Parade and a Job..

Hey all,

This past Saturday I took my son to the annual Harrisburg Irish Day Parade in the Capital City. Weather was a little chilly, but overall it was nice.

                                       One of the bagpipers warming up

                                              Past and future

                                        Drummers

The premire truck company in Harrisburg, being driven by none other then Brad Myers Of Brad Myers Photography

Later on that evening, I talked to Brad and I came up to the station and visited with him and Brian Bastinell(Of Brian Bastinelli photography) We were sitting in the kitchen talking when we found out about a large fire in Reading PA in a warehouse. Did not think too much of it, was on my way home when a friend called me and told me he was heading up to get photos and he had a friend on the scene still confirming heavy fire. So I decided to go up and this is what I saw..

A 51,000 square foot 3 story vacant furniture warehouse, well off with 2 homes that were attached to it also burned

Reading Engine 3 on a Hydrant down 2nd Street with the fire building in the background

                                      Top of the warehouse  

                                    Tower Ladder from Reading Flowing water onto the fire

Few more shots of the fire. Folks, I know times are tough but this is another example of why you do not lay off firemen. Reading's staffing is 2 per rig and thats it. The initial alarm brought 10-12 guys to the scene, 12 guys for a Fully Involved 51,000 square foot building. The FD did a damn good job in keeping the fire from taking anymore homes and possibly, even the block. Yes, Reading did call in outside help but regardless, Firemen should not be laid off. Period..

Off my soapbox now...

Have a great day!
                    

City Life...

So after work yesterday, I decided to drive up to Harrisburg and do a little night time photography and practice some things with the new camera...

These are a few of my favorites..

Time for bed, have a great day!

Let's increase the mayor's staff but cut the FD?!?! WTF!!!

(Photo Design and Credit To Brian Bastinelli)

Hey Everyone,

The more I read about what the mayor in Harrisburg is trying to do to the Fire Department just pisses me off more and more.

The idiot mayor is attempting to layoff 10-15 firefighters and shut down a firehouse in the downtown section of Harrisburg and sell two pieces of fire apparatus. YET the mayor in all her infinite wisdom has stated that response times will not be affected but she wants to boost her staff while slashing the FD???!?!?! Seriously?!?!

This after the fact of a tragic fire in the city where five lives were lost and she is intent on slashing her "volunteer" fire department as she puts it. Yes, the Harrisburg Mayor is that stupid she called a career department volunteer.

My own opinon as to why she wants to shut down this particular firehouse?? When she was elected, she lost big time in that district. So her wanting to do that is nothing more then political retribution.

Folks, I understand that times are tough and that cuts have to be made. Public Safety is NOT an area that should be cut, but yet time and time again it is one of the VERY FIRST to hit the chopping block. As I said, the mayor wants to increase her staff budget by a large sum of $$(I do not know the exact amount) and also her staff. The mayor also wants to buy a $6,000 camera just so she can take pictures of her at events and with her "constituients"

Does that sound like responsible government to you??

Does that sound like someone who is responsible and capable to lead a city??

I did not think so...

The Harrisburg Bureau Of Fire is one of the most well trained and one of the best departments in Pennsylvania. Some people may think that all their local FD does is sit around and wait for a call. They also do Medical Calls, Inspections, Fire Preventions, Trainings just to name a few. Harrisburg is also a member of PA USTF1 which is a urban search and rescue team and was one of the teams activated to respond to the attacks at Ground Zero on 9/11.

The mayor is basing all this on her "consulting" firm that she spent a large sum of $$ on to help Harrisburg get out of their mony problem. This firm who has NO experts on their staff in the fire service and have no experiance in the fire service are deciding what's best for the public's safety.

Does not really make sense to me. Would you rather have people who are not from the area and have no clue what life is like in your town base a desicion like that without a clue as to what they are talking about??

Folks, if you have a situation like this in your town.... Layoff's and shutting a firehouse are NOT the way to go, demand to your leaders that they look for cuts elsewhere..

Do you really want to take a chance with your family if a firehouse is shutdown?? I know I would not..

Ok, I normally don't go off on a political tangent but I needed to vent..

Stay Safe!

More Structure Collapse Photos From Lancaster City..

More From Lancaster City. The above photo is a meeting at the CP. The Task Force Team Leader is meeting with the two search dog handlers. One being from the Lancaster County Rescue TaskForce and the other from Harrisburg Bureau Of Fire Department(I would assume PATF1?? Brad or Brian, feel free to correct me If that is not correct) There was a concern there were people possibly trapped who were on the sidewalk when the collapse occured. Fortunatly, there was nobody found.

This photo is one of the task force team members reviewing a diagram of the overall incident scene on which buildings were evacuated.

One of the task force team members monitoring the building with a transit. Basically, my understanding of the device. It is like a scope, you set the device to mark a certain section of the building with crosshairs and you monitor to see if there is any movement. These type of calls are very long and can be manpower intensvive, especially if there is a life hazard issue. The biggest concern is the safety to the first responders and the public. The second concern is to be aware of the possiblity of a secondary collapse. The decision was made at the scene that the building needed to be brought down in a controlled manner for everyone's safety.

Thanks to a friend of mine who works in the County Engineers Office, he was able to get me roof top access so I could shoot some aerial shots of the scene. This is 7 stories up, looking towards the north of the city.

Here is another aerial shot. If you look to the right, next to the Village NightClub on Water Street, is the back of the former Public Safety building which was shared by the city police and fire departments. This used to be Fire Station 5 which was Fire Headquarters at the time.

Harrisburg Bravest...

Today's photos are from the Harrisburg ST. Patricks Day Parade back in March. The photos are members of the Harrisburg Bureau Of Fire marching being followed by Harrisburg Tower 3.

More Irish Parade...

Hey everyone,

More photos from the parade staging area. This is to the rear of the Capital Complex actually on the steps of the capital looking east towards the State Street bridge which connects you from the Allison Hill area of Harrisburg to the Downtown section..

Have a great day!

Harrisburg ST Patricks Day Parade

Hey everyone,

Hope things are going well. These are photos from the annual ST. Patricks day parade held in Harrisburg. The first four photos are from the staging area around the Capital Complex. The fifth photo was taken in Steelton, just south of Harrisburg. They had the rigs parked across the street and my son wanted to see them. So I found a place to park and we were checking them out. I saw the church in the background behind the firehouse and thought that would be a cool photo.

That is all, have a great day!

Wyatt and a statue...

Hey Everyone,

Hope you are having a great week. These were taken this past summer along Front Street by the Harvey Taylor Memorial Bridge. Wyatt and I were attending the KAPONA festival and were taking a walk when he noticed the series of statues. I believe it is actually a tribute or a memorial for PENN DOT workers that were killed on the job. The first thing he spots is the dump truck. He walks over and says hi to the little boy holding the truck. He kind of stands there for a moment checking things out and then decides he wants to play on the truck.

He kept wanting to leave with it till I had to explain to him that it was not real. He still had fun though..

Have a great day!



PS... I also want to say Welcome to a few new followers of my blog that I recently just noticed. Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you keep coming back and don't be afraid to leave a comment or two...

Fire in Da' Burg...My favorite fire photos from the year...

Hey Everyone,

Hope your week is going well. I cannot believe it is December already!

Ok, before I talk about the photos. Has anyone else been having problems with blogger?? Everytime I go to do a scheduled post, when I check the blog it shows it reverted back to draft. This morning, someone left me a comment and it shows 0 Comments initially but if you click on the post, the comment is there??


Any advice, suggestions???


Now to the photos, these were taken back in March of this year. I had buffed one fire in the city at the old Spot's restaurant on 2nd street in the downtown. As I was leaving the city, I hear Harrisburg Wagon 3 go available on my scanner. The dispatcher states for "Wagon 3, standby and prepare to copy" So I kind of pulled off to the side of the road, The box was then struck for a house fire on S 13th street in the 100 block with multiple calls being received. I was right at S 13th street, so I made a left turn and away I went.

I arrived right behind Harrisburg Tower 1 after parking well out of the way(Golden rule of fire photography, Don't get blocked in and in the way) and walked up and shot some photos. Out of all the fire photos I have taken this year, these seem to be my favorite ones. I honestly don't know why.

I don't know if it was because I got there early enough and was able to get some decent shots, I just think these are my best photos of the year. Don't worry, I divide my fire photos and family photos. I'll post my favorite family photos down the road.

Hope you have a great day and I hope my scheduled post works this time!

Summer photos from Harrisburg...

Hey Everyone,

Hope you are having a good week. This is my long weekend to work UGH. Oh well.

These were taken this past summer, well 3 were and one was taken last year. The 3rd one was when Wyatt had just turned about 13 months old, I took him up to the annual Fire Expo in Harrisburg and this was his first ever photo with a fire truck. I saw Tower 2 in the parking lot and decided to take his picture. The other photos were from this year when we went to the Kapona Festival. Wyatt is sitting on Tower 2 in the famed uptown firehouse and then we stopped by Station 6 and Wyatt wanted to pose on the bench in front of the firehouse.

I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. I look at the photo when he was in a stroller to now and can't believe how big he has gotten and how he has developed into his own little personality.

Brad or any of my other Harrisburg friends that read my blog, can you tell me the history or the story behind the plaque hanging on the outside wall behind where Wyatt is sitting??

Have a great weekend!

Woody

Metro Bank Stadium....

Home to the Harrisburg Senators...

Karate Demonstration..

Hello everyone,

Two more days till I am on vacation!! Woohoo!! These are some more photos from the Kapona Festival. The Karate Demo/Competetion was very interesting to watch. These were taken in the garages on City Island at the Metro Bank Ballpark, home of the Harrisburg Senators...