bsfarms - 1/18/2026 14:18
tommyw-5088 - 1/17/2026 17:17
woodchuck - 1/17/2026 15:05
.
I will say the absolute hardest part is to stay calm , that took me a while .
Its at least as hard on people as the trucks , a phrase is “adrenaline dump “ .That means when the tone hits your body hits you with a big shot of GO ! .If i were to get a call right now , go get it whipped . probally id get back at say 10-11 . Id still be awake at 3 am pretty easy .
We have a guy like that on our fire dept. I don't mean to be a jerk, but you need to calm down. It's just a fire. We had a barn fire and the excited guy was trying to help me set up the dump tank. He's a heavier guy, and i had to tell him to sit down or he was going to have a heart attack. I basically set it up myself as he was a distraction. Maybe you're different,but you sound similar except maybe body size. You need to be calm on the scene so you can analyze what's going on and make smart decisions. Being energetic is good, jacked up on adrenaline isn't.
I am pretty calm now , in fact my cheif said he wish he had a bunch more that were calm .
It took me a year .
I cant sleep when i get home , i guess thats part of it . Real hard to go from 100% effort , to coming home getting in shower and going to bed .
I know for sure now im not going to act like an idiot and get someone hurt .
Only thing i can say about being calm , is a fellow just needs to get in there and get with it , sure listen to your officers and other experenced guys .
Its been pretty humbling for me , I was Top tech at JB , had several businesses . Farming , sandblasting , salvage yard .
I started this deal , I knew nothing . Guys half my age knew more .
I had to swallow my pride and ask to be taught , the guys all did .
All this time later , i still dont think im very good .
What i will do is show up and put in 100% .
Guys will come up and say “ why you doing that “ ?
Ill say because thats all i know .
They will say “ Want to see an easier way “
I always say heck yes , give me advice .
I was fighting a hose on a structure fire one night , probally 7 pm , still easy 90-95 degrees.
I was getting it done , i was not going to quit . Ill tell you i was out of fluid in my body and about out of energy .
Younger fellow came up , mutual aid department . They call me sir since im
older . He said “ sir can i take over for you so you can go get a little water “? I said ok if you are not needed . He said no its fine , plenty of us here .
I saw he had the hose totally diffrent than i had it , heck he was just easing along with it :
)
Question for tommy5088 and other Fire Departments
