We were up and on deck early this morning (5:30 am!) in order to get a good spot for glacier viewing…we entered Glacier National Park at 6:00 am and passed lots of sea life…sea otters, sea lions, dolphins, and even whales! None were close enough for good pictures, but still fun to see. Here are some of the great glacier pictures we captured…
We woke up this morning in Skagway, our second stop on the inland passage. Today we both took the same excursion; a trip to a dog sled camp. One of the other popular trips was a train ride up through the white pass and it was cool to see that the train picked up right outside the gangway.
Our cruise ship in Skagway and the White Pass train.
After a full day at sea (Day 2), we docked in Juneau on Tuesday at 2:00pm. We split up to participate in different excursions while on shore…Brad on a photo tour and Jodi on a tree canopy zip line tour. Here are some of the great pictures we took:
Juneau from the cruise ship…Although cold, it was clear and mostly sunny. Since you can only get to the capital city by boat or by plane, float planes were everywhere!
Brad’s photo tour to Mendenhall Glacier and other local sites…
Jodi’s Zip Line excursion….and on the way, we passed our first eagle!
We boarded the Norwegan Pearl Saturday around 1:30pm. Once on board we made our way to our stateroom where we found a wonderful Birthday surprise from Cindi & Jean (thanks, Moms!!!!)
We then watched the staff load our luggage and took a tour of the rest of the ship before our mandatory safety drill
We started our vacation a day early by driving into Seattle and taking in some of the sights. We took the Duck Tour and saw our ship
We then watched the ferry load and stopped by the fire station to check out our peeps
For Colton standards, the last three weeks have been a little slow, but we’ve still had the opportunity to make it on a few calls. We arrived at the station a little too late to make the apparatus on the first few calls, but then we got organized (gear in the truck, parking nose out, etc.). The first call we both made was for an unconscious man in the middle of the road. We were shocked to have made it on the Rescue Truck before it left the station! Turns out, the guy was just drunk. Our chief was on site first and roused the guy out of his unconscious stupor, so they recalled the rescue vehicle before we made it on scene. Since then, we both made it on a call for a sick elderly woman and a non-injury fall. Brad had made a few more calls since he is always so close to home…like an older guy crushed by a lathe. Then this Saturday, Jodi made her first REAL fire call! Brad had just walked out to the back of the property to play with his new gun when the page went out for a brush fire. Jodi jumped in the little truck and was third to arrive at the station! She was on Engine 125 with Chris and Kent and, once on site, was told to pull the pre-connect hose and work the nozzle (she got to be the one to actually put out the fire!) About an acre of land was burned… click below to hear the actual page from C-Com (AKA 9-1-1).
Page: C-Com Audio
Since we live on the far side of town, we know that we’re not always going to make it to the station in time to get on a rig. So, we decided to camp out overnight…and it worked! We were first on site for 2 calls the last two weekends!
Our last step in the fire academy was to actually fight a real fire in a house. This exercise is commonly referred to as a “Burn to Learn”. Because the Colton’s Burn to Learn house burned down prematurely, we were invited to participate in Canby’s (a neigboring department) exercise. Here we are at Canby’s station getting checked out before suiting up, and Brad & Jodi ariving on the burn site.
Out of all the firefighters on scene, Jodi was the first to go in on the hose! We went in the house in teams of 3, so Colton Firefighters Chris and Vern were close to back her up. We started by venting the windows, then entering the front door and working our way back to the fire using the attack line. Once at the room, Jodi and Chris had to make their way in by crawling on the floor in order to get close enough to the fire and put it out.
Brad went in on the attack line with several of the Canby firefighters
Brad and Jodi had a second opportunity to go in, this time together on the back up hose. Then we moved outside to ‘rehab’, and took some great pictures….
Then we moved to covering exposures – the homeowners were hoping to save the surrounding trees, and we were able to do so!
And the house is nearly down..
The Colton Crew (left to right) top row: Jodi, Vern, Tim, Brad, Doug, Miranda. Bottom row: Chris & Gary (the Chief)
Oh yeah, Brad found out while on site that Canby wouln’t allow goatees on their firefighters – so he had to shave his if he wanted to go in! Thankfully the resuce unit had a portable razor!
We were scheduled to burn our practice house on April 5th but, unfortunately, the house “mysteriously” burned down prematurely about 2 hours after the department practiced some fire drills in one of the rooms. News like this is sure to make the Molalla Pioneer!
The Colton Fire Department will be burning a house on April 5 as a “Burn To Learn” practice drill. As part of our fire academy, we had the chance to play in the burn house most of the day, practicing search & rescue while using the SCBAs, forcible entry, ladders, and rapid egress through walls. Our Instructor, Kent, along with Miranda & Chris helped us work through the drills.
Brad and Kent working on forcible entry and sounding the roof…
Kent and Jodi securing a foot hold in preparation to vent the roof…
From top to bottom: Miranda, Brad, Jodi & Kent
Jodi & Brad working with the ladder…
Colton’s Emergency vehicles…
Jodi & Brad setting up the positive pressure fan & Kent on the roof…
Miranda footing the ladder in the bushes…
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