How cool is this!!? I have to admit I actually shed a few tears when I watched this. This is reportedly happening at every shift change for a while now. The residents of Colorado Springs stand out on the street and cheer and celebrate the firefighters who are ending their shift at the Waldo Canyon fire, as well as the ones heading to their shift. Very very heartwarming, I'm glad that people are still willing to celebrate our hereos here stateside!
Colorado Springs residents cheer firefighters at every shift change
- Thread starter Ben E.
- Start date
That's alot better than the last crew I worked on where teenagers stopped on the street and yell profanities at the fire fighters then have someone else run helter scelter with an suv through camp chasing after them.
Grotonems5
Member
Steve0625
Member
Donslock said:
Fire hoses and the trucks to pump water through them have multiple uses, you know.... A wet teen is a lot easier to spot in a crowd.
Just sayin'.
FireEMSPolice
Member
jswwjw
Member
FireEMSPolice
Member
mcpd2025
Member
JazzDad said:
Whoa, whoa, whoa... don't try to turn this around and blame the citizens for speeding. Its OBVIOUSLY entrapment. They wouldn't have been speeding if they knew there was a cop there.
HFD eng1ine
Member
Lt. Dino
Member
jmc519
Member
hawkspringsfire
Member
That reminds me of back in 2005 when I was helping fight a federal fire in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The people there would do the same thing at shift change. They had signs and even home made goods. Everytime we stopped at a store to buy something everyone would thank us for helping fight the fire.
I worked the 2007 SE GA wildfires and there was a huge outpouring that helped us work past when we usually could. The Carrabba's in Jax FL (2 hrs away) even brought us dinner one night. GA DOC also has a firefighting unit and those guys are super hard workers who take their jobs seriously.
vonirkinshtine
Member
Amazing footage! I think most of those men and women handled themselves very professionally given the circumstances.
Also, I love that quote at the end.
Also, I love that quote at the end.
EVT said:
As a FF while I understand why the residents are cheering although I don't find it necessary and kind of find it awkward personally. Doing a job, is just doing a job.
The guy who stops at a car fire and rescues someone trapped, who isn't a firefighter, LEO, doctor, nurse or doesn't have Service experience, that is a hero, cheer for that person. Someone that is trained to do something and actually does it? That is the system working.
Now as far as your comment goes, LEOs just haven't been doing them selves any favors as technology has changed and they are more and more being recorded.
When LEOs do something proactive, they do stupid $hit like this - Cop kicks handcuffed woman in the head - YouTube! - or -
EVModules
Member
jswwjw said:
Regardless, they should be commended for volunteering as it's a choice to pay back society. I'm certain that their lives would be changed from the positive reinforcement the have gotten and would be highly motivated to integrate themselves as productive members of society.
Plus, fires don't discriminate anyway.
Ben E. said:
And I would never doubt any of that, but look at the videos, they are all over the place. A LEO in Ohio telling a CPL holder he should just shoot him (??). It is not a douchy thing to say, I think it should be a wake up call that if LEOs want the respect they deserve, the few bad apples need to be given the boot, not defended by their unions. The same thing has happened to our Armed Services when pictures are released showing them doing dumb things..
Someone asked why no one cheers for the LEOs when they return, if all you ever see is videos like this, and never have any positive interaction with a LEO helping you, defending your life or property, why would people cheer? Just my two cents, agree, don't agree, it's whatever. I have the utmost respect for our LEOs in my area, most of them are good people but would it surprise me if one or two ended up in a video on youtube like this? Absolutely not.
mjMIff said:
And months ago, there were vids here of a member who's a FF in the hosebed of an engine with unrestrained kids running code quickly up the road, claiming it was some yearly PR thinymajiggy. He caught the riot act from nearly everyone here.
Douchebagery exists in all forms and all careers, no one and no career is immune.
So, what's your point????
rwo978 said:
I didn't say any was, I am saying it happens less in the fire service then it does with LEOs.
You can probably find just as many "cool cop" or "awesome cop" videos, but you can also read stories about the firefighters who won't put out the house fire because of their prevention fees not being paid... Although, this is a separate issue altogether..
My point is, if you are a LEO, Service member, or some sort of civil servant, act the part and don't support those whom take it to inappropriate levels, then one day, you may get your own cheering section..
kadetklapp
Member
I see huge safety issues with having inmates on the job fighting fires, but I think it's cool there are those willing to.
I'm ignorant on wild fires. It looks like a lot of those crews were contractors? Is that a common thing out west?
I'm ignorant on wild fires. It looks like a lot of those crews were contractors? Is that a common thing out west?
EVModules
Member
kadetklapp said:
It's not uncommon at all. All inmates goes through training & safety and are volunteers. It's surprising that they would rather be out doing this than stay in their bunks.
There are contractors and is quite common. Some are in the form of manpower, some via equipments and such like water tenders, aircrafts, etc. There are also private fire departments hired by insurance companies to protect multi-million dollar homes and businesses. Before anyone goes off on a tangent about these private departments protecting only the insurance's interests, these crews work closely with command and are welcomed so as to free public resources. No one gets on the fire grounds without yielding command's say-so and control.
From what i understand, many states out west and governmental entities thereof, employ seasonal wildland firefighters every fire season who are basically on call for the entire season. They are pretty much "reserve" firefighters who get called out to be "deployed" when shit hits.
Ben E. said:
DNR in Michigan does this too I think, I have seen the emails floating around where you can sign up, if you are called and can go, great, if not, that is OK too..
kadetklapp
Member
Ya, I knew a guy who did brush firefighting out west when he was going to Purdue during the summers. But I wasn't aware they were privately contracted. It makes sense since I'm sure the local FD's are exhausted pretty quickly.
As far as the inmates go, while it's great they get to do that, it's no roadside labor, it's being in the brush miles away from help. If the supervising CO gets jumped, I see that as a huge officer safety risk. I'm sure the inmates are all classified "low risk" but you never know.
As far as the inmates go, while it's great they get to do that, it's no roadside labor, it's being in the brush miles away from help. If the supervising CO gets jumped, I see that as a huge officer safety risk. I'm sure the inmates are all classified "low risk" but you never know.
PTRJason
Member
For amber lighting, I have seen both.
Here in California, Crew transports, with Cal-Fire have all red, and will go code-3, with inmates, to a fire. Its kind of a neat thing to see seeing 3-5 at a time all going code in a convoy.
Bulldozer transports from Cal-Fire, also have red and DO go code-3 as well.
Now water-tenders (tankers) on the other hand, varies by department, some go code some have all amber. Riverside County Fire (contracted with Cal-Fire, changed all their tenders about 15-20 years ago from all red to all amber. Now they do not respond code to the scene and the amber is for scene safety while they are out playing in the mud
For contractors, even out here, some contract for bulldozers, even planes and helicopters.
For inmates on a fire, they are trustees, and granted escape attempts are attempted, most are good hard working guys, and go through wildland fire training and have their certs.
A lot prisons and correctional facilities, in the nation have fire crews. Right now I have a friend who is a Corrections Officer with Nevada DOC, and he is assigned to a conservation camp in Nevada that is just for fire crews. He is telling me right now they have a few crews out with NO OFFICERS with them. They are signed over to the fire strike force and it becomes their responsibility.
Here in California, Crew transports, with Cal-Fire have all red, and will go code-3, with inmates, to a fire. Its kind of a neat thing to see seeing 3-5 at a time all going code in a convoy.
Bulldozer transports from Cal-Fire, also have red and DO go code-3 as well.
Now water-tenders (tankers) on the other hand, varies by department, some go code some have all amber. Riverside County Fire (contracted with Cal-Fire, changed all their tenders about 15-20 years ago from all red to all amber. Now they do not respond code to the scene and the amber is for scene safety while they are out playing in the mud
For contractors, even out here, some contract for bulldozers, even planes and helicopters.
For inmates on a fire, they are trustees, and granted escape attempts are attempted, most are good hard working guys, and go through wildland fire training and have their certs.
A lot prisons and correctional facilities, in the nation have fire crews. Right now I have a friend who is a Corrections Officer with Nevada DOC, and he is assigned to a conservation camp in Nevada that is just for fire crews. He is telling me right now they have a few crews out with NO OFFICERS with them. They are signed over to the fire strike force and it becomes their responsibility.