Day 26 – Parade Day

Today Captain Ponce took me to a parade where the Hispanic population of Houston celebrated the liberation from Spain in the South American countries. Houston has a large Hispanic population and so there were a lot of people watching the parade. At the parade we met some guys from Station 18 who had brought their Tower to join the parade. During the parade we were sitting on the ladder of the truck. The parade went through the Minute Maid Park District and took about one hour. A lot of other groups joined the parade, such as dancing clubs and schools.

Day 26 - Back to Station 6

Today I returned to Station 6 where I'll stay for the rest of my trip. We'll see what will happen in the next few days.

Please don't forget to write into my guestbook!

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Day 25 - Jumper and Astros

While we were on the way with the rescue truck to do some shopping we passed the port bridge on 610. We noticed a black guy climbing over the rail, so we left the freeway on the next exit and turned around, because we assumed that he wants to commit suicide. Two guys from rescue 42 started talking to him. Meanwhile the Police and other EMS units were called and arrived on scene. Then the Police took over and started talking to the guy. All other personnel gathered around him and tried to distract him. Then all of a sudden a cop got hold of him and pulled him over the reel. We put him onto an abulance and the EMTs took him to hospital.

Later that day Tony from Station 42 took me to the Astros Game at the Minute Maid Ballpark. Before the game we went to a nice bar and opened the evening with a few pitcher of beer. At the ballpark we've been invited to a BBQ and had it while watching the game. Unfortunatly the Astros lost 6:2. What a surprise! ;-) We closed the evening in a nice neigbourhood bar close to Tony's house. For the night Tony offered me his guest room in his house and to stay for the night. Thanks Tony for the great evening! I really had a good time.

Day 24 - HURRICANE

Today all the Rescue Teams prepared for the impact of Hurricane Humberto. The weatherforecast expected the hurricane to hit Houston in the late evening. All the rescue teams met at Station 11 for an emergency meeting to evaluate on special tactics for the night.

Afterwards urban rescue teams from Texas met at the Reliant Center which is a hurricane safe location. Actually the hurricane missed Houston. It hit Louisiana 80 miles in the east. So we had a calm night with no special runs.

At least Rescue 42 have their truck back from the shop.

Day 23 - A Salute to Fallen Heroes

Todays day was dominated by the memories of the fallen fire fighters and other victims in the World Trade Center in New York City, at the Pentagon and of Flight 93.

Like all fire fighters all over the United States we started the day with pulling all aparatus in front of the station and putting the lights on. At 8.58 a.m. (at that time the South Tower collapsed six years ago) the 911-Dispatch pulled a 7-1 Alarm to remember the fallen comrades. All fire fighters remained for a minute of silence in front of the flag pole.

Afterwards Captain Ponce took me to the revealment of a statue that is dedicated to the Houston Fire Fighters and located next to the fire museum. The members of the fire museum chose the date of September 11th to also remember the fire fighters who died that day six years ago. Fire Chief Boriski and Mayor Bill White held speeches of memory and the artist who created the statue explained what moved him to create the statue as it is now.

When I was back at Station 42 we went and had dinner at a Cajun Restaurant. On our way back to the station we responded on a call for a minor accident with two cars and an 18-Wheeler, but none of the drivers needed to be cut out.

Day 22 - Salute to Houston Fire Fighters

Due to a lack of car wrecks and calls today, I jumped on the pumper for a response on a car fire. Next to Station 42 a car caught fire, because it overheated. We took the redline (fast attack hose) and put it out.

In the afternoon Captain Ponce picked me up and took me to a award ceremony "Salute to Houston Fire Fighters" at the Allen Center. Many diffenrent people thanked the members of the HFD for their effort and service throughout the year. At the same time a Houston Photo Club opened an exibition about the work of the brave Houston Fire Fighters. During this event I met Than who picked me up at the airport when I arrived.

Day 21 - Gooooooo TEXANS!!!

Today Chris took me a to a NFL Match in Houston. Chris is a fire fighter from Station 6 and he invited me to see the Houston Texans' game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The game started at noon, but he already picked me up at the station by 8 a.m., because before the match we went tailgating. Tailgating was new to me. When we go and watch soccer in Germany, we go to the stadium and watch the game and that's it. In Texas nearly everybody meets at the parking lot before the match and has a BBQ, cooks food, drinks beer and has a good time.

Afterwards we went into the huge Relaint Stadium where we had the best seats one could think of. We were sitting between the 40 and 50 yard line, directly behind the Texans players. This was awesome! I had a real good time and enjoyed that day very much and I'd like to thank Chris for his hospitality! By the way: The Texans played a fantastic match and won 20:3! Gooooo TEXANS!