fire engine from
Oregon, its ongoing adventures in
the
San Francisco Bay Area, and how it all began.
85 was the old FD's ID number + 0 designated an engine + 6 for running
out of station six = 8506
February 18th, 2012
VIDEO: Found this video online of 8506 at the Pacifica Fog
Fest parade last year. I assure you the band from Jefferson had no idea that my name is Jeff. Their use of "Jeff"
while leading 8506 in the parade is purely a coincidence.
My son and I did the Pacifica Fog Fest parade today. We were way in the back
between a few bands. The parade seemed shorter this year, I suppose because there was less starting and stopping along the
route. We took it easy on the siren/horn, but gave the crowd a few blasts here and there when they called out for it. Last
year before the Fog Fest parade I put in a volume controller that can take the volume down to about 40% of what it usually
is.
PHOTO: 8506 along with Pacifica's two engine companies, Engines 72 and 71.
PHOTOS: Me behind the wheel (l) and a picture along the route (r), both taken by my son.
And now for the bad news. Something is wrong with 8506's brakes. I don't know if they need bled off or what,
but you only get one good application and then you have to push real hard to get it to stop. 8506 does not have air brakes,
but hydraulic brakes with vacuum assist. I've already called a local truck repair place to get an idea what I have to
do to get it over there. I can drive it there, but wouldn't go anywhere else. 8506 needs a tune up and oil change anyway,
hopefully I can get everything done at once. How much will it cost? Ugh. I'm afraid to know the answer to that...
September 19th, 2011 - Pacifica Fog Fest Parade this Saturday!
Got my Pacifica Fog Fest Parade sign up confirmation and parade line up via e-mail
today. The parade is this Saturday. Due to lack of time after the AARBF Burn Relay, my son and I will have to gas up
8506 before the parade. "Coach" (aka the Dragonslayer) from Survivor is this year's Grand Marshall and Marching
Band Judge.
Last year's Pacifica Fog Fest Parade was the first event my son attended in 8506 and was the day he
found out we got a new fire truck. I can't believe its been a year already...
August 18th, 2011 - Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation Peninsula Burn Relay
The Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation Peninsula Burn Relay was the first official
event that 8506 took place in last year after I bought it. I signed up again this year, making this event the first event
that 8506 has gone to twice. I'm also going to sign up again for the Pacifica Fog Fest, so hopefully I'll be able to continue
attending, on an annual basis, some of these repeating events. The Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation (web site at: http://www.aarbf.org/index.htm) raises money to send burned children to camp and the procession goes from fire station to fire station, lights and
siren (Code 3) along the way to collect money that firefighters have raised over the previous year. Some departments had donations
of over $10,000, but most donations were around the $1,000 to $5,000 range.
Other then a parade, which
is more "controlled", this is one of the few, if only, events where you can legally drive your private fire apparatus
Code 3, granted you have to make a donation to do so, but its well worth it, and the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation is a great
cause so I doubled my donation from last year. The procession of fire apparatus, ambulances, police cars, and other vehicles,
are escorted by local PD and CHP motorcycle officers, however, they only control intersections, many business exits and smaller
side streets that you pass aren't controlled so you really need to be on your toes. I doubt I could do the relay by myself,
given I couldn't really work the siren well anyway while driving, so my son went this year and we both had a good time. He
was able to keep an eye out for anyone in private vehicles trying to jump out of parking lots and give them a blast of siren
or air horn.
I also shot video this year from the cab, as I did last year, however, its very bouncy due to the
camera mount, and is not that watchable. Hopefully I can come up with a more sturdy camera mount by next year. Hopefully some
videos of this year's event will turn up on YouTube.
PHOTO: 8506 in staging before the relay begins
from Moffett Field on what was an overcast morning.
PHOTO: Here is my son in the passenger seat just before moving out from one of the stops. If you
look closely you can see other fire apparatus in the mirror.
PHOTO: Lineup of some of the vehicles in the procession at South San Francisco Fire
Station 61.
PHOTO: Heaing northbound on El Camino Real approaching Costco in South San Francisco. No, we didn't
stop there...
I don't know how much money was raised this year since my son and I didn't go the full route. He
was pretty tired, since we woke up at 5 a.m., so after the Daly City stop, which I think was stop number 14 of 16 total, we
dropped out of the relay and headed back to 8506's storage location. CalSPAAMFAA, the private fire apparatus collectors group,
(web site at: http://www.calspaamfaa.com/) raised around $1100 dollars this year, topping last year's total. It was probably just as well we dropped out early, I had
to drive to and back from L.A. the next day for a work related detail, a trip which took a total of 17 hours, 13½ of
which was pure driving on my part.
A friend and I took 8506 out for a test run today in preparation for the Alisa
Ann Ruch Burn Foundation Peninsula Burn Relay this Thursday. See http://www.aarbf.org/index.htm for more info on this event and the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation. You can also see my blog entry from last year's
Burn Relay here: http://8506.org/2010.09.01_arch.html#1283645968856
We also topped off the oil and gas since I didn't do this after the San Jose Firefighters Car Show in June. This
year I'm bringing my son to the Burn Relay to work the siren, only he doesn't know it yet. Well, unless he reads this before
Thursday...
