Del Valle

One of the best days of training was at Del Valle training facility. Here is where we had to practice all sorts of drills. We first got there at 5 in the morning for set up. We than had to get all of out turnout gear as well as food ready to go for the day. We were on call so we could get a call on a moments notice and we had to be ready to go. We ran through many events. The first event we went to the tractors and learned about how they are used in the forestry division. We after went to search and rescue where we had to work in a team in order to save someone underground in tunnels. After we had to go break structure while using heavy equipment. After we went to teh helicopters to learn about the pilots and helicopters in the los angeles county fire department. After we had car extraction here we had to use the jaws of life to save someone out of a car. After we had forestry division where we had to cut line on order for firefighters to fight a fire. Last we actually got the oppurtunity to take out a live structural fire. This was the best part of the day. This event is also where i really tested my answers and helped me realize what it was going to take to become a firefighter.

Deciding on my essential question

Deciding on my essential question would be a challenge for me at first. I was unsure on how i wanted to tackle my senior project. I jumped from essential question to essential question until we finally decided on doing something based off of structural fire. Structural fires are anything that ha to do with buildings, houses anything that is a manmade structure that an be burned. This striekd an interest in me as well as helped me understand the life of a firefighter because it showed me the necessary steps in order to fight a fire in the future and help beat prepare for the road ahead of me.

Explorer Training

One of the Sundays that i did my training and mentorship at we did some drills known as hose lays. During hose lays the firefighters prepare the hose in order to put out a fire. This is where i learned about the four different jobs in the fire department and i found help with my answer 1. The four different jobs in the fire department was captain, hydrant man, nozzle man, and engineer. We had to try and know every one of these jobs in order to successfully extinguish a structural fire. During this we were given a homework assignment and we had to research which job we thought was the most interesting. I researched the engineer. During this research i found that the engineer is the only one in the fire station that in a sense is allowed to drive the fire truck. They are also the men that specialize with everything on and inside of the fire truck. The engineer is usually the person who is all about the technology and is fully capable of driving a long truck even in tight situations. The other jobs are extremely important as well. The engineer job is to get water from the hydrant to the truck onto the fire. He stands by the truck and makes sure it is working properly in order to put out any type of fire.

Coming to my first answer

At first i didn't know what inititive command systems even meant. It wasn't until ms. Pittman actually sent me a link in order to fully understand the inititive command systems and why they would be so important to my senior topic. At first i had so many answers for my essential question and i couldn't narrow it down enough to talk for 30 minutes about well rounded research. But after researching inititiive command systems, i realized that it is everything that has to do with fighting a fire. It was the before, during, and after fighting a structural fire process. This was going to be my longest answer out of the two, and i had to make sure i would be able to speak about it for a good amount of time. This answer really helped me understand the exact steps in order to fight a structural fire and the proper ways to be safe. Safety was also a huge aspect that i learned about when studying initive command systems. Without this answer my essential question wouldn't have been as stong as it was, and my answers would have most likely fallen short.

Easter Sunday

My very first event as an explorer was the Saturday before Easter. We had to get to the station at 6 in the morning in order to load the utility truck for an event we did at Pantera park in Diamond bar. We had to sll breakfast to the community as well as prepare it. We sold breakfast all morning and my personal job was to serve food. This was the first time i had ever done something like this and at first i was nervous because i had to work with people i never have hung out with them. After the first day of the explorer program, i had realized that this was going to be a team based experience. After the next couple of weeks i really sat down and was thinking about my product and what i have gained from the explorer program. I realized that i had gained a sense of brotherhood as well as teamwork while working with these young men. It came to me that in the future if i do end up pursuing this career, i would have to be able to work with people to get the job done. I believe strongly that the explorer program helped me realize this the most.

First Day Of Training

My first day of training as an explorer has been one of the most physically demanding days of my life. I went into the first day of training thinking it was going to be easy. I am for the most part an active person so a few laps and push ups wasn't going to be a huge deal to me. I couldn't have been more wrong. We did so many push ups, sit-ups, planks that i was about ready to throw up. I put my all into that training session and after the physical training aspect i was extremely tired as well as winded. That was just the first part of training for the day and i was already drenched in sweat and extremely tired. For the next part of the training we actually got to run through the maze that we have at the station. This was a part of the training that ultimately helped me with my second answer. I learned that being blindfolded an dark helps you feel for the environment around you . It gets you close to the actual environment of a fire because a fire is dark and hard to see in.

Fire Museum Day

Fire Museum

On May 18^th from 6 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon the explorers did an event at the Los Angeles County Fire museum in Bellflower, California. We were going to be the only vendors at this event, so we had to show up early in order to set up and start selling food. We sold all types of food. My job was to man the cash register and take people’s money as well as their orders. After a few hours of running the cash register, I actually got the opportunity to go and check out the fire museum. They had trucks and wagons from when firefighting first started to get big. They had an original wagon from when the horses were the engine for the fire department. We also had the opportunity to learn about the old extinguishers in the department. I also purchased a sticker from this event. Overall it was a good learning experience for learning about where firefighting originated and how it has become so big now.  

City of Hope

City Of Hope

On Saturday June 1^st, some of the men from my explorer post went to city of hope in order to set up for an event that was hosted for pediatrics day. We had to arrive at the station at 6 in the morning in order to make it to Duarte where the event was, and set up. When we go there we had to set up tables and tablecloths for the people running the checkout booths. The event is a yearly event and is put by the hospital staff in order to give the patients at the hospital a special day. It is done yearly, and it is usually done at Griffith Park but was moved to City of Hope because of maintenance. There were patients from all ages that arrived on the scene in order to have a fun day. There were many volunteers that set up the event. As an explorer our main job was to direct traffic in and out of the event. It lasted all day so we had to make sure to let people know when to enter and when to leave. Overall it was a great event and is glad we did it in order to help out a great cause.