Brian, don't listen to any whining if you want to have a training drill outside this winter in the cold.

We finally got a chance to get out of the building for something other that aircraft stand-bys or driving around town to get people familiar with the area. We had two people that needed to get tested on pump operation so that they could become Driver/Operators for the Engines and the Tanker. So we took and hour and went down by the ice edge and threw 4500 gallons of water back out to the sea.

Of course the temperature was about 3F but the sun was out and there was no wind, so it was actually nice. And we were only outside for the total of an hour and a half, so it wasn't long.

I was the officer on Tanker 3, and our job was to supply water to Engine 1. And since the entire crew on Engine 1 was there to get time on the pump, my crew ended up on the hoseline for the entire drill. Which is all good.

For those of you that care, I will give you a rundown of our structural firefighting trucks that are kept in town. We have twin Engines (#1 and #2 clever huh?) and they are 1992 Pierce pumpers. They are 1000 gpm dual stage pumps with 750 gallons of water on them. The tanker (Tanker #3) is a 1985 Ward with a 750 gpm dual stage pump and 3700 gallons of water on it. All of the trucks are All Wheel Drive and they all are PTO pumps for some reason.

We man two trucks at one time. So normally E1 and T3 are in service in the station and E2 is stored outside. If either E1 or T3 is down for repairs or maintenance then E2 goes in service as either the supply engine or as the attack engine. And did I mention that the tank on E2 is cracked and holds no water and the pump is sealed and full of anti-freeze. So if Engine 2 is the attack engine it has to be feed by T3 or if it is the supply engine it has to hook to a hydrant to feed any water. And before the pump can be used, we have to dump the coolant before flowing water. It is a very interesting system.

Nothing too exciting to report otherwise. Just technical stuff today and some photos. The NY Air National Guard was supposed to arrive with the ski equipped LC-130's today, but the weather has been very stormy. Lots of snow (very unusual) and high winds. But the temps have been in the 15F range during the day, so it was not too bad out. And there seems to be a pretty big storm here so this weather pattern should stay here for a few days, so I bet the NYANG will be delayed for at least two days. Once they get here, we will be manning station 2 at the runway 24/7 for the remainder of the season. That will actually help us get into a good rhythm here.

Talk to you soon.
R.J.

Well yesterday we completed our babysitting job at the Ice Runway. The Kiwi C-130 that broke last Wednesday finally made its trip back north. They had to replace the entire #1 engine out on the Ice. Not a fun job I am guessing. Since the C-130 is now gone we do not have to staff Station 2 other than on the days that C-17 flights are arriving, which is 4 days a week. However the 109th New York Air National Guard with start to arrive with there LC-130’s on Monday of next week. Once that happens we will be manning Station 2 with a Lieutenant and five Firefighters 24/7 for the remainder of the summer season. I will likely be stationed out there every third shift that I am on, or about once a week.









Things are warming up some. We have been in the 0-5F range most days now and the winds have calmed down substantially. Actually I was outside for an hour or so yesterday in Ice town with a sweatshirt and hat and gloves and was nice and warm as long as I stayed in the sunlight. We were at a population of 830 last Saturday and we are planning to be at 1000 by the end of this week. So the station is filling up quickly.

Not allot new to report now but I have stolen some good photos. The first group is of a dive group doing something out on the sea ice. You can see the layers of gear that is needed to dive in 28F water. And you can also see the other folks that like to share you dive hole.









The second set of photos are the best photos that I have found from the flight down. This is the most remote sections of the entire planet. And it is a beautiful and stark place to see.















The last photo is a very nice view of Ross Island. The photo is taken from Black Island which is about 40 miles south of McMurdo. If you look closely at the photo (you will have to click on it to enlarge it) you can see in the foreground a black area of the Island. This is the McMurdo area. Just to the right of the centerline of the photo is a triangle shaped peak in the black area, this is Ob Hill which is the 750 foot peak that is right next to MacTown. If you have been looking at our photos from the last year Ob Hill is shown next to town many times. The great perspective that this photo shows is the massive size of Mt. Erebus, the southern most active volcano on Earth.



Enjoy and I report back soon.
R.J.

Do you know what you are sleeping on???

I do.

About 4.8 meters of Ice.

I have been in McMurdo for a week now and they have officially kicked me out of town. So I am staying the night in Ice Town. Ice Town is the small group of buildings that are setup at the Ice Runway.

The reason that we are sleeping here is because of a Kiwi C-130 that was unable to takeoff. The New Zealand C-130 taxied out to the runway and was preparing to takeoff when the #1 engine failed. So, if you were going to loose an engine, sitting on the ground is a good time for that to happen.

You can see in the following photos that the C-130 is sitting waiting for parts to arrive on Friday on the next C-17 flight. So, we will be manning Station 2 until the Kiwi plane is off the Ice.







The photos above show Station 2. I will be spending allot of time in this building this season. Actually I will be here every third shift for the entire season. The station is basically the size of a double wide trailer. We have room to sleep six and it is fairly comfortable. As you can see, we have one ambulance, three F-550 Ford ARFF vehicles, and one large beast of an ARFF vehicle.



These are the two planes that we were out here to watch while they took off. The problem was that only one did. The C-17 is a huge plane compared to the C-130. Did I mention that today's C-17 brought 7 pallets of cargo today including 'Freshies'!!!



After the C-17 took off we quickly realized that we would be spending the rest of the shift on the Ice. Take a look at the snow blown up from the engines even after the plane is off of the ground.



Well as you can see from my outfit, the temps have remained low. Most of the week has had lows of -25F and some pretty strong winds at times. But today after we got out here the temps quickly climbed up to 0F. This combined with now wind made for a nice afternoon. We actually spent a fair amount of time outs since it was so nice.

Our shift had two incidents on the last shift. First was a heat detector activation in the largest dorm on station. A common incident here and all was well. I was officer on Engine 2 and we stood by at the hydrant. Our biggest job was to notify the occupants that it was safe to return. This is actually a important job because people have to retreat to another building when the alarm goes off. Standing outside at -15F is not a fun thing to do. So we have to go to all of the official muster points and let people know that it is all clear. Later that evening we had a medical call for woman in her 60's. Since I was on E2 my crew did not respond to the dorm, instead we went next door to medical to be sure that the loading dock didn't need to be shoveled out. And then we stayed to assist the ambulance offload the patient.

The tough part about medical calls here in McMurdo is that you know almost everyone. Literally. Being from a small town it is common to know a patient, or at least know the family, but here it is a much, much smaller group of people. So it is harder to hear a medical call be dispatched. The woman was medivaced to Christchurch on yesterdays C-17 flight.

Well as usual I will leave you with some nice photos that I have stolen from a talented photographer.







Talk to everyone soon.
R.J.

HOLY CRAP IT'S COLD!!!!

Well of course it is Antarctica, but it was cold even for here today. You can tell that it is early spring and not the middle of summer yet. Since we have been here it has been about 0F to 5F for daytime highs and -10F to -15F at night. And this is with only a light wind most of the time. Well then came this morning. The shower stall at the end of the bathroom had a full inch of ice in the bottom of it instead of the normal slight covering on the edge. And the wind was racing past the windows in the room. Then we went to breakfast. (We, did I mention that Paula has arrived in town?) ((Notice she gets here and the cold weather arrives???)) When I walked to the Galley my first thought was "{insert title of this post here}"

Today's weather data in town was:

High Temp: -3F

Low Temp: -28F

Low Windchill: -66F

Peak Wind Gust: 55mph

And up on top of the hill above McMurdo they recorded a peak wind gust of 106mph!

And for anyone that complains that Windchill is a made up word for TV Meteorologists to scare people; stand out in -28F with 55mph for about a 1/2 nano second and tell me what you think then.

And even with today's weather they still got another C-17 flight in today. So we have another population increase of about 100.

Things are going well, I am in the middle of my second full shift. We are learning on the run here. I have two days experience and I am now answering questions for new people and trying to lead without looking like I have two days experience.

We have lots to fix here this year, both mechanically and procedures but we are starting to look like a good crew and things should work well. We will have 90% of our crew by Wednesday of this week, which will be helpful because then we can start training everyone and running complete shifts. Also on Monday night, my next shift, we will be operating Station 2 overnight for the first time this season. Station 2 is basically a double wide trailer that is located out in Ice Town out on the sea ice. It sleeps six and it is cozy. I am guessing that I will be the Lt. on that assignment.

The only other thing that I have is that by my clock right now Gary and Julie are married. Even thought the actual wedding isn't for several hours it's over and done in my book. Congrats to the two of them. I hope there day goes as well as planned. (Julie, did you ever get the programs???)

Take Care all and I will leave you with some nice photos taken from town last night.

R.J.

Welcome Back to the Ice.

Well I have made it and Paula is on her way. I landed on the Ice, litereally, on Tuesday afternoon about 3PM. We were the first flight of the summer season here in McMurdo. Things are just as they were when we left in Feb.

I am currently in the middle of my first 24 hour shift at the Fire Station. Things are very quiet here today and those of us that arrived this week are just trying to get an idea of what we are supposed to be doing. I don't have allot of interesting stories today but I have a few photos this time.



This shot is of my flight landing on the Ice Runway. I stole the photo from my friend Josh's blog. Josh was watching the landing because his father Randy was on the flight with me and 123 other people.



Here is a cool photo of the 2nd flight C-17 taking off of the Ice Runway with Mt. Erbus in the background.







And lastly, guess who is in town already. Well they weren't in town, but just past Cape Evans about 20 miles from town. So if they are that close now, then the ice edge is close and the chances for wildlife this year is good.

So Paula should be landing about 3PM tomorrow. It will be nice to be together again after 10 days apart. And I am actually off of work so I should be able to catch a ride out to the airfield with the FD and see her off of the plane.

Talk to you all soon.
R.J.