My Dad was a Fireman years ago. I don't know how many years he did that. At some point, he left the local department to take a job with the NC Department of Insurance, which sent instructors all around the state to teach fire fighting classes, mostly to volunteer fire departments.
Below is one of the trucks that had been in the local parade. Some children of the fire fighters got to ride on it. My brother David is on the top, nearly center, looking straight at the camera. (blonde hair)
Sometimes the classes involved burning an old house down in order to give the firemen some hands on training. (My Dad on the right in the white turnout gear)
So... they would light the house on fire and put it out multiple times, till there was not enough left of it to be safe to practice in.
Most of the time, the house they burned was donated by someone who had an old house that needed to come down anyway.
As an ending, here is my firefighter dad in his turnout gear (again) .... .smoking a cigarette. LOL !!
When I was growing up, sometimes my Dad would take one or two of us with him for the "burning school" where we would hang out with family members of some of the fire fighters and watch as they burned the house down. It was interesting and exciting.
I use to tease with my friends and say my Dad went around starting fires so the firemen would have something to do. That seemed funny to me back then. Then later I saw stories of a firefighter that was also an arsonist ! For real, not funny !
Fire is a lot of fun, as long as it is only burning what you want it to burn. :)
Hope you all have a Super Saturday.
Love you..... mean it !
Jacey
Outstanding shots, El! I love seeing your dad in his gear and the great memories that these shots must invoke!
I laughed about the arsonist, but, I also know a fireman who was an arsonist. Now that really takes the cake. How many people can say they get paid for something they like doing?
Oh, yikes!! That was dark humor for sure.
The pictures are spectacular! I said it already but they really are and I want to know if you changed them to sepia or are they already that color?
Upvoted and will resteem tomorrow
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Good Sunday Morning.... and thanks !
I did sepiatize the photos, but they were already black and white.
Yes..... as an adult I have seen several stories through my life about arsonist that were firefighters. The first time I ever heard of such a thing I thought "how can that be???" It seems that sometimes pyros choose to be firemen since they are obsessed with fire and then not enough accidental fires happen to keep them happy. O to the MG ! right? ugh
Hope you have a happy day. I have too much to do because I didn't do enough yesterday....LOL ! ugh again. I will probably do what I can for a couple of hours, chuck the rest and go visit my Mom instead. :)
That totally works!! You know? It's Sunday and I have already gone to see God on the early risers dealie. I have no idea why except my Mom always brought us to Church at 6:30 AM every Sunday and it is my regular time. Or the one that works best.
Of course, I was up late last night, so it was not pretty getting up, but... now I am sitting, enjoying my coffee, my ironing complete for the week and dinner already done.(She sighs)
This arsonist thing really blows me away! Over at the Shore House, a couple of years ago, an arsonist was torching houses. I am not saying one or two. They were torching at least once a month and sometimes more. It was pretty scary as I am not at the Shore House on a regular basis. Anyway, the FBI got involved and a couple of other agencies. They couldn't catch this person and the mystery continued for over a year. One night, they tripped up, as they always do when they get too arrogant and they finally captured the woman and found out that she was a volunteer fireperson and was torching abandoned or unkept houses, helping keep the Shore beautiful. And a few other reasons.
Anywho, didn't mean to talk your ear off. LOL
Give mama a hug for me and grab me a cookie on your way out the door!
!tip
Visiting Mom is the true priority, so I can justify putting off anything to do that. :)
I don't think I ever went to church that early unless it was an Easter sunrise service maybe. I sometimes like to go to the 9 am service so that I can happily go to church, but still be out early enough to still enjoy it being morning and be beat the 12 o'clock traffic if I want to go somewhere after. :)
Today I didn't get up till 8:30 as I stayed up late last night too..... because I could.
That is some story about the woman arsonist. Even targeting abandoned places backfires as sometimes homeless people dwell in them. Glad they caught her. I know that had to be a scary time for anyone who had property there.
Now worries, I like my ears talked off ! LOL I never get tired of you.
Oh.... I hadn't thought about there could be cookies out there. All the better if there is ! Actually, since Tommy's alzheimers has progressed (which a specialist doctor believes may be parkenson's instead).... and he doesn't drive, they don't leave the house as much. Mom drives fine, but Tommy is scared of her driving and sometimes refuses to go wherever..... and of course he can't stay by himself. She is handling it all as well as you could hope, but that doesn't keep it from being stressful. Therefore, she needs more company coming in and out to break up the monotony for her.
Oh, yes. I know it too well. God bless you, El. I was hoping mama had a stash of cookies, you know?
Sometimes, I cannot believe doctors. Did they even do a brain MRI on Tommy? I wish for Parkinson's over the sad state of Alzheimer's. I cannot even believe I made a choice of illnesses like spinning a Wheel of Fortune bonus round.
Your mom is a heck of a woman. And why does God give us this crap in our twilight years? I know I was promised a rose garden when I got older. I was! I think.
Company is good for mom. And tag teaming even better. So one can stay home with Tommy and the other can take mom out for lunch or shopping or even a manicure. Oh, wait... that is for me. The manicure. Let me take mom. Then we can both get a mani-pedi... God knows, we both need one.
I also thought of the homeless people and the arsonist. Although, that is not a problem over there. They have shelters but for the most part, relatives take care of their own over there. Small, tight-knit communities. Unlike here, where people come to earn the big bucks and fall into poverty trying to keep it all up.
Well, missy, I am up early, so I might as well go have coffee with God. Know what I mean? And you better get cracking girl. Mama is waiting.
Have a Sublime Sunday! You deserve it!
You never know about Moma, she could have had a baking spell and no telling what could be there. I usually try to take some fun food with me when I go.
I know Tommy had a lot of tests, but you know how it is, I certainly don't know what all. So many types of dementia have similar symptoms and I believe they pronounce alzheimers way too fast. There is a woman doctor from Kenya who has come in to the office where Tommy sees his dementia doctor and she is the one who has caught it. I think she specializes in Parkinson's and of course not all Parkinson's includes trimmers, which is normally the dead give away, but fortunately a symptom Tommy doesn't have. Tommy was telling some sort of story about something that happened a couple of days before his appointment and she looked at Mom for a denial or confirmation, only to see Mom confirm that what he told was correct. He also recognized the doctor after having only met her the appointment before. That began that doctor's interest in trying a few things to see if they might indicate that it was in fact Parkinson's instead as that would not be normal for alzheimers. They are still changing meds around and observing.
My two sisters went out to entertain him while Mom took off for a while last Wednesday morning. We have been asking her and asking her for a long while what we can do to help, but up till now, I think she thought she had it all in hand. Now... I believe she will start taking us up on it a little more. She's 84 !
Have fun on your God and coffee time !
Parkinson's is so hard to diagnose as they have no specific neurological test to prove or disprove it. Like many other disorders, they can only observe and review the signs and symptoms.
You are right. Tremors are the big one that affects so many people with it, but, I am sure that one day soon, something will present itself so they can point a definitive finger at it. You should ask your mom is he had a brain MRI. They are usually pretty good at determining Alzheimer's.
But, I am happy to hear that your mom is getting out. That is the #1 important thing right now. Because people with illness in the house tend to isolate themselves. Good that you are all there for her!
Have a beautiful Sunday...
Oh!! God said hello! Hehe!
Oh ! God is such a comedian. I guess He just wanted me to know that he is not only here right now, but that he is there right now too.
Heading out now to the grocery store to pick up a few things for Mom on the way. Fun fun !
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Thanks !......ever so much.
My pleasure!
This post right here is just awesome!!! It really deserves a huge upvote! Every photo was just perfectly captured in sepia! Even so much more cool hearing and seeing your dad in these really made it!!!! Well done Jacey!
Thank you !
I was right proud myself of how my post came together. I'm glad you like it.
Looks like I got that huge upvote you said it deserved. Wow.... What a happy surprise first thing on this rainy Sunday morning. I had to look twice. I couldn't believe my own eyeballs. LOL !!!
I know it is your first big vote and so well deserved. I thought the pictures were great and the writing was great. Very well done! Thanks for doing Sepia Saturday proud!
I have the upmost respect in the world for firefighters and the risks they take to protect us so hats off to you dad
This was so interesting to read about your experiences with him and his experience in the field
Thank you !
My Dad loved what he did and was very serious about it.
My Dad was a good cook. When he was a firefighter (before the state job), each man would take turns being responsible for the meals each day. A lot of the men either were not good cooks or just didn't like too. Since Dad could easily put on a great meal, many times the others would ask him if he would cook in their place. As part of the deal, not only did they do all the clean up on the days he cooked in their place, they also did the clean up when it was Dad's day to prepare the meal. Everybody was happy ! :)
I think your dad got the best of the deal, the cooking I dont mind, the cleanup I hate so I would happily make the deal he made :)
I'm a fairly decent cook myself and I would also take that deal any time ! clean up..... yuck ! :)
For sure only those who have no idea how to cook or cook badly would not want the deal
These are great in sepia. You really catch the mood this way. And they look older than they are. The photo with your brother turned out great.
I have also heard of some firefighters who set fires. I guess they like them no matter how they come. For me - I stay as far away as I can!
Thank you !
The firetruck photo did take on a nice hue when I changed it. I was pleased and I'm glad you liked it.
Fire IS very fascinating, but equally dangerous too. It takes quite the brave person to walk in a burning building. Not me..... I would have to think someone I knew and loved was inside before I could consider braving it.... and still.... I'm not sure I could !
Your dad, and all of them are very brave. I tweeted your post with share2steem and I already have firefighters looking at it!
Oh ! how nice !
Cool story @jacey.boldart Although they are just practicing, but it appears as if everything is for real. Loved all the pictures. The vintage look makes them quite impressive.
Thanks for sharing. For me, It was something new to see and know about 😀
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Thank you !
Many communities have volunteer fire fighters. They normally have full time jobs doing something else, but when a call comes out that there is a local fire, they drop what they are doing and respond. Since they are not full time firemen, they didn't always have access to extensive training like a regular fire department would have. No matter how good your intentions, you never know how you will react to fighting a real fire. Getting a chance to have an almost real practice helped make sure they knew, not only how to fight a real fire, but how to make sure they didn't become a casualty themselves.
Thanks for coming over and leaving me a comment. I appreciate it.
Good to know :) Have a great day.
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Wonderful old photos, Jacey! My dad was a volunteer firefighter, too. Our telephone had a special ring whenever a fire call came in and as kids we were not allowed to pick up those calls. Congrats on your @c-squared and curie votes! They are well deserved!
The Bat Phone ! ha ha.....
Thanks ! They were certainly a VERY nice surprise.
It was always startling when it rang, especially in the middle of the night.
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Wow ! Thank you SO much !
Great shots!
Thank you !
.. .and thanks for taking the time to leave me a comment. I appreciate it. :)
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Thanks !