The Midnight Express

This will be a shorter version of a much more detailed post to come but for now, I have to share some of the story behind this photo.

JIM GUY: Just found this photo of Tiger (when he was just a cub) and Iron Mike- DCFD

A good friend and mentor of mine, Jim Guy just posted this photo of me that dates back almost 20 years.

I’ll never forget my first trip to Washington, DC and visiting the “Midnight Express” — home to 16 Engine, 3 Truck and the 6th Battalion Chief. Despite being my first trip, accompanied by Jim, Dave Sherman and Ric Dimpfl, they made me drive on the Beltway around DC — just perfect.

We were traveling as the management team of The Fire Fighter Newspaper, a publication just three years in existence at the time, to the annual National Fire & Emergency Services Congressional Caucus dinner hosted by the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI.org) at the famous Washington Hilton. As the dinner cost something like $250 a plate, we were honored to be the guests of Volunteer Firemens Insurance Services (VFIS.com). (Why the Washington Hilton is famous is fodder for the longer version of this story!)

Long Time Leader: Doc Moltrup

My Story:

PGFD Division Chief Donald "Doc" Moltrup

I first became interested in the fire service when I was three or four years old. We had a very good family friend near our home town of Beaver Falls, PA, who was the Chief of the Chippewa Township (PA) Volunteer Fire Department. We visited them often and I also looked forward to going to the fire station with him.

He also gave me all of his old issues of “Fireman” magazine, then the official magazine of the NFPA (and probably the only real fire service journal in that era). I poured through these magazines and even traced pictures of fire apparatus in advertisements in them and made up my own fictitious fire department with them.

Although my Dad was never in the fire service, he was kind of a fire buff so I went to fires with him often. I lived in State College (PA) for several of my pre-school years and a volunteer with the Alpha Fire Company in State College lived across from our house. I always saw him rushing off to fire calls and wished I could go too.

We call it brotherhood

Photo by Tom Suddath the DCFD band photographer

I stumbled upon this post via Facebook and was enthralled as the author shared the story of a bus ride that stretched from jubilation to sadness and every point in between Washington DC and New York, NY.

The author is a DCFD firefighter who, like most of us, enjoys other passions in his life. His are cycling, music and beer. Doesn’t make him a bad guy, does it? LOL

I won’t ruin the story for you but I just had to share this gem of a quote I found within it that reinforces my theory on the importance of storytelling in the fire service:

Chasing Fire: Nick Martin

By: Nicholas Martin – for www.runtothecurb.com
Firefighter – Washington DC Fire & EMS and Run-to-the-Curb type kid

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Download, Print and Distribute the Complete Story:
Run To The Curb-NickMartin

I started as a volunteer when I was 14 years old in my hometown of Swarthmore, PA (just outside Philadelphia).  My older brother was a volunteer and I used to hang-out at the firehouse all the time from when I was as young as I can remember. Before I could even join, I used to run up to the firehouse to open the doors when they got a run.  We lived minutes from the city and my Dad would take me into Philly on the weekends to buff fires.

A few years before I joined, my older brother left the house to respond to an apartment fire at 52 South Morton Road.  From listening on my crystal-based scanner I could tell it was a “good” fire.  My mother was curious too and she came to my room to see what was going on.  Learning it was a serious fire, she drove us to watch the fire (and check-up on my brother).  

RttC Kid: Nick Martin

Nick Martin, Firefighter and Run-to-the-Curb Kid

Nick Martin has served as a career/volunteer firefighter in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia; and currently serves in the District of Columbia.

He is a frequent presenter and trainer with www.tradtionstraining.com and is an author of articles dedicated to making us better and safer at what we do. 

Join Nick and Tiger on Firefighter Storytellers on the FirefighterNetcast.com Radio Network at 9pm on Thursday-October 14, 2010.

And check back soon after the show for Nick Martin’s complete story aptly titled: “Chasing Fire.”