FAO Big Rig Driving

This was the last week of FAO class. Final exam on Tuesday and then an evening at Dakota County for some technical driving. Engine 21 & 32 made the trip. The night started out with some serpentine driving. 24-28MPH through some tightly placed cones.....carrying nearly 8000 lbs of water and gear make all maneuvers a little interesting. Second task was the skid pad...a flooded parking lot. 40 MPH and the lock em up...on a straight away and while turning. Third task was backing up through the serpentine...slow and steady. Fourth....was the decision course. Drive 26MPH straight into wall of cones.....with a last second light to direct you left or right without slowing down.

FAO Tower Operations

FAO class is almost over. Classroom headed outdoors about 6 weeks ago. I am not knocking class but there is only so much 24 students can actually do with one or two engines to run scenarios. A lot of waiting……and a lot of water flow. Tonight was flowing water from the ladder truck and a blitz fire. Next week is our last night of scenario’s before we take the final. It’ll be good to get Tuesday nights back.

Weekend House Fire

This weekend we had a house fire. The following email was sent out by EP Lacross Team:
While driving home last Saturday night, two members of the EPLA Junior Gold lacrosse team, Andrew Bailey and Ryan Ellsworth, noticed a fire that had started on the roof of an Eden Prairie home. Acting quickly, the duo rushed to the home and awoke the sleeping family. Because of their efforts the family was able to get out of the home safely. The fire department commented that the roof was about ready to collapse at the time the family escaped. We're proud of how Andrew and Ryan demostrated maturity and calmness in what could have been a terrible situation. Great to hear about our players representing Eden Prairie on and off the field.

E41 arrived third engine in. We tagged the hydrant to supply water and then went interior to check for extension. Then we moved to the exterior and helped do some overhaul on the roof.

Scott scba

It has been quiet around the station since we for our new high pressure 45 min Scott SCBA's. I have not been on air yet so I decided to run some stairs this morning in full turn out while on air. I got in in 11 flights in just over 15 minutes before my tank starting buZzing.

At least now I have a benchmark for future training.


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A good week.

What a 24 hr period. Inside the of Eden Prairie, we had plane crash, apartment fire and a deep seated fire in some woods. I did not make the plane crash but our city did an excellent job at managing the situation and extracting the two victims who survived. Then early this morning (3am) we got a full page for a deck fire on a second story apartment that started to extend. A careless situation that was 100% avoidable. This scene we arrived in time to manage overhaul of the primary apartment & deck. It’s amazing how well insulation can hide the embers.

And then later this afternoon we had a call for smoke coming from a nature park. Look likes a bon-fire gone bad from the previous night.

Scott SCBA

Last night all 100+ EPFD fire fighters and 20+ vehicles performed a swift change is SCBA from MSI to Scott.






The new system will provide us with high pressure bottles and safer technology.





In addition, this set up is going to be the same for many of our neighboring cities. This will insure we are all compatable to again, provide a safer situation for all.


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Started Driving

This is the week that I officially begin driving……the big rigs…. So watch out. The reality is driving these big vehicle actually is so intimidating that it really makes you more aware of your surroundings and others. It is not enough to just pay attention but you when you are driving a rig that weighs around 30,000 lbs it gives you a different perspective. Yesterday we took Engine 41 out for an hour drive spending time between highway and side streets. I need 3 more hours of engine, four hours of tower driving and 9 hours of pumping.