FWFD station 5 Grand Opening/ Open House

The New  Station 5 was officially opened Yesterday (04/28/2012).

Speakers in attendance were Chief Rudolph ‘Rudy’ Jackson, Mayor Betsy Price, Council Women Kathleen Hicks, County Commissioner Roy CHARLES Brooks, As well Station 5’s Captain Brunson.  (Link Here for blog on the speaking event)

The ceremony started off with the official flag raising:  http://youtu.be/Zf-h5zDWYlw

Getting ready to raise the flag

Flag going up

Honor Guard (?) Saluting the flag

following was a presentation by one of the local school choirs singing:  “I’m a possibility”

"I'm a possibility"

 

Also at the open house event:

Hands Only CPR

Hands Only CPR “Push Hard, Push Fast, Switch Often”

Did you know that even trained Firefighter/Paramedics get worn out quickly doing this = make sure you get Emergency help on the way IMMEDIATELY!!!

 

Would your kids "Know What To Do"?

Is your family "Fire Safe"?

FW Public Arts & the FW Fire Department

*Watch for the new Mural on the E. Wall (facing Evans Street) of the new Station 5, coming sometime in the late fall of 2012*

Equipment from surrounding Fire Stations were also at the grand opening:

Squad 2

Ladder 8

Also known as "BigV"

Swift Water Rescue Station 32

and Fire Command

They sure do start young!!

As well as MedStar

Think they might just have a message??

 

 

The new Fort Worth Fire Station #5

Meet the friendly firefighters of Fort Worth Fire Department  Station #5 – Emphasis on the word friendly.

and their apparatuses:

The newly dedicated Engine 5 “Top Gun”

And sidekick EMS 99

Walk through of the new Station 5 Bay:  As you can see  I started in the back of the building and made my way towards the front.  Parked in front of the building is the newly dedicated Engine 5 also known as “Top Gun”

Station 5 covers from  Hwy 121 on the North to Berry Street on the South and from University Street on the West to Interstate 820 on the East An approximation of the service area is shown here:   http://g.co/maps/w4xku.   They cover roughly 1/4 of the city and due to it’s location + ease of highway also covers all highway call in the area.

There are 15 Firefighters working at Station 5, 5 per shift.  Four ride on the engine (including either a Captain or Lieutenant) and one is assigned to the EMS truck.

Working "A" Shift is:
Lt. Alrcantan
FF R. Jones
FF Becerra
FF Vega
with FF/EMT Khouns on the EMS truck

Working "B" Shift is:
Capt. Brunson
FF Fowler
FF M. Jones
FF Babich
with FF/EMT Warren on the EMS truck

Working "C" shift is:
Lt. Knox
FF Clark
FF Cessum
FF Cadman
with FF/EMT Brown on the EMS truck

A Little History:

The first Station 5 was built in 1890 (near 400 block of Bryan Avenue) and was also a Community Hall.  There, began a long history of its association with the community

The second Station 5 was built in 1911 (near the same location), was no longer a community hall but was still an integral part of the neighborhood it served

The third Station 5 was built in 1965  (at 1000 Evans Street), where it would be housed till 2012, and continued the tradition of community involvement helping neighborhood kids with their bikes (incuding repairs) and even giving them to kids who didn’t have one.

Now Fire Station 5 has a new home  on the corner of Irma St & Evans St. At 850 Irma Street; Fort Worth, TX 76104 (as of posting google maps does not show the new Fire Station)

* Thank you to PIO Tim Hardeman of Fort Worth Fire Department for providing me with a brief history of FWFD Station 5*

Construction for the new station has been in the works for two years and the actual construction has taken about one year, costing in the neighborhood of 3.5 – 4.5 million dollars.  Friday April 27, 2012 marked 3 weeks “in the house” and the official grand opening / open house took place Saturday April 28, 2012 FWFD station 5 Grand Opening/ Open House

At 5 or 10K SF (information sources vary & I am awaiting confirmation) the station is  3 times the size of most other stations and is said to be the largest (or at least one of the largest) stations in the city and is completely ADA compliant. The price tag was said to be in the neighborhood of 3.5 to 4.5 million dollars.

Speaking event at Fort Worth Fire Station 5 Grand Opening / Open House

Chaplain Brown led everyone in a short prayer on the behalf of the  Fire Fighters of Station 5 as well as for the building, & equipment.

Chaplain Brown

First up was Fire Chief Rudolph ‘Rudy’ Jackson:  ‘We want you to get to know your local firefighters; to see them as friends and neighbors, not just strangers in uniform/gear’ He went on to mention that Station 5 is a “prototype” station and is one of the busiest engine companies in the city averaging 10 calls a day

Fire Chief Rudy Jackson

Next up was Mayor Betsy Price: speaking on, among other things, the location of the station.  ‘My realtor friends say that it is all about location, location, location’

Mayor Betsy Price

followed by Council Women Kathleen Hicks

and County Commissioner Ray CHARLES Brooks (don’t forget the Charles): ‘ “I am a possibility, I am a great big bundle of potentiality” that is what this neighborhood/community is all about’

I did not get a picture of Commissioner Brooks actually speaking; However, I did get one of him seated up front to the far right of Fire Chief Rudy Jackson & Mayor Betsy Price

County Commissioner Ray Charles Brooks sitting on far right next to Mayor Betsy Price.

Last to speak was the Captain of Fire Station 5: Captain Brunson “We are here for you!!  If you need us call us”

Captain Brunson

“The new station 5 is now officially opened!!!”

Link to "The new Fort Worth Fire Station #5"
Link to "FWFD station 5 grandopening/openhouse"

Arlington PD #tweetalong 04/27/2012 COP

The following is a transcript of the ArlingtonPD COP #tweetalong Friday 04/27/2012.  Everything is written verbatim as it was supplied on twitter [square brackets show mine or others input]

[Tonight’s tweetalong follows the volunteers of COP – the extraeyes for ArlingtonPD.  Times are simply when the tweets were posted, not necessarily actual times]

6:02 pm: Officer Glotfelty and COP Mobile getting ready for the patrol with hot dogs! yfrog.com/nurs2sdj

06:11 pm: Max the dog is ready for the Cop mobile tweetalong starting soon!  pic.twitter.com/lj8RJs9E

*Max is a Great Dane

06:24 pm: Approximately 40-50 COP Mobile volunteers are enjoying a barbeque before hitting the streets pic.twitter.com/8EgJPXdi

06:37 pm: Deputy Chief Kim Lemaux welcomes citizens to COP Mobile! Its going to be a busy nite. yfrog.com/h0zglkxj

06:47 pm: Curtice Ervin is giving out assignments for tonight…watch out criminals!  pic.twitter.com/kz4Bv1sZ

07:11 pm: Cop Mobile ready to go! pic.twitter.com/XVsKeUJG

 * Interested in joining the COP program? Go to http://arlingtonpd.org, & click on COP mobile on the left side of page

07:21 pm: Cheryel Carpenter, media office, and Bill Jezek, COP, will be patrolling the south area of West Side. pic.twitter.com/I9pRzWQD

07:22 pm: Absolute gorgeous night for patrolling in the Great City of Arlington in State of Texas. pic.twitter.com/5u0YOBqu

07:25 pm: I, Officer McDonnell, & Curtice Ervin will be w/Patti Noe, COP, and patrol on the south area of west side pic.twitter.com/wDIfjDrw

07:28 pm: Bill used to patrol in his Toyota Rav 4. He’s looking for anything out of the ordinary. yfrog.com/gybm4tdj

07:35 pm: Just left Lake Arlington. What a beautiful night to be on the lake and safe.

07:43pm: A sky tower in the Walmart Parking lot. We use several of these towers in various parking lots w/in city. pic.twitter.com/aTqf8EHm

07:44pm: Cruising slowly through a busy west Arlington shopping center parking lot. Our visibility helps to deter crime.

07:56 pm: Bill is one busy man, husband with a career raising a 17 year old grand son. Finds time to give back to community. Patrols twice a week.

8:00 pm: Car show every Fri in the Southwest Shopping Plaza by Albertsons. pic.twitter.com/NnmdQ74X

8:00 pm: Observing a traffic stop near Little Road. Officer acknowledges our presence. Another COP Mobile cruises by.

8:05 pm: As the sun sets, COP Mobile on a Friday night means exta eyes in the community.

8:09 pm: Bill helps out in other ways too. He delivered water and paperwork to officers stationed in neighborhoods impacted by last month’s tornado.

8:17 pm: Everything appears to be really quiet tonight. Uh-oh did I mention the ‘q’ word? Hope I didn’t just jinx us!

8:21 pm: Cruising slowly behind a shopping center. Never know what’s going on behind the scenes where they think no one is looking.

8:24 pm: So sad to see the homes destroyed by the tornado from April 3. pic.twitter.com/0zszNwRj

8:40 pm: Sitting in a parking lot. Observing parked cars and people walking safely to and from establishments. Father and daughter waives to us.

8:52 pm: Don’t forget when u go to the gym, bring ur valuables! Don’t leave anything in plain view in ur car.  pic.twitter.com/TMhn1Z2i

9:24 pm: On scene of what appears to be a teen party. Safety is our number one priority. Officers on scene to manage crowd control.

9:24 pm: Chief Lemaux talks with teen girls gathered in paking lot.

9:33 pm: It’s been a relatively quiet night thanks to all of our COP mobile volunteers on the streets tonight.

9:42 pm: Don’t forget that u can turn in ur unused/expired medication at any APD station Sat, 4/28 from 10am- 2pm  pic.twitter.com/wooxXthg

9:58 pm: Have a good night everyone! Don’t forget Sgt Cook and I, Officer McDonnell, will be doing a Dayshift tweetalong next thurs from 7am-2pm!

10:00 pm: Before we end our shift, another reminder: Free mulch available this weekend at Richard Simpson Park for Arlington residents.

18-WHEELER AND TANKER ACCIDENT NEAR #ALVARADO

All north bound & south bound lanes of I-35W from HWY 67 & FM 917 near Alvarado were closed this morning due to a jackknifed tanker truck carrying methanol  caught fire. An 18-wheeler also became involved in the accident.

Police were diverting traffic off of the highway and on to the service roads and away from the scene.

TXDOT states they are going to allow the fire to burn itself out.

Story by   : @DFW_Alerts
Photos by: @CBS11Melissa

Follow us on Twitter: @DFW_Alerts

More on the American Airlines / USAirways Merger

Source WFAA’s   @JasonWhitely

04/26/2012 ~4:26 @AmericanAir still expected to finish presenting its case to cancel labor contracts in NY Bankruptcy court this Friday.

04/26/2012 ~4:28 @AmericanAir exec Jeff Brundage finished testimony in NYC bankruptcy court. He talked about need for cost reduction, history of negotiation.

04/26/2012 ~04:28 @AmericanAir pilots, flight attendants, and ground workers unions begin presenting their cases against cancelling their contracts on May 14.

Will post as more available

SCHEDULED ELECTRICAL MAINTENANCE COULD CAUSE PROBLEMS. #ERCOT

ERCOT has asked that Texas residents try to conserve electricity today between 4 pm – 7 pm. While they are doing scheduled maintenance.  They are no expecting any power outages unless there is a huge breaker trip.

Follow us on Twitter: @DFW_Alerts

THE FUTURE OF DFW ALERTS NETWORK

DFW ALERTS NETWORK (DAN) will be having a meeting to discuss the future of DAN. The direction that DAN goes after this meeting will largely depend on comments and feedback we get from the community (you). It will also depend on the support we feel we can expect from the community. 

What we do is not free. We have bills and expenses that have to be taken care of. We need to know our community is behind us.

If you do not provide input and/or support and you don’t like the direction we take DAN, please don’t fill our E-mail with complaints.  If you had nothing to say when it made a difference,  you should have nothing to say after the fact.

Follow us on Twitter: @DFW_Alerts

Continuing Story: American Air Bankruptcy/Merger

This is the continuation of yesterday’s tweets via @JasonWhitely.  To see yesterday’s story go to http://wp.me/p2epql-6R

9:07am Judge entered courtroom. Allied Pilots Association cross-examining @AmericanAir witness Jerry Glass, an airline analyst. #aawfaa

9:26am Cross-examination of the airline analyst is mundane so far. Flight attendants atty is questioning Jerry Glass’ testimony, expertise. #aawfaa

9:31am PIC: Here’s a pic and bio of Beverly Goulet – @AmericanAir’s 1st of 3 executives who will testify this morning. bit.ly/IBCwI8 #aawfaa

9:37am AA atty objecting to Flight Attendants atty for not keeping questions on AA biz plan. The judge got a few laughs with his response. #aawfaa

9:38am JUDGE: “We’d like to finish this hearings sometime this calendar year. That’s why I want [attys] to connect the dots.” #aawfaa

9:41am JUDGE: “We seem to be hopscotching around.” APFA: “One of the probs the court is experiencing is you’re dealing with 3 diff groups.” #aawfaa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1:29pm TWU sending @AmericanAir’s new contract offer to union membership vote next wk. Tally expected by May 14. Deal saves about 3k jobs. #aawfaa

1:57am AA EXEC GOULET: “I think there are advantages to larger networks. Yes.” But she wouldn’t concede that AA must merge to grow. #aawfaa

AA Bankruptcy and AMR Merger

@JasonWhitely is in NYC tweeting live on the @AmericanAir Bankruptcy & AMR Merger

Here is a transcript of the mornings posts (more will be posted as it is available)

7:44am PIC: 300+ @AmericanAir flt attendants, TWU ground wrkrs staging in NY’s Battery Park b4 rally against contract cuts. http://ow.ly/i/A7S4

7:47am PIC: Laura Glading, pres. of @AmericanAir flt attendants union, 1 of several spkrs at NY rally against contract cuts. http://ow.ly/i/A7VI

7:54am PIC: US Bankruptcy Court in NYC where @AmericanAir will start making its case for canceling union contracts. http://ow.ly/i/A7Y4

8:20am “A merger w/ @USAirways is the path we must take,” AA Flight Attendants Union Pres Laura Glading said at NY rally. “Get this merger done!”

@AmericanAir Union Leader at rally in NYC: “We will not stand by and let the judiciary gut our families.”

8:30am PIC: An estimated 750 @AmericanAir flt attendants, ground wrkrs, mechanics rallying in NYC across from court. http://ow.ly/i/A8dl

8:35am PIC: Press of TWU, @AmericanAir’s mechanics & ground wrkrs: “This isn’t a bankruptcy process. This is a crime scene.” http://ow.ly/i/A8fK

@AmericanAir union wrkrs in NY chanting: “AA got bailed out. We got sold out.” Referencing concessions keeping AA out of bankruptcy in 2003.

8:50am NOW: Large, loud rally of chanting @AmericanAir union employees marches, stands in front of NYC bankruptcy court: http://ow.ly/i/A8nX

9:11am AA BANKRUPTCY: TWU agreed to send @AmericanAir’s last offer to membership for a vote. Tally not known until next wk.

9:11am Just got inside the NY Bankruptcy court. Courtroom is packed. Two overflow rooms w/ TV of proceedings are jammed as well.

9:33am AA BANKRUPTCY: Why is NYC hearing a big deal? Almost $1B in cuts on the line including 13K jobs. @AmericanAir is 1 of largest DFW emplyrs.

9:33am Sources say at least one @USAirways executive attended the @AmericanAir union rally outside bankruptcy court.

9:58am AA BANKRUPTCY: @AmericanAir atty says management earns “below market” salaries while union employees earn above market pay.

10:32am AA BANKRUPTCY: Pilots Union atty: “How we got here is more in the company’s declarations than Mr. Gallagher’s (AA Atty) presentation.”

10:32am AA BANKRUPTCY: Pilots union atty says @AmericanAir pilots took 23% pay decrease in 2003. That’s 1992 levels.

10:35am AA BANKRUPTCY: Pilots union atty tells NYC judge that labor has been betrayed with @AmericanAir executive bonuses & compensation.

10:50am AA BANKRUPTCY: @AmericanAir pilots union atty expects AA to merge post-bankruptcy. Unions suggest do it now and save jobs.

10:52am AA BANKRUPTCY: @AmericanAir pilots atty says these are draconian cuts. Continues to advocate merger w/ @USAirways to the bankruptcy judge.

10:55am AA BANKRUPTCY: Atty for flight attendants giving opening now. Says avg age for @AmericanAir FA is 51. Avg salary is $45K .

10:57am AA BANKRUPTCY: Flight attendants atty says labor went through ‘bankruptcy’ in 2003 – it was out of court. We gave AA exactly what it needed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1:18pm DEVELOPING: @AmericanAir says it offered TWU ground workers new offer that will save “substantial # of jobs.” Membership now voting on it.

1:20pm AA BANKRUPTCY: Attorneys representing all six sides (unions, airline, pension org, and unsecured creditors) finished opening statements.

1:20pm AA BANKRUPTCY: Airline now calling 1st of its 12 witnesses. It’s an analyst detailing @AmericanAir’s performance against competitors.

1:54am DEVELOPING: @AmericanAir quietly made a new offer to TWU ground workers that would save several thousand jobs. Wrkrs voting on it this wk.