

Middle Day for A-Shift

The middle day for the crew of E6 proved to be fairly steady for the medic unit but slow for they guys on the engine. However good use was made of the down time. Early morning duties were done around the house, then we attempted to make our 1991 model war wagon a little more presentable. All of the equipment was taken out of the compartments & the compartments were cleaned, the Capt. & ever so loud firefighter removed the water cooler holder & sanded/repainted that, & also placed a fresh coat of wax over the area that the water cooler covered. Other than that the Engine only ran one EMS run to which it was cancelled on before we arrived, & the medic unit ran a total of six runs. I'm proud to say that both trucks slept all night, & for those of you that have been assigned to Southeast, you know that this occurance is a very rare thing. Until next time, be safe out there!!

A-Shift back on the board

Alot has gone on since our last post from us here on A-Shift but in most recent history it seems that War Wagon 6 is back in business. Over the past three cycles for A-Shift E6 has been on three working fires & the Medic unit has been on two of those three. And as best as I can remember, B-Shift has had good working fires over the past couple of cycles, so it seems that the reputation of Firehouse #6 being a good house to catch a fire at is coming back. In other recent events, A-shift had some good quality training for our Swiftwater Rescue Team (SRT) which you can see by the pics & a couple video clips below. And the other clips were of our car seat installment day. We would like to give a big thanks to our own PIO Tiffany Bradbury & her team from Carilion & the Roanoke City Police Office on a fine job. And as always, it's been a busy day & night for us here. Stay tuned for more updates.

SWIFTWATER TRAINING DAY

Mike Peay getting some use out of the rope gun.

"Hey look, it's a chicken".

Awaiting deployment of the rope gun on river left.

I'm no swiftwater expert but I believe they were establishing a high tension line.

CAR SEAT DAY

Our very own making sure that he & his wife are ready for there soon to be new arrival.