The Dodge Retort

My third firefighter training beckons tonight on what is sure to be sweltering once we don our turnout suits. It’s going to hit 90 today. Thank God we’re not in Portland, Ore. where it’s going to reach 105 today!

I’ve been meaning to recount one training session last week as well a 280-slide PowerPoint presentation (the longest I’ve ever been subjected to) on the new ladder truck which while loooong was fascinating.

I did not take notes, but there’s a lot I remember about the truck even after a week. And you can read more about it at manufacturer KME’s (Kovatch Mobile Equipment) web site.

What left the biggest impression is that this of 80-ton piece of equipment can be dangerous in the wrong hands (mine, right now). The aerial (the ladder and bucket) extends 95 feet into the air from it steepest angle of attack and with two firefighters in the bucket, extreme caution should used and competence exercised. I’ll get my turn to share a spot in the bucket eventually. The aerial alone weighs 50,000 pounds (25 tons).

Much of the presentation focused on the aerial and how to set up the truck’s outriggers. There were four major points which I probably don’t recall exactly right: maximize stance, center of gravity and stability and minimize height off the ground. If the truck is in excess of 5 degrees off level, you subtract 500 pounds from the maximum weight in the bucket. That would reduce it to 1,000  pounds. I also seem to recall that if the “line is charged,” you take off another 500, leaving the bucket weight at 500 pounds – still enough for two firefighters.

A green zone gauge tells the operator how level the truck is. The biggest hazard operating the truck is it tipping over with the aerial extended and firefighters in the bucket.  He also reviewed the features of the bucket from which the aerial can be controlled. However, the controls at the base of the aerial have priority and override the ones in the bucket.

There’s margin of safety built in — 2:1 structurally and 1.5:1 from a stability standpoint. Again this is from memory and those numbers could be off. The presenter who was from the dealer who sold West Newbury the truck emphatically said you “never operate in the margin.” Lives are at stake. Indeed!

The outriggers which set the truck in place and lift it off the tires are computer controlled and set level automatically although there’s overrides should the computer fail. It’s impossible to predict what kind of terrain the truck will find itself during a call. One thing he said was not to put an outrigger on top of ground covering a septic tank. You can imagine that picture – dangerous not to mention messy.

As for the 95-foot extension (actually, it might have been 94) and no building in  West Newbury being more than 40 feet high, Bob Pierce later explained that what counts is the horizontal extension. If someone is struggling in a pond 80 feet out, you don’t want a 50 foot aerial. That extension could really matter and save a life.

The truck itself is run by computers. There’s one for the engine, transmission and aerial (I’m leaving out one or two). They fail and your in trouble. I forget if he said there are overrides, but I think not. The 525 HP Cat engine and transmission are major consumers of fluids…upward of 40 quarts of engine oil and a few more quarts than that of tranny fluid. Hydraulic fluid capacity was something like 60 gallons! Think about just how much the hydraulic fluid weighs.

Another area where he spent quite a bit of time was on the alternator which maximally cranks out 320 amps. However at engine idle, it’ll only produce half that so a “fast idle” switch revs the engine to a point where the alternator will produce at full capacity. After all, there’s dozens of lights on the truck (many look to be halogen which we were warned can get very hot). There’s six interconnected batteries acting as a single unit, I think he said.

He also cautioned that if the gauge (and there were many) shows voltage to be high, pull over and call a technician. Continuing with high voltage can fry the electrical system and more importantly the computers which control everything. That’s one expensive repair. A low voltage reading is less troublesome.

Finally, he talked about how exhaust particulate is captured in a chamber nearby or in the muffler. On occasion, it has to be burnt off by soaking the particulate with diesel fuel and igniting it. This is common is all diesels now. The result is a very hot gas in excess of 1,000 degrees F. out the exhaust pipe. So the operator has to be careful about where the truck is situated. The dealer mentioned it’s a bad idea to park it next to chief’s car or truck when that procedure is underway as it leave a brown burn on the paint.

I am sure I am leaving out some aspects of this marvel of technology. It has many cabinets, additional ladders and large air tanks for to provide oxygen for the firefighters in the bucket and even some creature comforts in the cab.  As the dealer remarked, it takes the WNFD into a whole new realm of firefighting.

As for the previous evening’s training, we donned airpacks and used the masks for the first time. One trainer showed how to don air packs by lifting it over heads to put it on in a “cascading fashion.” Like donning the turnout suit, the air packs and related gear are supposed to be put on and set up in under a minute. We all will need to practice as that requires putting on the hood, the mask with airtight seal and helmet, turning on the air, cross-checking capacity using two gauges, and hooking on the air hose to the mask.

The first time I did it, I wondered if I would be able to breath. It was surpisingly easy and there were at least two ways to get air into the mask of the tank failed. We also learned how to recharge the tanks. Training three begins tonight.

The woman who called the police July 16th to report a break-in at the home of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates has come forward to say she’s devastated about happened and that she never mentioned the men were black in her call. She did the right thing and she’s “devastated!”

I raise the issue again because of car break-ins in our neighborhood in Maine where we have a second home. All of a sudden, we find ourselves locking doors when before, we would go days without doing so. Part of the appeal is the casual nature of the neighborhood where we felt incredibly secure. Not so much now.

My neighbor’s car was ransacked over the weekend as were a few others on a side street around the corner. The reality of joblessness, drugs or kids doing stupid things is never far away. It makes me glad to know the police are around and vigilant. I hope they catch the thieves.

Cambridge where Gates lives is far more prone to break-ins. Maybe Henry Louis Gates should consider that the police were also protecting his property, too (or the house Harvard let him live in). That the woman did not initially cite race detracts from accusations of racial profiling.

Much of this will be cleared when the police tapes are released in the next few days and after the Gates and Sgt. Crowley toss back a few beers at the White House. Will they actually drinks beers?What brand? How many?

BTW, comments are running against President Obama for shooting his mouth off about the Cambridge police. My take which reflects many of the these comments is they should have one quick beer and let the president get back to work on our nation’s many problems.

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I was all over Boston.com this morning and wondered for a moment if I had ventured onto a British tabloid site.

First, there was a 9-shot photo gallery of tryouts for the Celtics Dancers, the basketball teams cheerleaders clad in tight hotpants

and top.  Then there was another shot of a bikini clad female which I can’t locate at the moment. The link to the photo gallery

was from the sports section, not surprisingly. I wonder how many page views it got.

This is pretty out of character for the Globe, but desperate times require desperate measures, right? The Globe photos by British

tabloid standards are tame for sure.

Here’s where I think the police officer went wrong with the unfortunate incident this week involving Henry Louis Gates. Rather than apologize at the scene once he understood that Gates was in his own home, he acted in a heavy-handed fashion sending us a reminder that the police must have the last word.

If you were confronted in your home by a police officer, wouldn’t you be upset? Gates justifiably may have been agitated so the smart thing for Sgt. Crowley to do would have been back off, apologize and wish Prof. Gates a nice day. The local media would have covered it and 24 hours later, the incident would have been largely forgotten.  Yes, this is 20/20 hindsight, but I can’t imagine there weren’t opportunities for Sgt. Crowley to go conciliatory unless Gates required a straight jacket.

Instead, Sgt. Crowley with his union and department in supporting roles, saying police were just going by the book. No apologies necessary. How many times have we heard that it cost nothing to apologize? How many times have we heard how unproductive pride can be? Forget racism at least about this part of the incident.

Sgt. Crowley is not a monster. He was the EMT who tried to save basketball player Reggie Lewis’ life several years ago and is respected by his colleagues and neighbors. But I think Sgt. Crowley would have acted the the same way with me (I’m white). Does he wish he  could have this one back? You bet although he won’t admit it.

[You can hear his side of the story from a WEEI sports radio interview this morning. His tone seems conciliatory, but his sympathetic questioners and faux news commentators Dennis and Callahan toss him softballs all the way. I wish he had gone onto a more objective and real news outlet such as WBZ. D&C are supposed to talk about sports, but unfortunately veer or I should say, careen into news.]

The incident reinforces the notion that if you challenge or shout at a police officer, some (more than others) will quickly slap the cuffs on, call it disorderly conduct and claim `going by the book.’  You can’t tell me “the book” would say this incident was intelligently handled. After all, the charges against Gates were dropped the following day. Now, that was smart!

I suppose I have sidestepped the issue of racism, but it’s hard to say what was going through Sgt. Crowley’s head although I suspect he is a product of his difficult environment. Big city policing is a dangerous and difficult job, but they should at least try to fight off the cynicism.

As for Gates, he should tone  down rhetoric. Maybe he will after reading Joan Vennochi’s column in this morning’s Boston Globe which says he behaved like an arrogant Harvard professor used to deferential treatment, not just “a black man in America.” Testosterone and machismo played a big  role in this incident and perhaps Prof. Gates should acknowledge that (and Harvard provides him with a house, too?!).

The incident has been instructive. Cool heads need to prevail.

My first call firefighting training session went well and was more challenging than I anticipated. I might as well have left my pencil and pad at home because we jumped right in.

Before I get into the details, I feel pretty committed and have a lot of respect for the folks who are training us. The public service element of firefighting is obvious. We take firefighters for granted, but I suspect I won’t be anymore. Around Boston, you read about them when they die in the line of duty, are pissed about their union contract or have misbehaved largely with respect to booze and drugs (WN has zero tolerance for answering a call if you’d had any booze at all). And we read about their on and off-duty heroics.

Our department, West Newbury, Mass.

To say I didn’t initially do this on a lark would be fibbing, but that call firefighting is so  different from my 33 years as a journalist really motivated me (I’m still blogging and freelance writing, of course). It’s physical, very real and all about teamwork which I find appealing. However, I did cover fires for almost three years at the Haverhill Gazette in the seventies when arson was rampant and frequently fatal. I saw buildings and houses burning from a safe distance and remember the chief Lew Burton running on dangerous steep roofs. Haverhill FD was quite busy and less political than its fractious police department which I also covered. Any comparison of West Newbury and Boston or Haverhill with respect to fires is, of course, ridiculous. West Newbury is pretty quiet, averaging about one fire a year and 40 calls a month, some of them false alarms. A call came in last night during training for a woman locked out of her house…lots of mundane stuff. Not sure yet about mutual aid, but there’s plenty going on in the relatively populous North Shore.

I’m told there is serious attrition from, among other things, health issues given the physical strain of the calls and the training. There’s also people who realize or are told they are not cut out for the job. And you have to retire at age 65 which gives me a full five years.

We jumped right in, got in out turnout pants, boots, helmet with visor, fireproof hood and fire jacket. We also got two pairs of gloves (one for auto accidents, the other for fires), a blinding LED flashlight and radio which sits beside me. The gear is heavy and bulky, exacting its toll on the ladder climb. We didn’t do backpacks (air tanks) at this training, but Bob Pierce had me slip one on at the end of the evening. The backpacking I’ve done and more recently biking should stand me in good stead.

You’re supposed to don all this gear in under a minute. Even veterans struggle with this so I will need to practice.  You basically jump into your boots and pull the pants up over them. When you take your turnout pants off, you peel off the upper half and leave them inside out over the lower half which are on the boots as if you were wearing them. This allows one to quickly put on the pants and boots at the same time. This a “something (I forget) hitch.”

West Newbury's new ladder Tower 28. At some point, I'll be in the bucket 100 feet up.

Word is my gear will be kept at the Garden St. firehouse (Central Station is main West Newbury firehouse) which is about a half mile from my home. They tell me this end of town needs coverage. Glad to be needed.

We climbed ladders (about 25-30 feet), learned a foot lock so you can swing a fire axe to one side without falling backward off the ladder. That involves wrapping the leg opposite to the side you’re working around a rung and then the side of the ladder.  House painters should know this.

Then we carried fire axes to the top roof of the fire station and climbed back. We also practiced leg locks halfway up the ladder and swung the axe at an imaginary burning building. Then we donned masks and put our hoods on backward so we couldn’t see and followed a line (hose) to learn how to escape a building when it’s blacker than night. Key here is to find the three large lugs on the male coupling and follow the hose back from it. Claustrophobia and fear of heights came up a few times and I confess to a touch of both. Challenges are the allure of firefighting.

I found the training fun, physically challenging and highly interesting. I’m looking forward to training next Tuesday when we do knots, learn about lines (hoses) and possibly put out a live fire. The firefighters are pretty accepting of me, the newbie. Bob Pierce I know well and Scott Berkenbush, the new chief,  is supportive. I know a few other guys a little and there are two women in the training.

Garden St. sub-station where I go to don gear when I answer a call.

The Comcast repairman just came and left after two days of Internet outages and horribly slow performance. He found some line problems concerning the signal to noise ratio which cut out my cable modem. He replaced some “taps” and said I should be ok now. That was euphemism for “It’s working now. Nothing was wrong with it.” He also left the basement lights on and did put back a small ladder I got for him.

Last night when I really needed connectivity to fix some typos in a SmartPlanet.com post, super slow life-wasting away Internet drove me bananas for about 90 minutes. I made some fixes, but did not complete them. I went to bed knowing there were typos in a post – not a good way to end the day.

It’s an understatement to say how much we depend on the Internet so I leave you with these two videos to show how berserk people go when “INTERNET DOWN! Plenty more where those came from….

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There’s several Youtube videos showing the Boeing 787 taxiing last week under a gray Seattle sky. It’s not flying yet, but at least it’s finally moving. I chose the amatuer video below because it has audio and others don’t There’s some wind noise,  but at about 3:10, the 787 almost looks and sounds like it’ll take off. Wouldn’t that be sneaky!?

If you’ve never heard of Wendall Potter and are interested in healthcare reform, listen to what he has to say about private insurers in an interview at Bill Moyers’ Journal. Potter is the former head PR honcho at CIGNA and resigned last year in a fit of conscience after he visited a free  healthcare “expedition” in Wise County, Virginia in July, 2007.

Wendall Potter Credit: PRwatch.org

Check out the Wise County free healthcare clinic and you’ll immediately understand how desperate people are for affordable healthcare. The expedition, according to Potter, was held on  county fairgrounds in unsanitary and un-private conditions under tents in animal stalls. He comes off as credible and claims he was neither fired nor treated badly by CIGNA. I searched for a rebuttal on CIGNA’s site, but it yielded zero results.

“It was like a lightning bolt hit me,” he said of the so-called “expedition.” Then, he goes to describe how insurers drop people and employers from their rolls when their profits dip and how he participated in an industry-wide campaign to discredit Michael Moore’s movie Sicko extolling the benefits of socialized medicine. Potter says now that the conclusions in the movie are largely correct.

Perhaps most significantly, he talks about the industry’s campaign to plant unjustified fears in the public’s mind about a government health plan. He argues that the insurance companies are simply afraid of competition (that said, they must compete with each other and the government is not under many of the same competitive pressures). Click here for CIGNA’s statement on “Commitment to Healthcare Reform.”

Public plan advocates point to Medicare’s low 2-3 per cent administrative overhead versus up to 30 percent for private insurers. Depending on where you fall in the debate, you can find numbers that argue that private insurers have lower administrative costs. But there’s no denying that private insurers’ profit-based model drives up overhead and impact who’s covered and for what. That’s just common sense.

In most respects, healthcare insurers are just doing what businesses do. But their behavior comes into serious moral conflcit when it involves an inividual’s well-being or life (Moore wants to abolish health insurers and regulate drug companuies like publi utilities. He could well be visionary on those points.) Judge for yourself, but for sure, listen to what Potter has to say.

PC Pitstop has conducted a netbook satisfaction survey which places the MSI Wind U100 at the top. Pitstop surveys folks downloading its Overdrive diagnostic download and asks three simple questions:

• How satisfied are you with this PC?
• Is this PC running slow?
• Is this PC hanging or requiring frequent reboots?
  

  Rob Cheng

PC Pitstop CEO and co-founder Rob Cheng who I knew a dozen years as a Gateway honcho says the netbook results were extracted from “well over a million and probably closer to two million” survey responses. However, the number of netbook responses ranged between 107-1,035, reflecting the small number of netbooks out there relative to overall PCs.  So while the U100 got the top rating with 170 responses, number 8 on PC Pitstop’s survey Acer AOA150 garnered the most responses with 1,035. That reflects Acer’s dominant position as the market netbook share leader.

Some of these models are a bit long in the tooth given the rapidity with which new models appear. Also, check out which ones crash the most or are reported as slow. PC Pitstop also looked at desktops (Dell took top nine spots!) and laptops (Dell, HP and Toshiba) as well.