Pics from the field this month.

:good:

Nice pics scott. what's the story behind the burned down building next to the lake?

They think lighting struck it. Rural Volunteer fire departments do what they can, but that is usually saving the basement 😀 . This is a vacation home on prime real-state (Torch Lake). No one was home. Same builder is going to rebuild it. Needed a survey to show it was within setbacks.

Nice collection. Good thing you decided to go with that "dimple".

Love the Doggy Doo One!!

Classic!! Everywhere there is dogs and walking dog areas, etc...should have one of those. :dog:

I like the kid sitting in the tree, too. Reminds me of the old days when I climbed my neighbors tree. Ahhh to be young again. :-$

Nice shots.

> BIGGEST BEECH I HAVE EVER SEEN.

I take it you've never met my ex girlfriend.

:good: Some nice shots,

thanks for sharing!

Chr

> They think lighting struck it. Rural Volunteer fire departments do what they can, but that is usually saving the basement 😀 . This is a vacation home on prime real-state (Torch Lake). No one was home. Same builder is going to rebuild it. Needed a survey to show it was within setbacks.

As a volunteer firefighter I take a little exception to your 'implied' tone here.

First, if this home was vacant in a rural area the fire no doubt had a big head start, and could have gone unnoticed for even hours before being seen and reported.
And when you call 911 the trucks don't roll out the door exactly when you hang up your receiver.

You add up the times:

Incident needs to be identified ..?? minutes
Someone actually has to call 911 .. ?? minutes

911 gets all of the appropriate information
911 needs to dispatch the proper department above steps 3-5 minutes depending on the quality of information received.

The notification is received by the volunteer responders, they need to finish or stop what they are doing, leave their paying job in the daytime, maybe get dressed at 2AM, go to their vehicle, drive to the station, dress into appropriate protective gear. 3-5 minutes

Once a crew is established, (not everyone has the same response time to the station) they can drive to the scene, in some cases up to 15 or 20 minutes, engage the pump, get the hose off the truck, make an attack.

All this said, I think everyone should be thankful for volunteers, and you know what??? I bet they have an application waiting for you too! Become part of the solution and not part of the problem.;-)

Jeff

> Rural Volunteer fire departments do what they can, but that is usually saving the basement 😀

Sorry Jeff, did not mean to offend, but to be funny (hence the smile face). That was the running joke when I was a volunteer. "We saved another basement". It is just the way it is because time was against us as you pointed out. But I also was part of helping a few kids and saving a few pets. Very rewarding work. My body cannot handle that work anymore. 🙂

> All this said, I think everyone should be thankful for volunteers, and you know what??? I bet they have an application waiting for you too! Become part of the solution and not part of the problem.;-)
>
Yes, agreed.

Chill, Jeff

I hear what you are saying. However, virtually every local volunteer fire crew I know personally has a similar motto. Sometimes they brag about saving the foundation, sometimes its the water pipes and sometimes its the basement. It's a common theme. And, the reason they have that motto is because it is so often the case.

The volunteer crew that has responsibility for most of my real estate consists of six people. That's it, six people. Two of those work night shift at a factory about 25 miles away. One is nearly 70 and drives a school bus. Ones works for the DOT and is gone even more than the others. One works at a car dealership 20 miles away. The one that is left has his own mechanic business about 3 miles from the fire station. The response to a fire call usally consists of one of these fine guys and anyone they have been able to grab off the street as they get to the station and head to the fire. That is the reality they have to deal with. Hence, "Well, at least we saved the foundation."

For nearly 10 years, I had a worker who was on his local volunteer fire department about 25 miles from here. He had his pager with him almost all the time. There were a number of times where he would get a call and I would get him to the fire to join the others and, thereby, cancel work for the rest of the day, usually. On several occasions he was that "grab anyone off the street" extra help for my local crew.

My nephew not only volunteers for the biggest volunteer fire crew in the county but has spent nearly 10 years as the chairman of the volunteer ambulance service that covers half of the county. That's right. Ambulance service.

I have a great deal of respect for all of the volunteers who put their wellbeing on the line every time they get a call. In fact, I've made a few monetary donations to the local fire crew to help with equipment needs.

Hi Christof
Just curious. Do you have volunteer fire departments in Belgium? Rural U.S. is mostly covered by them. Years ago I helped start a department and was it's first Chief for awhile until we moved. Volunteer firefighters are terrific.

Us> Nice shots.
>
> > BIGGEST BEECH I HAVE EVER SEEN.

> I take it you've never met my ex girlfriend.

😛 😛 😛

Chill, Jeff

My dad used to tell about the volunteer fire department in his hometown.

They weren't paid but they got to keep all the charcoal they could salvage.

don't ya'll be wasting time

measuring to dimples, because everyone knows...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

hi John,

yes, I guess somewhat the same situation as in the US when I read the thread.

Small villages have only volunteers, and most cities have a mix of profesionals and volunteers. Their work is very much apreciated, as everywhere I guess.

We have two of them in the family, an uncle, retired prof. and a cousin with the volunteers at the city of Roeselare;

Chr.

don't ya'll be wasting time

I have often wondered who exactly the pork eating crusader in your avatar is. Thank you for clearing that up?

> hi John,
>
> yes, I guess somewhat the same situation as in the US when I read the thread.

But do your volunteer firefighters often arrive at a structure they can save, except they can't get close because the homeowner has 5-8000 rounds of handgun and rifle ammunition cooking off?

That's how goes in Alaska. B-)

Depends on the moment of the call,

but I guess they're mostly on site within 5-15 minutes after the call.
Every village has is fire department, here you can really walk from village to village. 5-10 km from village to village, or 10-15 when you live in the Ardennes.

You can't compare Belgium to Alaska ...

When I drive 2 hours I'm at the other side of our country and that's the biggest distance to the border. We have roads everywhere and almost all houses are within a distance of 100 m. from these roads.

Christof.