FDIC is the annual fire fighter training conference and exhibition held in Indianapolis between April 6 and 12th, 2008. (www.fdic.com).
The winners from the 2008 The Fire Within Calendar campaign as well as the Heroes In The Sky campaign were invited to join The Fire Within for an opportunity to see what The Fire Within is all about - Train, Educate and Equip as One.
The volunteer fire fighters on the trip this year are from various departments across Alberta and British Columbia.
What follows below are some observations from Adele Fox........
Day 1: The trip started out with bleary eyes at 5am. If you’ve ever been around 25 firefighters when they are tired and hungry then I feel sorry for you!
So away we went flying around the world….we flew to Houston then to Pittsburgh, little bit of a tour given that we couldn’t book such a large group on a more direct flight. You can bet that Chad got bugged about that one! Did I mention that Chad got bumped to first class and the rest of us peasants stayed in economy?
The flight was uneventful other than watching Brady (our 6’2, 245 pound Red Deer County ff) sardine himself in his seat. Thank god he had some rum to soothe him. We arrived in Houston and everyone held hands to make sure that no one got lost before boarding our plane to Pittsburgh. I’m not sure what you ffs do at the hall but you seemed really comfortable holding hands??
some trivia on the party bus
Once in Pittsburgh and with no luggage issues (by the way Doug from Priddis FD had the biggest suitcase….we heard he likes to bring his own bubble bath), we headed to our hotel, the Marriott. Again, very strange how comfortable the ffs were when they realized they had to share a bed…..what do you do at the hall again?
Actually all Danny from Ten Mile wanted was to make sure he got the left side of the bed!
We were wined and dined by MSA that night with a fabulous presentation on the history of MSA . Did you know that MSA stands for Mine Safety Appliances and one of their first products was the battery powered candle lamp which was invented by Thomas Edison. Cool.
The ffs all got custom embroidered duffle bags and golf shirts from The Fire Within to commemorate their trip as well as MSA t-shirts. The rest of the evening was spent consuming ‘beverages’ and watching some of the ffs turn the swimming pool into a whirlpool….I will not elaborate.
Day 2: After a great breakfast put on by MSA, we headed in our porno/party limo bus….(yes….it has a pole in it ) to the MSA factories.
While the ffs toured the factories, Jodi and I bought some anti-bacterial wipes and sanitized the bus (and pole).
MSA factory
I must admit I was somewhat embarrassed when I got on the bus and told the driver Derek that I was ‘going to clean his pole’. (think before you speak Adele, think before you speak!).
the party bus
By the way, once you’ve seen one chief do the upside-down-splits on the pole, you’ve seen them all.
MSA lab tour
Pretty cool to check out the MSA factories and see all that goes into making safety equipment.
discussing the SCBA communications device
Especially the helmets and the 14+ layers of Kevlar that is compacted to keep the noggin safe.
Considering the amount of alcohol consumed on the bus from Pittsburgh to Dayton, they should probably be wearing those helmets right now. Jodi and I are actually quite impressed with the aroma, or lack thereof, in the bus considering we spent 4 hours with 25 ffs and no fresh air.
The ffs completed a ff trivia competition and the best score was 15/25 (good going Mac from Strathmore). It was quite overwhelming experiencing the brain strain that was going on during the test.
the now famous Jodi revealing the answers
Again, it might have been good if the ffs had their helmets on to contain the brain waves being expended.
wearing various helmets from the MSA museum
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