Three Decades and One New Sidewalk.

I just came home from responding to my third second-alarm fire of the week in my role as Deputy Fire Coordinator in the Erie County Department of Emergency Services and have a narrow window of opportunity to write this post. I’ve got about two hours to shower, shave, eat and then report to a law enforcement detail I’m assigned to until 3am. So here goes:

Earlier today I responded to an EMS call for a person with chest pains. Being assigned as Fire/Rescue only, I don’t typically respond to a ton of house calls but I try to help out at my fair share. Today, I was glad I did.

Two of my all-time favorites at the fire station: Angelo Rizzuto and Denny Allen+ at a drill in 2010.

Upon returning to the station I went around to the administrative side of our building to check on the progress of our large parking lot paving project (large, as in square feet and dollars!). The contractors were just finishing the last section of new sidewalk around the perimeter of our assembly hall. Standing there with our President Geordie Sinclair and 53-year active member Angelo Rizzuto, I asked Geordie if I could write my initials in the corner of the concrete, just as I had done when the assembly hall and original sidewalk were built, in 1971.

I remember that event as if it were yesterday, recalling how the contractors paid a few of us neighborhood kids 25 or 50 cents a day to help them pick up materials and debris. I was 8-years old.

I thought that initialing the new sidewalk would only be appropriate, seeing as I’m still here, so many years later. It was then that Geordie reminded me that I have an important anniversary coming up this week.

RttC Kid: Dr. Jason Borton

1st Lieutenant Jason Borton in front of his home on Chipman Place around 1992

Jason Borton is not your typical Run-to-the-Curb kid.  

In fact he tells a story of how he once ran to, and through a window to see where the fire trucks were going in his neighborhood.  

Growing up, he didn’t just visit the fire station by himself, his grandmother took him there, frequently.  

How’d you get involved?

There’s a discussion going on over at FirefighterNation.com that asks the question: “How’d you get involved?”

Although it was started by a Junior Firefighter asking other Juniors what sparked them to join the fire service, several adults are chiming in too. It’s fun to watch these discussions evolve.

What’s going to be even more fun will be to see how these Juniors’ stories end up 10, 20 or more years from now.

Run to the Curb. Get in the discussion at: http://www.firefighternation.com/forum/topics/howd-you-get-involved

Run-to-the-Curb Bonanza

Actually it’s a carnival — not quite a bonanza.

Run-to-the-Curb.com has hit the jackpot with FireCritic’s First Due Blog Carnival Episode 1 which challenged bloggers to share their answers to the question: “I’m a firefighter because…”

What FireCritic ended up with was some of the deepest, most endearing – and hilarious – compilations of how 14 of the most prolific firefighter/bloggers got their start in the fire service and what keeps them going. The carnival even includes my own story of how I was perhaps destined to be a firefighter because “It was in the cards.”

It was in the cards.

My grandmother sent me this fire truck card for my first birthday.

I posted this blog at www.tigerschmittendorf.com as part of the First Due Fire Blog Carnival being hosted by the FireCritic.

It’s an enhanced excerpt from Fortune Tellers that tells the story: “I’m a firefighter because…”

Read “It was in the cards.” and tell me your story of how and why you got started in the fire service right here at Run-to-the-Curb.com

RttC Kid: Chief John Buttino

>>>These are their stories (DEH, deh.)

By: JOHN BUTTINO – for www.runtothecurb.com
Fire Chief of the Eggertsville Hose Company and Run-to-the-Curb type kid  

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  

For anyone who is a fan of the “Law and Order” TV series, the line above should be a familiar one.  

I commend my good friend, colleague and brother Tiger Schmittendorf for his duty and courage to recruit firefighters who are passionate for community service, educating them about what it is that we do and for keeping these stories telling for eternity. Our predecessors would be very proud to see you keep the tradition alive!

This Week’s Run to the Curb Kids!

What kid doesn’t want to be a firefighter?

I was a Run-to-the-Curb type kid. What’s your story?

I’ve created a page here that will feature future firefighters — what I call “Run to the Curb” Kids.

This week’s Rttc Kids include 2-1/2 year old Collin Manning, son of Williamsville Firefighter Chris Manning as well as a photo of my daughter Kathleen and her friend taken about 15 years ago (don’t tell her I posted this.)

Visit RuntotheCurb.com to meet this week’s future firefighters and tell us your story.

I bet he was a “Run to the Curb” kid

Here’s a link to an article about the oldest serving active firefighter in Forrest County, Missouri being honored for his service: http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=11668200.

Although, if you do the math, it looks like he was a late bloomer. You can bet he was a “Run to the Curb” type kid — and probably still is, even at 78.

Congratulations to him and others just like him serving their communities across America.

Thanks to BlackHelmet for the story tip from Twitter: http://twitter.com/blackhelmet

I bet these are Run to the Curb Kids

Tonawanda NY Explorers Win National Grant

http://firerecruiter.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/tonawanda-juniors-are-tops/

The Log Book

Some friends of mine can’t even believe that I showed them “The Log Book” — let alone posted it on the Internet for everyone to see… and laugh at.

But I’m not that kind of guy. I think it’s pretty funny. Besides, I’m always warning people not to take me too seriously, because I certainly don’t.