firefighter thats afraid to fight fires

[ralph]

--- http://nypost.com/2015/05/17/firefighte ... colleague/ --- guy made about 74 thousand in a recent year !!

[GFB]

Good freaky-deaky stories today, Ralph.

[millergrovesue]

Wonder how he got the job in the first place.

[ralph]

thanks Greg , --- , I'd say a diversity or quota hire , think it says so in the text doesn't it Sue ?? Heck , I don't have the story but I HEAR that in Arizona they are hiring lifeguards that can't swim !! I'll go get the story if I can find it . I'm serious but didn't read the story !! ---------------------------------------------------------- as a comment , they needed to get rid of nepotism in some jobs so that they could make diversity and quota hiring seem acceptable and fair .

[ralph]

npr story --- http://www.npr.org/2013/03/28/175571277 ... lifeguards --- I guess that being able to do the 'dog paddle' is good enough if you meet their other criteria !!

[ann jusko]

This makes me furious. I have a real honest-to-goodness hero son in law. John was an Austin fightfighter and a volunteer fireman in Smithville. My daughter and family were returning from the museum on Hwy. 77. John's pager went off. He told my daughter he wasn't going to respond because they had their 3 little ones in the car. But they came up on the burning truck that was upside down in the ditch. John heard the boy's screams and ran in. The driver was upside down with a jammed seat belt. The passenger had no pulse (he wasn't using the seat belt). John had to saw that seat belt off with his knife, pulled the boy out. John didn't know how badly he was burned until the Bastrop fire chief said "John! You're burned!" The skin was hanging off his arms. A helicopter came and transported the driver to Brook Army Medical center. My daughter is telling me all this on her cell phone starting when John ran into the fire. I was frantic...4 hours away and couldn't get there. I was on the phone with her throwing stuff in a suitcase, etc. My poor babies....but I should have known.....John said he wanted ground transport and "get that kid to Brook!" I'm thinking the grands are freaking out. But John went over and talked to them very calmly and said "Daddy's going to get checked out by the doctor." Their next-door neighbor was also their day care provider and Angie got there quickly to get the kids. Carrin drove herself to Breckenridge. I went to take care of the kids. When John was finally discharged, he told Carrin he wanted to go to Bastrop high school to speak to the kids. He wanted them to know that he couldn't save the other boy because he wasn't wearing a seat belt and his neck was broken. Those high schoolers started a fund raiser for John. He immediately told them that he was fully covered. However, when they came to visit, they met the kids. John and Carrin's youngest has cerebral palsy, so the kids did a fundraiser for CP. He was also injured fighting the Bastrop fire. Smoke inhalation that affected his kidney function. That guy doesn't deserve to wear a fire fighter's uniform! Real fire fighters act in heroic manner THEY DON'T RUN AWAY!

[grouchy]

Ann you have good reason to be proud of him. Please tell him a grey bearded old fat sailor salutes him.

[RaisinCain]

Ann, your SIL is a real man. So proud of guys like him; a real hero.

[ann jusko]

I did forget to say that the young man lost his foot..... I did meet him and his parents when at John's "Phoenix" ceremony. The young man was still on crutches but in the process of getting his prosthetic foot. He'd started his first year of college.
John refused to go to New York for the ceremony so the committee decided to have it in Austin.
If anyone has driven through Bastrop since the fire...it's heart breaking. The pine trees were very stressed from the drought. A limb came down and fell on power lines. Wind was 45 mph and the conflagration started. The tall pines were just exploding. The firefighters' equipment just couldn't reach high enough and they did the only thing they could - GET PEOPLE OUT OF THERE! John and two others were evacuating people in the direct path. The older folks didn't want to go. John said they finally said "If you don't leave now, you will die." That got their attention. As he was trying to get a lady's pit bull, (it was the only way he could get her out of there) the fire came over the hill. The two firemen working with John got him out somehow. It is mind-boggling that only 2 people died. John was back on duty in 2 days but did listen and stayed off "the line". He got equipment, supplies, fuel for the fire trucks, etc. Miller Brewing company used one of their beer trucks to bring in drinking water and energy bars. The feds didn't get there till about the 4th day.

[truep]

Wonder how he got the job in the first place.

A liberal judge gave it to him!