Tag Archives: fire

Bothell’s New Fire Station

One of the routes that I take when riding my bike takes me through the center of Bothell – a town next to ours.  I would ride past the old fire station but hadn’t been on the route for a while.  There had been a sign saying a new fire station was going to be built and, when I recently rode by, not only was it finished but there was a sign outside saying that they were planning to have an open house to celebrate the opening.  I figured this might be interesting.

The open house was scheduled for a Saturday morning so was not going to be a long event but that didn’t deter people from showing up.  There were plenty of people there when I arrived – indeed some were already leaving having got there earlier.  As I stayed around, it got a lot busier.  So many people came to have a look around.  Many of them brought their kids along to see the station but I suspect the kids were less interested than the parents were.

The appliances were on display in the main open space of the station with fire trucks, ambulances and assorted support vehicles for people to climb all over.  These were of interest to me but I was almost more interested in the stuff around them.  Storage for the equipment, venting pipes for the vehicle exhausts so they could run indoors, things like that.  The one thing that they didn’t have was a pole!  I guess those are no longer a standard of fire stations!

There was much more to the station to see, though.  You were able to walk throughout the building and, while there were some tours explaining everything to people, I was happier going at my own speed and avoiding the worst of the congestion.  The operations space where they could control the delivery of whatever services were needed was pretty compact but efficient.  It was alongside a selection of offices for some of the leadership.  Across from that was a gym where the crews could work out if they wanted.

Heading upstairs and we got to the more domestic side of things.  There was a large kitchen and dining area.  Large cooking surfaces with big skillets were a sign of what feeding a shift involves.  There were multiple refrigerators along one wall with each labeled for the shift that utilized it.  I wonder whether there are ever issues with one shift pinching food from another!  Next to that was a TV room with big recliners arrayed around the TV – each on embroidered with the logo of the fire station.  This logo showed up in various places.

Next was the accommodation space.  There were bunk rooms available for the crews to use.  I understood that they would be on watch for long periods so could eat, relax, sleep, shower and work out while they were not required for operations.  The bunk rooms were compact and basic but looked like they would do the job nicely.

It was interesting to see what a modern fire station involves.  I hadn’t really given it much thought before and seeing the layout gave me a new appreciation for what the crews’ lives can be like.  The new building was clearly a nice upgrade for the facility and it was functional but not unattractive.  They even had some sculpture work outside.  A lot of effort went in to putting the place together.  I hope they find it beneficial.

Maritime Fire Training Facility

A sunny weekend day at this time of year is not to be wasted so I took a bike ride across to Seattle.  I was heading for Discovery Park and one of the trails that made up my route took me passed a lot of the local shipyards.  As I approached one of them, I saw what looked like a funnel.  Then I realized it was a mock up of a whole ship.  It even had a helicopter on a pad.  One my return journey, I stopped to take a look.  I realized that there was a lot of piping underneath the structure and it had a notice about a fire training facility.  I guess they can simulate fires in different parts of the vessel and crews can be trained to handle them.  I wonder what it is like on the trail when the training is underway.

Firefighting Helicopters

C59F6996.jpgWhen someone in Chicago needed to lift something that was too heavy for the S-58T fleet of Midwest, there was a good chance that CHI Aviation would get the job. When I first worked with them, they were known as Construction Helicopters but their scope has grown a lot and so the name has been changed. Whether it was the S-61 or the Super Puma, some big payloads could be taken up. I thought I wouldn’t see much of them once I moved to California. I was wrong.

AU0E1362.jpgThey have acquired some surplus CH-47 Chinooks from the US Army and a number of them are currently based in California working on firefighting contracts. Some of them were deployed to help fight the Wragg Fire and I had a chance to go hunting for them while I had some free time up there recently. I had no idea where they were going to be operating. A look on Flightradar24 showed that there was a lot of activity in the vicinity of the fires including fixed and rotary wing assets but I was heading off with little real idea what I was looking for.

C59F7120.jpgI took Route 128 that goes up through the hills and past Lake Berryessa. This road had been shut at one point when the fire first got established but had since been reopened. Even so, as I drove across, there were fire appliances from all over the state in any turn off I passed. There was also an orange streak on the road which, I assume, came from a fire retardant drop of some sort. As I came by the lake, I didn’t see any aerial activity. There were plenty of boats on the lake so I figured that they weren’t picking up water from there. It later turned out that was a false assumption.

C59F7081.jpgI dropped down from the hills and came around a bend in the road to find myself facing a Chinook coming in to pick up water from the river beside me. Fortunately, I was able to pull off right there. For once, I was well prepared. I had figured that I might see something and need to have the camera ready so I had fitted the lens and set everything up before starting the hunt so I grabbed the camera and started shooting.

C59F6823.jpgThere was a pair of the Chinooks coming in for water along with a Sikorsky Black Hawk. All of them were using Bambi Buckets to get water from the river before heading back to the fight. I got a bunch of shots from the road before things quietened down. Other than an Army Chinook without a bucket that seemed to be coordinating things (and marked with purple markings over its normal camo), nothing was moving. A guy came up from the river with his fishing gear in hand and suggested I go down to where he was to get a good shot.

I did as suggested but, of course, nothing was happening now. A couple of times I wandered back to the car only to hear something coming over and rushed back. Sadly, these were flights to the lake rather than the river. Finally I did get lucky and got a few shots from river level of someone picking up a load. Then it went quiet again so I headed off for a while on an idea that proved fruitless.

C59F6754.jpgMy return brought me back past the same spot and things were happening again. This time there was a Huey involved and he was running a lot of lifts. He also was loading from a slightly different part of the river. One of the Chinooks still showed up but at the original spot so I had to make my choices. Eventually, I needed to head back so started off. However, the Chinook and another Huey put in another quick appearance so I stopped for them and then finally headed back.

This was a totally impromptu trip and I ended up getting a lot of time with the CHI Chinooks as well as some other types too. Obviously, it is not great that they are needed with these fires raging but it was impressive to see the crews at work providing such a valuable service. Now I want to see them again, hopefully in a slightly more controlled environment! I wrote a piece for GAR which you can see here.

Firefighters

wpid5528-IMG_1437.jpgI had a brief opportunity to head passed the field at McClellan, previously and Air Force base just outside Sacramento. This wasn’t enough time to have a good look around but more of a recce for a future visit. I knew of the Coast Guard and the Calfire facilities so I was looking to see what else was there that might be worth a future look. There were a few bits and pieces around. One thing that I liked was the collection of P-3 Orions in storage. They were operated by Aero Union on firefighting duties before the company went bust. No one has ought them yet. I grabbed a couple of shots over the fence. I might like to come back here to have a more detailed look around.wpid5530-IMG_1441.jpg