2011 Firefighter Stair Climb
- Thread starter DaveS
- Start date
Sea Wolf":oshsrw1d said:
Joe, we are breathing compressed air...like in a SCUBA tank....no additives... :roll: ....they are demand regulators, so it takes a slight inspiration to deliver the air to us....(as opposed to "free flowing").
Many of the folks (ie: younger generation) had music blasting in their ears through their I-PODS as they were doing the climb. As for me, I had my mind on thoughts of what those borthers and sisters in the New York City Fire Department were thinking of when they scrambled up the steps of the Twin Towers in 9/11 in the hopes of mitigating an impossible situation.
Dave said:
Dave, They all knew the possibilities, just like you do when you go out on a call. No one ever expects to not come back, and we always hope for a good outcome, the difference is that some are willing to put their life on the line, and do on a regular basis, for those who never think about it.
Thanks Dave, for being there, all those times., and to your brothers and sisters here that do the same thing. (WillC for one, and There are others, Marty did for some time, Barry (C-Cakes) and others I don't know.)
Harvey
SleepyC :moon
Dave, They all knew the possibilities, just like you do when you go out on a call. No one ever expects to not come back, and we always hope for a good outcome, the difference is that some are willing to put their life on the line, and do on a regular basis, for those who never think about it.
Thanks Dave, for being there, all those times., and to your brothers and sisters here that do the same thing. (WillC for one, and There are others, Marty did for some time, Barry (C-Cakes) and others I don't know.)
Harvey
SleepyC :moon
In the thread entitled "Introducing The Live Aboard Sleep Center", Harvey and Roger (Rogerbum) made mention of my rappelling from the Columbia Tower so I'll move Roger's question to this thread to answer it, so as to not "hi-jack" the other thread.
Roger (Rogerbum) wrote, "I was interested in the comment about rappelling also. From how far up did you rappel? It seems like you'd need a pretty long rope to rappel the entire distance but you definitely don't want to get started with a rope that's too short. :shock: "
In 1999, I was privileged to be one of about 25 Technical Rescue Technicians that took a 7 day advanced High Angle Rope Rescue class. With the exception of one rescue technician from the Honolulu Fire Department, the rest of us were from the State of Washington. We performed various simulated rescues from cliffs, cell phone towers, radio towers, a Seattle Port crane and on the last day of our training we found ourselves on the top of the Columbia Tower at 0500 HRS on a Sunday morning.
Before each scenario was announced the instructor asked for volunteers to play different roles. When I volunteered, I was assigned the task of being an unconscious victim dangling from the end of a rope...also known as a "dope on a rope"... :roll: . That being said, a 150 foot rope was tied off on the top of the Columbia Tower and I self-rappelled over the edge and down about 75 feet where I "tied off" and dangled there about 20-30 minutes before another rescue tech was lowered down to me with a stokes basket. He then secured me into the stokes and signaled the "haul team" above to raise us back up to the top of the building. (This all transpired before the Kingdome was imploded, so I have a picture of me dangling from the rope with the Kingdome in the background below me.)
Later in the morning when one of my partners volunteered, he was tasked with being lowered all the way down to the street. (We had three 1,200 foot rescue ropes). He tied off to two of the ropes (one for a main line and one for a belay line). We lowered him down to the ground and then one of the two lines was walked across the street and secured to a Seattle Fire Truck. This line then became a tracking line for subsequent scenarios that were performed the rest of the day.
Several pictures that were taken during the day were sent to me the following week and I would post a couple of them on the site if anyone was interested, however I will need the assistance of one of our local C-Brat nerds in order to accomplish that as they would have to be scanned.
Roger (Rogerbum) wrote, "I was interested in the comment about rappelling also. From how far up did you rappel? It seems like you'd need a pretty long rope to rappel the entire distance but you definitely don't want to get started with a rope that's too short. :shock: "
In 1999, I was privileged to be one of about 25 Technical Rescue Technicians that took a 7 day advanced High Angle Rope Rescue class. With the exception of one rescue technician from the Honolulu Fire Department, the rest of us were from the State of Washington. We performed various simulated rescues from cliffs, cell phone towers, radio towers, a Seattle Port crane and on the last day of our training we found ourselves on the top of the Columbia Tower at 0500 HRS on a Sunday morning.
Before each scenario was announced the instructor asked for volunteers to play different roles. When I volunteered, I was assigned the task of being an unconscious victim dangling from the end of a rope...also known as a "dope on a rope"... :roll: . That being said, a 150 foot rope was tied off on the top of the Columbia Tower and I self-rappelled over the edge and down about 75 feet where I "tied off" and dangled there about 20-30 minutes before another rescue tech was lowered down to me with a stokes basket. He then secured me into the stokes and signaled the "haul team" above to raise us back up to the top of the building. (This all transpired before the Kingdome was imploded, so I have a picture of me dangling from the rope with the Kingdome in the background below me.)
Later in the morning when one of my partners volunteered, he was tasked with being lowered all the way down to the street. (We had three 1,200 foot rescue ropes). He tied off to two of the ropes (one for a main line and one for a belay line). We lowered him down to the ground and then one of the two lines was walked across the street and secured to a Seattle Fire Truck. This line then became a tracking line for subsequent scenarios that were performed the rest of the day.
Several pictures that were taken during the day were sent to me the following week and I would post a couple of them on the site if anyone was interested, however I will need the assistance of one of our local C-Brat nerds in order to accomplish that as they would have to be scanned.
Captains Cat
New member
Wow! Yes, if you can get the help, I'd sure like to see those pictures. I can't imagine even bringing three 1200' lines up to the top of an 80 story building. That, in itself, was a feat, not to mention going down one of them! Great thread Dave!
Charlie
Charlie
Good Morning Dave,
We watched the stair climb on TV. Thought maybe we'd see you as we knew you were in training. We know, too, that you stay in shape all the time and take good care of yourself.
Anyway, I thought I was in great shape because I do 30+ military push-ups every day in addition to the same number of sit-ups, leg lifts and deep squats. THEN we decided to paint the great room because after 12 years the old shack was in need of some paint. Moved out all the furniture and built an 8 foot high scaffold. Up and down the darn thing for five days. I am so sore after all of that I think I'm going to have to extend my workout. My helper did the masking and trim work but please take some advice from a guy older than you...should someone you know and love mention that something needs to be painted...suggest taking a boating trip somewhere.
Joe
R-MATEY
We watched the stair climb on TV. Thought maybe we'd see you as we knew you were in training. We know, too, that you stay in shape all the time and take good care of yourself.
Anyway, I thought I was in great shape because I do 30+ military push-ups every day in addition to the same number of sit-ups, leg lifts and deep squats. THEN we decided to paint the great room because after 12 years the old shack was in need of some paint. Moved out all the furniture and built an 8 foot high scaffold. Up and down the darn thing for five days. I am so sore after all of that I think I'm going to have to extend my workout. My helper did the masking and trim work but please take some advice from a guy older than you...should someone you know and love mention that something needs to be painted...suggest taking a boating trip somewhere.
Joe
R-MATEY
R-Matey":unqverbt said:
Joe, talk about a "timely post". This is EXACTLY what Carol has in mind for this weekend. She has been most patient with me for the past three months as I trained for the stair climb. I'm guessing she isn't going to "buy into" any "song and dance" from me, that I'm not in adequate physical shape to paint.... :roll: . No Boating This Weekend....
.(P. S. Didn't I hear sometime ago that on your birthdays you do one pushup for every year of birth?.....You're my Idol.... :thup ).