NSFA 78th Annual Training and Conference 2013V

I attended the Nevada State Firefighters' Association 78th Annual Training and Conference that was held in Mesquite, Nevada.  Unlike the California State Firemen's Association (CSFA) that I attended in the mid 80's, this conference included hands on training for firefighters, most of the firefighters that attended the conference were volunteers.  The Volunteer Firefighters in their district receives training from their appropriate department and/or from the paid fire department that sponsors them so they can keep current with the issues and hone their skills, the State association training and conference that I attended, I notice that it not only brings the brotherhood together (paid firefighters were on hand too), have vendors present to show the latest equipment for the fire service, but offered classes for any individual to learn more in a specific field and some of the classes an individual can receive a certificate.  All attendees that participated representing a specific fire department (paid or volunteer) receives credit towards their training as I was explained by one of the State Marshall officials.  They collect the name badges that were issued at to the individual at the classes to give them credit and as a check-in status for any of the firefighters that were sponsored by their department to be at the conference to ensure they were at the conference and not spending the entire time at the pool, as it was told to me.

This year host were the Clark County Fire Department's Volunteer stations of Logandale, Bunkerville, Moapa, Overton, and the City of Mesquite Fire Department...they did a great job. 

VFF learning to stabilize a vehicle

LPG Live Burn exercise

LPG Live Burn exercise  

LPG Live Burn exercise

Animegacon 2013

 I was invited to go to my first Animegacon Convention, at first I was like "A what Anee-mega-uh?"  I had no idea what I got myself into nor if I knew I was going to have fun or not, but as always I carry my cameras with me where ever I go to entertain myself.  However, I must admit that I did have fun at the convention and looking forward to other conventions that are similar.  Special thanks to Tiffany Tyler for inviting me to Animegacon.

Johnny Yong Bosch signing a Power Ranger card

Cos-player

Maid Cafe host

Budget Cut At Society's Expense?

It is sad to hear and see first hand budget problems.  Line of work I do we deal a lot with the PD and to hear them even say they are delayed to FD over public radio is sad.  Rolling up unto this non-injury accident after being out with friends and seeing the rescue leaving the scene with no PD on scene, I decided to wait around until the PD arrives, just to catch another driver slam into these vehicle in the middle of the block.

Dash Cam

Brush Fires Southern California...

These fires in Southern California are reminding me of 1983, when I first started taking Fire Photography and I was still part of the LACoFD Explorer program.  Now the only difference is I read about it instead of being part of it since I live in another State.   http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/wildfires/

Alamo, Nevada....

A smaller town than Caliente in the Eastern portion of Southern Nevada along US-93, (the last time I have driven through the town was back in 1994).  It has grown to a considerable size.  The US Post Office has moved from its location and the gas station where it was house had closed.  However, on the South side of the town, you will find a large Sinclair gas station capable of hosting some eighteen-wheelers and it doubles up as the general store for the community; on the North side of the town there is a Shell station (you will not see the stations from either of the stations).

Rachel, Nevada...

So what is the hype of this town?  Besides low flying aircraft signs along the highway; however, you start seeing low flying aircrafts signs along US-93 to NV-375 and various parts of Nevada in the rural areas; Rachel only has a diner that has some items all dealing with aliens, in fact the name of the diner is Little Alien Diner. Prices of the food is not bad, prices on the collector items are not bad, similar to a gift shop you will find in Las Vegas, Nevada.  No gas station, in fact, there is nothing in this town!  With all the hype that people have put into this town in Las Vegas, I was disappointed.  I found Alamo, Nevada to be more interesting than Rachel and Caliente, Nevada a lot more than Alamo.  Would I return to Rachel?  Only to see if I can catch more of the low flying aircrafts that are flown by the USAF along the highway.  You can hear sonic booms when they break the sound barrier, but definitely not in the near future would I go there, nor would I even think of taking someone to show them the town, unless they persist on seeing the "Extraterrestrial Highway".

Caliente, Nevada...

Caleinte, Nevada depot

A small little town in the Eastern portion of Southern Nevada along US-93, (the last time I have driven through the town was back in 1994).  This trip was very enlightening, I learned from their representative at the train museum (not to be mistaken with the Nevada's official railroad society museums) that the town has done several changes, "...for good or bad...;" which he seemed to end most of his conversations with when speaking of the town.  The fire department is all volunteers and they only had one station, which was located on the wrong side of the train tracks; it prevented them from crossing the tracks if there was a train passing through or stopped on the tracks, so they built a second (larger) station on the main highway to serve the majority of the community.  The old section, as I would call it, is on the side of the train depot, which Amtrak no longer stops at.  The depot has become a city building hosting the City's Office and Library besides some other offices, the train museum is a converted boxcar with very few, but valuable information of the town and a caboose attached to it (currently closed until renovation).  You can find a True Value store and a Sinclair gas station.

Caliente VFD Station 1 (same side as depot)