Brrrrrrrrrrrrr it's cold

It's below 30 degrees and people are driving crazy. Here Kyle Bieber (tallest guy in the KFD) and myself, (fiercest guy in the KFD) are next to a car driven by two young ladies. They were seat belted in and both were pretty young ladies so the young firefighters took real good care of them. Me being an old guy stayed out of the Aid car and put out traffic cones to protect my engine and got my picture taken. It's what I do...

Twas the Night Before Christmas at the Fire House

T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the firehouse...
Not a creature was stirring, not even the fire mouse.

The bunkers were hung in the rig compartments with care...
In hopes that in a house fire they soon would be worn there.

The Firefighters were nestled all snug in there racks...
With visions of aid calls, fires and CPR heart attacks.

Captain T in his boxers and a fire Tee shirt he wore...
Lay down for a long winters night and thru the door you could hear him snore.

Then over the intercom there arose such a clatter...
The crews of Engine and Aid 71 awoke to see what was a matter.

I sprang from my rack to the response of the call...
With Scotty, Dave, Paul, and BR chasing me down the hall.

Out the bay doors the rigs flew like a flash ...
With Paul Lyons getting so excited he threw up on the dash.

The opticoms bounced off the snow flakes of the new falling snow...
As Keith drove the engine medium fast not slow

Then what to our wondering eyes should appear...
But a red glow on a two story single family residence in the nights sky and we all yelled with a cheer.

More rapid then eagles the firefighters came...
For we had to move fast before the house ended up in a large ball of red flame.

As engine 71 arrived Captain T yelled for an axe and a TIC...
Then Tom the Battalion Chief got there and yelled out the attack commands so lively and quick.

Now 71 attacks the fire, and 73 be RIT...
76 pull the ceiling and Ladder 74 you guys get to the roof and vent.

To the top of the porch to the fire in the hall now dash away dash away dash away all.

The blower was started and in the front door it's wind like a hurricane blew...
With the guys on ladder 74 climbing the Aerial and to the roof like a cat they flew.

Starting their saws and cutting to the peak with glee...
When astonished they bumped into three reindeer's times two, plus another three.

Meanwhile the guys in the house were soaking the fireplace down...
When Santa made that fateful choice to climb in the chimney and almost drown.

He came out of the hearth soaked and matted from head to foot...
With his clothes washed clean from all the ashes and soot.

His soaked bag of toys lay across his back...
And for a moment it looked like the jolly old boy might be having a heart attack.

Then a piece of wet sheet rock from the ceiling fell with Santa beneath...
And smoke from the fireplace encircled his head, now exposed, like a wreath.

But a wink of his eye and a twist of his head...
Soon gave me to know there was nothing to dread.

Quietly he stood and pointing through the roofs hole...
It was obvious that Rudolf, not a fire, was the source of that red glow.

A few gifts lighter then up the attic ladder Santa arose...
And so Captain T radioed to me to stop the water and start rolling up the hose.

Santa sprang to his sleigh as we all called it a night...
And the red glow was soon lost, in the darkness, to the firefighter’s sight.

But he was heard faintly to say as we were getting ready to leave the scene...
Merry Christmas to all units and to all units’ code green.

Bunkers: Fire clothes
TIC: Thermal imaging camera
Blower: Large Fan
RIT: Rapid entry team
Opticom: Turns trafic lights green
Code Green: return to quarters

Another Rainey night..

Went on a pretty cool accident but I couldn't get a picture of the cars. Here Paul and David F. are treating a patient.

They didn't want to be saved!

We were called in to save three men in a capsized boat off of Salty's in Puget Sound.
They sent us and our boat, two other engines, a Medic Unit, Coast Guard helicopter, and special rescue truck only to find three birds on a log. Not only did they not want rescuing they refused medical treatment!

"Not the Gait Belt!'

WARNING! The following contains ADULT firefighter content. Do not read if you do not have a sense of humor.

The following is an explanation to the department medical supply staff wanting to know the Engine and Station number of where they were sending the gait belt and how the Gait belt was damaged.

TONES!!! Engine 73, Medic 7 respond to "666 Anywhere Street" (a.k.a. drug alley)for an unconscious 35 year old female in the bath tub. Aroused from a "Power nap" I lope to the engine and fire up "Big Red" and with the boys on board skillfully like an INDY driver respond with lights and sirens to the location. Well as you can imagine my mind pictures a 35year old fit female in the tub and I say to myself that I might need to protect this young lady from the young boys but then when the short report comes in over the radio that the patient has overdosed on Methadone I picture a gaunt, toothless female with track marks along the femoral artery and so my mind shifts gears and I think, " I may need to protect the boys from the female".
As we arrive and grab our kits we rush in and meet a late 50's male at the door telling us the female is his sons girlfriend but the son is in treatment (your kidding) and he does not know her well and not sure if she overdosed. (Uh Ha) Well we barge into the bathroom prepared to save a life, but to our horror she was not a 110 gaunt recovering heroin addict, but a 450lb.(+) heroin addict soaking wet with only a long T-shirt on! At that time I tell the Captain we must have the wrong address and so we both went back outside to check the number on the front and to our horror,it was the RIGHT address. Running back in I look and see probationary firefighter Tonga standing there with kits in hand asking,"What do you want me to do Keith?" I yell drop the kits, jump in the tub, grab a leg and Pullll. With the Captain on the torso, Tonga on the legs and me grabbing an arm and yelling, Pull...Pull...Pulll I realized it was fruitless and so told the Captain we needed to enlist the "Gait Belt" and he concurred. So out came the 60" strap which Tonga then wrapped around the torso and on the count of three with two men on the gait belt and Tonga on the legs we pulled in unison and was able to get her to the cornice of the tubs edge. With the Captain and I high fiving to our success our celebration was cut short as we saw her start to roll off the edge of the tub towards the unsuspecting Tonga. I yelled at the Rookie to run but if you get caught under the patient just start to swim, and if buried form an "air pocket" and we'll get you out as soon as we can! With Tonga's life in peril the Captain and I like two linebackers hit her upper body spinning her in such a way as to deflect the weight so that the Rook's life was spared. Now with our unconscious, slow breathing patient on the floor we had to move her to the living room so we could have some "working space". Dragging wet flesh on linoleum takes a Herculean effort but when we hit the carpet, Oh My Gosh! I NOW have empathy for the slaves moving the Egyptian pyramid blocks. Needless to say by the time we hit the middle of the living room the three of us were exhausted to the point that when the medics arrived and entered the room there were four bodies laying on the floor. Assuming the patient was the one without a badge, the Medics yelled the battle cry "Kurrahee" stirring us into what I can only describe as a super human effort to perform and tackled the challenge of saving another human life. Now with her T- shirt all a tussle I grabbed EMS scissors yelling at Tonga to get ready to hook up the Life pack 12 (LP-12)patches to her chest once exposed. Cutting like a beaver through a birch tree I started at the bottom heading for the neck. At the point where I was cutting over the breasts and through the "Got milk" logo on the T-shirt I suddenly hit a harder pliable substance. To my horror, for the fourth time, I froze and started to look for blood gushing because I thought for sure I had buzzed into the left breast.
Quickly yelling for an "Asherman Chest seal" STAT! to plug the open chest wound I pulled back the T-shirt and realized the material I cut was not soft tissue but the "Gait Belt". Yahoo.... wait a minute.....Ohhh Nooo... my mind being at ease was short lived as I now pictured "Commandant Kingpen" in charge of department medical acquisitions yelling at me and threatening the firing squad for destroying Fire Department Property. So as you can see it was under maximum stress I entered the request and as such forgot my apparatus and station number.
Sorry
Firefighter Kepler.

PS. The Young Lady Lived...

The last few weeks

Here hunter and I are at the train station waiting for "Thomas". Hunter was asking me questions and I was answering to the best of my ability hoping that I knew the difference between a engine, boxcar, bird, plane etc.

I had a chance last Saturday night to spend time with one of my favorite people. I've known Adrianne since she was about six and I home taught her parents. We have stayed in touch over the years and she is like a daughter to me. Here we are at the church building and her husband "Lee" just  got baptized.  I just told her that if Lee dosn't treat her nice all the time I'll hurt him by using my massive body to "fall on him".

Here MarLa is hard at work. I've never seen anybody study as hard as her. And I mean that seriously. In this shot "Fat Cat" has decided that she needs some me time. Meowing didn't work and walking past the computer screen got a frustrated breath so she fell on her belly, which she does often, and pushed against MarLa's arm getting a slight movement of two

fingers which brought emmense satisfaction.

 Swung Hunter by the firestation to see "Big Red".  There probabley be a few more pictures like this over he years.  I feel bad compeating with Daryl, Ryan's Dad.  He shows Hunter his tool belt and electrical wire cutters and fancy wire strippers and I show Hunter the fire engine.  No competition!  Whats that you say?  Hunter wants to be a chiropractor....oh well.

No that is not Lance Armstrong on Steroids!

It's 7:00 in the morning and I just pulled into work.  I'm on my third year of riding my bike
to work and I've logged over 3000 miles in the last three years of riding. Last winter I had to not ride on four different days due to snow otherwise its year round riding. I started my third year in July and love the summer months but winter can be fun too. Riding with snow flakes falling is like going warp drive on the Enterprise.  My coldest ride in the morning was a starting temp of 20 degrees, but with proper gear I stayed pretty warm.  The ride is about 11 miles and the majority is a bike trail along the Green River so it is beautiful. I've seen Owls, hawks, rabbits, and coyotes. Soon there will be frost and ice and so I will put my studded bike tires on for better traction. You may be thinking right about now that  I am in super shape.  Lets just say that my legs look pretty good but needless to say my stomach is not a six pack.  I like to think of it as a "one keg". Well hope to see you on the trail.

Jared takes me to the "Battle in Seattle"

Well it finally is starting to happen,

Yep Jared, a.k.a. "Mr. Deep Pockets", bought me a ticket to the Central Washington University vs. Eastern Oregon University game at the Qwest field in Seattle. It was my first time at the field and even with only 5000 in attendance the noise was incredible. I can't imagine 70,000 screaming fans at a Hawks game. We'll Jared got great seats for me, Bridgette, and a friend Ryan at about 12 rows up on the 50 yard line. It was a doozy of a game. We were down 20 to zip at the half and it was looking grim. Well they put in a new QB and needless to say we won 21 to 20 with their field goal kicker missing a 49 yarder with about 4 seconds left. Like I said the noise was amazing and the field was beautiful. A great game and a great time with Jared.

One old Dawg has learned a new trick

Okay so Ari Anna says,
" Dad you need to be a blogger. You'd be great at it!"
And so I began the journey of Blogging. I tried Face Book but I do not like the format. I figure if folks are interested about what I'm up to I should provide a smaller group of people better quality material. And to be honest the Farm and Mafia type activities throw my mind into disconsolation. I saw on a news article that about 40% of those on face book spend more awake time on viritual reality life than actuality interacting in real life. And for a man born in the 50's that is a sad commentary on our society. So I venture out on this new avenue of communication with the hope that family and friends, who I'd love to see frequently but the all mighty dollar keeps me from seeing, will have a way to view pictures and thoughts from Dad, Brother, Uncle, and Friend Keith. So I hope you enjoy. I have a new cell phone that takes good pictures and AriAnna educated me on how to insert them so get ready for some great shots.
I'm thinking I'll try my hand at humor too but I'll leave it up to you if you find it funny or the fruits of a sick mind.

Me!!

This is me at work, You can't see her but I'm standing next to a 90's year old young lady who wanted a picture with a "firefighter". I very much enjoy my job. I find the older woman now find me attractive (finally!) and I have to say I have quite the way with the older woman. I do have to be careful though for when I take their pulse the very touch of my hand to theirs throws them into arrhythmia's and sub sternal chest pain. Don't tell MarLa.
In my church we do service and are told that, "you are storing up blessings in Heaven." when you serve. Well as a firefighter I get to serve and get immediate returns. Returns now and returns later. I'm a lucky guy.