Last Franklin Shift

I had been looking to get a fire call the hole time I have been here through the last three shifts I have managed to miss them all, but this finally changed at 720 this morning with a box alarm downtown in Franklin. I rode with Joni in engine 3 and it was fun to actually hear a Q siren going to a call because it is somthing that all of Andovers engines lack. We also had some quality airhorn action going through the stop light at the end of west bow street. This however was not the highlight of the day. Just after starting hose testing we heard laconia respond to a box alarm. soon after we heard them having smoke in the first floor and requesting a first alarm. We started thinking about heading to our gear because on a second alarm 7 engine 4 goes to the scene. A few minutes later the make or break for when you are waiting to go somewhere which is Lakes Region answering Laconia's Command. Sitting in Franklin you cannot hear what the person in Laconia is saying but you can hear dispatch answering them they repeated over the radio Laconia Command Requesting a Second Alarm. By this time we had already had our gear on and were heading toward the truck. SOPs of Franklin says to wait a few minutes for aditional call personal to show up and hop in the truck. No one showed up in the time we waited so we headed out. This turned out to be the longest and most fun ride to a call I have ever been on. Lots of Q siren, Airhorns and a supprising ammout of traffic enroute. We showed up on scene and helped get tools our for Captain Hicks and Joni to head up and into the building if nessesary. I stayed with Greg who was running the truck if needed which on a fire like this water supply is was not an issue with the hydrants in Laconia. This highlights one major differance about fighting a fire in Andover and fighting a fire in a city, that being that water supply is a big issue in Andover and not much of an issue in Laconia. The bulk of the fire was knocked down when we arived, but they were still cutting vent holes, overhauling and doing work on the roof. Greg and I talked placement of apparatice like Laconias tower ladder which had to deal with lots of wires and tight operating quarters. We also took many pictures. It was lunch time by the time we got back and I made my usual cup of noodles. Just as we were finishing lunch another call came in and the day was shaping up to be a busy one. After that we prepared to go tour the dam which we had been waiting to do for most of the day and as soon as joni and I got into engine 1 and were about to start it up a med call came in. After this was finished we ran out of time to tour the dam which was dissapointing because I was looking forward to seeing that, but some days you just have to run calls all day which no one complains about. We had a paremetic intercept a little later in the afternoon and then Greg showed me how to tag the hydrant out back which I mostly did by with no gidance which I was happy about and I am now confident I could do in Andover if nessesary. Dinner went well although it was a little late because I was slow at cooking but they all engjoyed it and it turned out to be a success. I am off to New London tomorow and hopefully they will take me out on their boat and or do some ladder operations.