Fire Brigade practice -- joint exercises with the Brigade and the Guard

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin's face appears for a few moments in the frame. He grins. ]

Welcome to the Hadriel Fire Brigade and City Guard joint training exercises! This will be the first event of its kind, and we expect to have more them in the future. All are welcome! -- Brigade members, Guard members, and any Hadriel citizen who is interested in joining the Brigade. But you don't have to promise to join in order to take part. You are welcome if you are merely considering it, or simply interested in learning more about how to deal with a fire. You may also ask questions via the network, if you are not able to make it to this event but want to talk to somebody about the Fire Brigade and its functions.

[ He starts panning his phone camera around to show all the activities that are taking place along the north shore of the reservoir and nearby. ]

As you can see, we have built two fire engines, and we are giving the participants a chance to learn how to handle them. The first is a ladder truck and the second is a tanker truck.

[ The ladder truck is tearing around the curves of the nearest road, it's driver and riders whooping and screeching with glee. You can hear them all the way to the spot where Curufin is standing. ]

As you can see, the tanker truck is parked and we are practicing putting out a fire.

[ The tanker truck is parked beside a large wooden shack that the participants put up last week, and have now set on fire. Glowing orange and yellow flames sweep upwards from its roof. Unlike modern fire engines, this one contains its own water tank, since the firefighters do not (yet) have access to the city's water mains. The firefighters have already attached the hoses to the tank and opened up the valves and are trying to douse the flames. ]

And over there, we're running some practice scenarios that involve rescuing people from a burning building.

[ The view shifts to the disused, unoccupied spire next to Spire Two. People are running multiple flights of stairs, huffing and panting, with laughter and curses. They then descend, lugging the rescued "victims," carrying them on their shoulders. A group of people outside are waiting their turn to run up multiple flights of stairs to rescue either an actual person who has volunteered to be the rescuee or. . . a store dummy. They have a number of these doll-like objects on the lawn, and people have to carry them back up again periodically, as they run out of them upstairs in the spire. Good exercise for your calf muscles, that's for sure! -- whether you're carrying the dummy or one of your actual buddies. ]

And over there, we have a little tailoring operation set up. We're all going to need protective gear, including fire-resistant clothing, and there is a logbook for you all to put your names, sizes and measurements down. Somebody will be there to help you take your measurements if you don't know them.

[ Shot of a table with book, pencils and pens, tape measure, and cheerful helper. ]

And last but not least, here's our pumping station on the riverbank, where we get the water to fill the tanker truck's tank. There, also, is the building we are currently using to house the fire engines, and in which we are also building a second tanker trunk.

[ View of the waterworks building on the edge of the reservoir. You can't see the machinery inside, but you can see an open bay on the side away from the river, where the firefighters must park the tanker truck and screw the hoses into the apparatus inside and activate the pumping mechanism in order to draw up water from the reservoir and fill the truck tank. The second tanker truck, which is still being built, is parked outside of the firehouse. Around it are scattered tools and equipment, and people are working on it.]

And here's everybody's favorite activity -- the lunch table! As I said, everybody's welcome, including those who are just looking for a square meal at the moment.

[ View of the buffet table, which is really loaded. On it is also a stack of brochures with a description of the Fire Brigade and how to sign up. Somebody who can answer questions will be there as well. ]

If you're here in person, have fun and don't break a leg! But if you do, the first aid station is over there. [ Pan to another area by the water, where a table with first aid supplies is found, and somebody who can help. ]

If you just want to make inquiries or comments by phone, that's okay, too. I or another firefighter will reply.

Enjoy, everybody! And learn something new.

[ OOC: Feel free to post your character into any of these scenarios, or make up one of your own. Put something in the subject line to indicate which scenario it is. Examples: driving the firetruck, putting out fires, rescue operations, protective clothing tailoring, pumping station & machinery maintenance, building the second tanker truck, lunch table, first aid station. Or, like Curufin says, it's okay to talk to the firefighters by video or text. This is also a mingler, a free-for-all, so tag around if you like. The purpose of this net post is for the firefighters and Guard members to get together so that they'll all be on the same page when the real fire occurs, and for the firefighters (and Guard members, and interested parties) to do some rehearsing of their skills.

If you want to sign your character up to be a member of the Fire Brigade, you can go directly to this site, where there is information about the firefighters. The signup sheet is on this page. If you have any OOC questions to ask, contact Haze at tangyminx or PM me at so_dark_a_road. (I'm logged into Curufin's journal every day, so I'll get your message quickly.)

In case you haven't seen Hadriel's September Rundown, the mods have planned to BURN UP PART OF THE CITY on September 14. So now is a good time to join the Brigade! Or for that matter, the Guard. And because that is happening so soon, feel free to just post your characters in here with short threads or single comments. There'll be plenty of firefighting "for real" in just five days! ]

Comments

Rescue

[requiemshark]

[Weirdly enough, Ephemera remembers a lot of this stuff from the fake-world the gods sprung on them not too long ago. Back then he'd been without scars but a real live firefighter, saving cats out of trees and all. Which is weird. He's dealt with fire in the real world - which is a weird-ass sentence to be working through - but usually that involved napalm or exploding ordinance.

But he's bored and fire is exciting. So he's practicing in full armor; carries, moving through smoke, HUD running diagnostic scans the whole time. His armor is heat-resistant up to a point, but even that has limits.

One of them being that he's way too heavy to work on a building with a weakened structure, a fact his HUD won't stop blaring.

Good to know, he supposes.

He stops for a break, tugging his helmet off to get some water.]

Well, this is fun.

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin wasn't a firefighter in Pleasant Valley, strangely enough, when at the time he was putting a lot of energy into the Brigade project, in his "real life" in Hadriel.

He's pleased to see his fellow Guardsman here. Ephemera is a warrior with, obviously, many bonafides. Not to mention, some high-tech equipment, which always helps!

Down at the base of the disused spire they are using for the rescue practice, they meet while seeking a drink of water. Curufin is hot and sweaty, but quite happy with the way things are going. ]

I find it so. [ Grin. ]

It's good you didn't fall through the floor with all that armor!

[requiemshark]

[Ephemera grunts. It wouldn't be that long of a fall, all things considered, but he wouldn't enjoy it much.]

Got sensors in the armor to check structural integrity. But. Yeah. It sucks to fall.

[He grimaces.]

Already got one building dropped on me.

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Anybody would hate it. Even with an awesome suit of armor. ]

It absolutely sucks to fall!

When did that happen? -- where you fighting a fire at the time?

[requiemshark]

Not really.

[Starting one, technically. He shrugs.]

Bomb went off. Building went down.

[so_dark_a_road]

Only if you don't mind being smashed. But then, your suit would protect you, right?

[ Oho! Starting fires. Curufin can relate. ]

Ah. I see. [ And who set it off, exactly? ] You went down with the demolition debris. How did you escape? -- or did you?

[requiemshark]

Probably. Did last time.

[He shrugs. It's a thing that happened.]

Got dug out later. Broke just about everything, lost the eye. Could've been worse. My armor's awesome like that.

[so_dark_a_road]

[ And isn't that just like life? Things are always happening. Whether one causes them or not. ]

You seem like a man who isn't deterred by much, if by anything!

[requiemshark]

[Ephemera snorts.]

Think I'll take that as a compliment.

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Grin. ]

It's meant that way.

[requiemshark]

[Ephemera laughs.]

You I like, Curufin.

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin chuckles. ]

And I like a man who falls off buildings -- or through them.

[requiemshark]

You've got weird taste, I think.

[But he grins when he says it.]

It's cool. I dig it.

[braveoff]

[ Drake's taking a break himself, having been drilling for hours now. Working the hoses and running up and down the stairs with as many live bodies as he could get, not trusting the dummies to be accurate enough. He's sweaty and streaked with soot but smiling, the coat of his protective gear hanging open while he cools down. ]

It kinda is. [ He agrees warmly, tossing Ephemera a bottle of water. ] You sure wearing all that is the best idea, though?

[requiemshark]

[He catches the bottle easily, flashing Drake a grin.]

It's cool. Armor scans for structural integrity. And I'll take the heat resistance over the extra weight any day. How're you holding up there?

[braveoff]

I'm good. Missing out on that heat resistance, though. [ He takes another long drink and wipes his forehead, smearing the soot. ] I'll do another few runs and then call it a day, I think. How about you?

[requiemshark]

We need better gear. [Seriously. They've got some makeshift crap but it's not going to make much of a difference if they run into a real fire. Good thing that won't happen anytime soon. Ephemera claps his hand against his helmet.]

Sounds about right. I wanna practice with the hose a bit more. And figure out how heat resistant this thing is.

[He activates his shield, showing Drake.]

Figure this'll come in handy. Saw a guy stop an RPG with one of these. But heat's different, you know?

[braveoff]

The hose is a handful, they managed to build a pretty powerful pump for it out of the crap we've got here. Make sure you brace yourself.

[ ....... okay Drake's gotta poke that shield. Despite being see through, it's solid. Huh. ]

It could come in handy, yeah.

[requiemshark]

Got it. [He'll be careful. The armor will help, obviously, but it's stupid to rely just on that.

And then Drake's poking the shield.

It shimmers a little, but holds.

Ephemera beams.]

Cool. Hey, you wanna try the flame thrower?

[braveoff]

[ Drake considers that, smirks. ]

We're supposed to be putting out fires, man. But hell yeah.

[requiemshark]

This is helping! [Sort of. Ephemera likes Drake's grin, though.] I'd rather figure it out now than later.

[braveoff]

Figure what out?

[requiemshark]

How much the shield can take.

[He deactivates it with a shrug.]

Didn't have time to really test it out, before.

[braveoff]

Oh, right. You want me to fire the flamethrower at it?

[ He's... a little worried about that. ]

[requiemshark]

Yes?

[It seems like the logical next step. Figure out how much the shield can take before it starts wavering.]

It'll be fine, I'm not gonna do it without armor.