Day 11 – A Tour round the city

In the morning we had a call for an automatic alarm at the Allen Parkway Office Building. A toast got stuck in a toaster and started burning. We ventilated the 26th floor with a fan and reset the alarm.

Later that day Captain Ponce picked me up at the station and gave me a tour round Houston with all the things a German firefighter can be interested in.
We started our tour with a reported house fire that Captain Ponce had received on his pager. He had to go there, because he is the Public Information Officer for the Hispanic community in Houston and the fire was in a Hispanic neighborhood. The AC in the attic had a short and set the entire roof on fire. The Captain had to give some interviews and took care of the family that lived in the house.

After that we continued our tour to the fire museum. The fire museum is located at old Station 7 and they show some old engines and other exhibits that relate to the Houston Fire Department, for example a part of the World Trade Center, because after 9/11 the HFD sent a rescue team to search for victims in the collapsed towers. At the fire museum I had the privilege to sign on the bay door, which is an honor for all fire fighters who are guests of the HFD. At the museum I also took the chance to take a picture with Captain Ponce who made it possible for me to come to Houston. In the gift shop of the museum I met Kevin Greene who designed nearly all logos of the different stations. I met him before at Station 6 and this nice guy invited me to pick two shirts and a bag of HFD for free.

Of course I had to have a picture of my generous patron.

On our way to the 911 Emergency Center Captain Ponce and I stopped at the Minute Maid Baseball Park to watch an inning of baseball. Due to the fact that both of us find baseball rather boring, he took me to a visitor platform at the 60th floor of an office building in Downtown Houston. The weather was clear and we had a nice view over the entire City of Houston.

The 911 Emergency Center is located outside of Houston and it’s a well secured object. The “floor” where all the dispatchers of Fire, EMS and Police are sitting is at least seven times bigger than the Kreisleitstelle Recklinghausen. The whole building is very impressive and I was given a nice tour around the Emergency Center.In the afternoon I returned to Station 6 and we made a few first responding runs and an apartment fire that turned out to be a BBQ in the backyard.

Day 10 – Suspicious Things

Today I’ve made three runs on Engine 6. The first one was a box alarm for the entire Station 6. In a town house a construction worker fell down an elevator shaft from the third floor and hit the roof of the elevator cabin and broke his leg and couldn’t get out. A paramedic got down to him from second floor and stabilized his leg. Meanwhile the Rescue Unit secured the elevator cabin. The worker was rescued with a special device to prevent spinal injuries and afterwards he was handed over to an ambulance to take him to hospital. Sorry for the bad picture quality, I had to capture those from a video I’ve made.

Short before dinner we had a call on a suspicious substance in an unknown container in a federal building. We secured the area and waited for the HazMat Team. We returned to the station one hour later. No details for this incident, because of national security, I’m sorry.

Shortly after dinner we made a run for a house on fire. Engine 6 was on scene first. But the smoke that had caused the alarm was only the exhaust of an AC.

Day 9 – Baptism by Fire

The day started really quite. I had time to trade some of my patches and they had been pinned on the station board. The order of patches is completely arbitrary and has nothing to do with the quality of the Fire Department. But actually someone at the station put Recklinghausen on top and this is where it belongs. Sorry, Berlin! ;-)

Afterwards I went to the HFD Logistics Department with the Pumper and finally Capt Tolliver organized a HFD Helmet for me! Thank you so much! Of course I gave him one of my helmets in exchange.

When we went out with the Tower to buy some pie, we were dispatched to a house fire. A lightning hit the AC on top of a house and it caught fire. Tower 6 checked the bathroom right under the AC and made sure that everything was safe inside the house. This was the first time I was able to wear my new helmet.

After that we took the pie to the station and had some tasty chocolate and lemon pie. Shortly after we responded to a call for a kitchen fire in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Houston. The fire went from the kitchen through the ceiling, up to the attic. The Engineer of Tower 6 and I took care of the ventilation while the guys pulled a line to the attic to knock the fire down. We put up a ladder and smashed the windows at the gable and at the roof. The fire in the kitchen was knocked down by a crew of a different pumper.

Please guys, do not forget that there is a guestbook! You're welcome to drop me a line there!!!!

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Day 8 - A few Runs & Galleria Mall

Today we've made a few runs with the pumper and the squad for first responding calls. Nothing really thrilling in my opinion. ;-)


But it's good to see how fast and efficent EMS is here in Houston. It never takes more than 5 minutes until the first units show up on scene. Whenever I'll have a stroke or cardiac arrest, I want to have it in Downtown Houston.







Later that day I went shopping to the Galleria Mall. They had some very expensive stores in there, my girlfriend would have gone crazy with all the Louis Viton Bags and shoes in there. Sorry Darling, I'll get you one when I earn a bit more money. ;-)

My new Halloween Costume

Ice-skating in the Mall

Day 7 - Drill & Gunshow

Today we started with some hydrant checking when we came back from a call for checking a smoke detector alarm. They're a bit different from those we have in Germany, but I can handle it.

After that we drove to an empty parking lot and had a little fire drill. Supply lines, pulling hoses and providing water for the tower.

Later that dy I was with the squad and they took me to an gunshow. Man, I've never seen so many guns in one place, not even when I was in the Army. Unfortunately I was not allowed to take pictures in te convention center where the show took place, but luckily I could take this picture outside the Convention Centre.

Day 6 - Nothing Special

Today not much happened. We just had one call for the Tower, but then we've been disregarded and went back to the station.

At night I made a run with the Paramedic Squad for an unconsciuos person, but there we've been diregarded, too.


So that's why I show to you how the dorm looks like where I stay and parts of the station.

The dormitory

The kitchen - What you see there is BREAKFAST!

Meeting room

Day 5 – Firefighting and Clubbing

The first run today I made on the Tower for a second alarm. An apartment complex was on fire and it burned through the roof and put four units on fire and destroyed them. Tower 6 had to check apartments nearby for other victims inside, but they didn’t find any.

Then the guys of the Paramedic Squad took me on a tour round downtown to the medical center and showed me wehre I'll be going when I'll be with them one day on the Squad.

From left to right: Me, some guy who HAD to be on the picture, Katti, her boyfriend

I took off the night to go to a club with another German and her boyfriend. We went to the Red Door Club and had some beer and some good German Jaegermeister. The club has a terrace and we had a nice view on the skyline. When I returned to the station, the pumper just came back from an automatic alarm.

Day 4 – Photo shooting and Lift with the Tower

That day was really quite. Just one first-responding call and an automatic alarm at night. But we went for a photo shooting for an advertising campaign for the HFD. They put a fire fighter in front of the Houston skyline and shot him in different poses.

The rest of the day we took care of the tower and washed and greased it. Afterwards I had the chance for a 100foot lift with the Tower which I really enjoyed. It moves more smoothly than our Tower back in Germany and the bucket is even bigger.

Me greasing the Tower

Tisdel and me in the bucket

Skylineview from the bucket - Amazing!

Day 3 – A funny day with the D Shift

Sixth Ward

Today was real fun. The guys from the D Shift are really cool. They make a lot of fun and they remind me of my crew back in Germany. Today we didn’t have time for it, but I hope the next time we’re on duty, I can put a picture of all of us online.

As usual I was on the pumper today.

We had four calls. The first one in the morning was a gas leak, caused by a digging crew that screwed up the gas pipe, which was a real big one. We blocked the street for cars and people and waited for the HazMat-Team, but as they arrived even they couldn’t fix the leak so we had to wait for the gas company to fix it and to turn off the gas pipe with a valve.

The two calls after that were first-responding calls, though the second one was much more interesting, because we had a lady with breathing problems who at first refused to go to hospital although she could hardly breathe. What was even worse, she couldn’t pay the electricity company so they turned that off and we found her sitting in her house that was lit with candles and awful smoky air in there. One could really see the haze in the light of our flashlights. Finally we convinced her and an ambulance from 11th took her to hospital.

The fourth call got us out of bed at 4.15 am. Another gas leak kept us busy, because the leak was below ground under one of the busiest streets in Houston. We had to evacuate the whole area near Downtown Police Station because the gas had already filled the sewer system.

Day 2 – Organizational Stuff & Fire Station 6

At 9.30 am Beda Kent picked me up to take me to the Houston Fire Department Administration Office to sign some forms and getting all the paperwork done, so that I can finally response to calls with the crew.












After we had finished she took me to a mobile phone dealer where I bought a prepaid card for my cellular. My German friends can call my though over the website http://www.peterzahlt.de/ for free. If anyone likes to call me, just drop me a line and I’ll give you my number.

After we had, finished Beda took me to a fire scene from last night’s 3rd alarm. A large apartment complex was on fire and destroyed about 35 units of that apartment complex. The arson department was on scene to investigate, because the circumstances of the fire are unclear.

Station 6 - Rough & Ready

After I had returned to the station, I’ve been assigned to Engine 9 and shortly after I had my first call. It was an automatic alarm at a hotel due to a loss of pressure in the sprinkler system, but it was just a malfunction.







At night we had to respond to a call for a high rise on fire in Downtown Houston. Engine 6 checked the 42nd floor and there was a overheated generator which caught fire. Just took us 30minutes to get the situation under control.

Day 1 – Departure and Arrival

My day started quite early at 5.00 am. I left for Duesseldorf Airport at 6.00 am and finally got there at 7.15 am. I checked in and because I’ve been at the counter so early, I was able to get a seat in the emergency exit row, which means way more space for my feet. As expected I had to pay a fine, because my baggage was too heavy. A possible reason could be my firefighting equipment. ;-)

Saying good-bye to my sweetheart!

Funny enough: I’ve been on the plane to Atlanta with four fellow student of the University of Dortmund, two of them going to Atlanta, the other two travelling to New Orleans. The world is a village I guess.

Plane taking my to the USA

On the plane I had some real HOT Pasta and probably my last German beer for the next weeks. During the flight they’ve also served some tasty vanilla ice cream and at the end of the flight a slice of Four-Cheese-Pizza.
For entertainment they showed Shrek the third and Spiderman 3. They were so boring that I preferred to sleep.
I had my first stop at Atlanta after an approximately ten hour flight. From there I took the plane to Houston, which was another three hour flight.

At Houston Airport I’ve been picked up by Firefighter Thanh Nguen who first showed me around Downtown Houston and then took me to Fire Station 6 where I got to know the crew of the B-Shift and unpacked my baggage and put it into a locker. After a 30 hour day, I dropped dead into bed.

New Feature Added - Guestbook

Hi guys,

on special request by some of you, I added a guestbook to my blog.
You can see and write into my guestbook by following this link: http://www.gaestebuch.com/gb-extern/zusammen.asp?GUID=99D0A984-E012-4C93-9D77-3ECD5112A8D1

Feel free to drop me a line! :)

Four days to go! I'm already busy collecting all my clothes and stuff, especially my fire fighting equipment. Time is running.

Best,
Tobias