A month ago, Snohomish County Fire District 1 opened a new fire station on 156th just off Highway 99. The dedication and open house was today, 22 May 2010. I took this picture of Engine 10 prior to the event. I believe this engine, a 1996 Spartan/Darley was previously in service as Engine 11 and then more recently as Engine 22.
Snohomish County Fire District 1 Engine 10
May 22nd, 2010“A Little Help”
May 22nd, 2010We got a couple of 6-ticket packages to the Seattle International Film Festival. We saw our first movie last night at 7pm at the Harvard Exit Theater in Seattle. The showing was the World Premier of “A Little Help” starring Jenna Fischer, Rob Benedict, Daniel Yelsky, and Chris O’Donnell. It was directed by Michael J. Weithorn. The film was a good mix of comedy and drama. It was well done. The Jenna Fischer, Rob Benedict, Daniel Yelsky, Michael J. Weithorn and the producers were in the audience. There was a Q&A session at the end of the screening.
Thirty years since the Mt. St. Helens eruption.
May 18th, 2010So today is the 30th anniversary of the big 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens. It was a very memorable day. The Sunday morning started like many others before it. The weather was warm and sunny as we went to church. The early service was uneventful and Sunday School began as normal. It was noticed that the sky was darkening. Everyone thought it was going to rain, except it kept getting darker and darker. It became as black as night (perhaps even blacker). Our assistant pastor stopped by and told our teachers that “Mt. St. Helens blew her top.” We drew pictures of it with large, fat crayons for the rest of class. Then the fun began.
When Sunday School was over, we didn’t go home. There was great concern about the ash falling from the sky and what it might do to people or cars. We stayed at church and attended the second service. That wasn’t fun, church twice in one day. It was dark. There was alot of thunder and lightening. Periodically throughout the service, the pastor would announce local road closures.
Eventually the second service ended. I seem to recall that there was to be a congregational meeting that day with a potluck lunch. The meeting was canceled but we went ahead and had the potluck lunch. How lucky we were that many people brought food to church with them that day.
I don’t remember too much of what happened after lunch. I think we just headed for home. I recall rushing out to the car under a newspaper to keep the ash off. We had to stop several times on the way home to brush the ash off the windows.
I don’t remember what we did when we got home. I think I tried to take a nap. I didn’t have a good time with that due to all the thunder and lightening. I do recall dinner. It was pepperoni pizza, possibly the Totino’s frozen variety. My ears were covered with pizza sauce. It is very difficult to eat pizza and cover the ears to block out the sounds of the thunder at the same time.
Around 7 or 8 in the evening, things calmed down a bit. The thunder stopped and we saw the sun again just before sunset. It was fairly quiet with an odd orange glow.
The next morning, everything was white. I seem to recall ash to the depth of 3 inches. Reports I read today indicate up to 6 inches. So, I would say there was between 3 to 6 inches of ash accumulated on the ground.
Mt. St. Helens in 2007
Renton Engine 11
May 9th, 2010
I saw this at the store this morning.
Renton Commercial Fire
April 10th, 2010
BAB_5969, originally uploaded by bbirmingham.
Today, there was a fire in a commercial building in Renton. Firefighters had a difficult time locating the fire in the ceiling. Engines 11, 12, 13, Aid 13, Ladder 14, and Battalions 12 and 13 made up the initial response. They were eventually joined by Engines 76 and 77 from Kent and Engine 51 and Ladder 54 from Tukwila. Engine 22 from neighboring Fire District 20 provided coverage in the city while Renton crews were busy with this incident.
Yakima FD Engine 91
March 28th, 2010
Yakima FD Engine 91, originally uploaded by bbirmingham.
My wife and I took a day trip over to Yakima on Friday, 26 March 2010. While in town, I happend to see Engine 91 of the Yakima Fire Department. This is a 1991 Spartan/Darley triple combination pumper.
Seatac Engine 45
March 20th, 2010
Seatac Engine 45, originally uploaded by bbirmingham.
It is the first day of spring. It is sunny and the temperture is supposed to be near 70. I set out to photograph some fire apparatus near the Sea-Tac airport. I knew Engine 45 has a relatively new Pierce Quantum. Station 46 is fairly new and it has a nearly new heavy rescue.
There wasn’t much going on the City of Sea-Tac today, however, I did manage to find the new Quantum sitting in front of Station 45.
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Speed Skating
February 27th, 2010
Our recent trip to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, CA went very well. The plan included taking a train to and from Vancouver in one day. We practiced the route on Wednesday, 24 Feb 2010. The intent behind the practice run was to become familiar with the public transportation around Vancouver and pick up our event tickets. By the schedule, we would only have 50 minutes between arrival in Vancouver and the start of the Speed Skating event. It turns out the practice trip was incredibly beneficial.
On 26 February 2010, the train departed Seattle on time at 7:45am. We arrived early in Vancouver by about 20 minutes. Fortunately, our car was the first to go through Customs after business class. This saved valuable time. We used the Sky Train to get to the Richmond Oval. We were able to simply walk onto the train at each station or transfer along our route. We didn’t have to wait at all and the trains were not crowded.
We finally arrived at the Richmond Oval at about 12:50. We missed the Men’s Team Pursuit Quarterfinals but arrived in time to see the Women’s Team Pursuit Quarterfinals. We really had no idea what we were watching.
Speed Skating Team Pursuit was very exciting to watch. Each team has four skaters, however, only three skate at a time. Two teams compete against each other in a six lap race. They start on opposite sides of the track. Times are reported every half lap.
We watched a total of six races between the men’s and women’s events. They were very exciting. We watched the USA women’s team beat the Canada women’s team by 0.04second.
There are some other items worth noting concerning our practice trip to Canada. On Friday’s trip, Alexis had to tie her shoe at the same point coming out of the Amtrak station in Vancouver as we walked to our first SkyTrain stop. When we returned to Seattle on Friday, we ended up with the same cab driver who drove us home on Wednesday. Given all the variables at work here, that is quite the coincidence.
While at the event took over 900 photos with the big lens (70-200mm). They can be seen on my flickr page.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbirmingham/sets/72157623521919270/
Elton John/Billy Joel Concert
February 7th, 2010Another Christmas gift from Alexis to me was tickets to the Elton John/Billy Joel concert. We attended that concert took place last night at the Key Arena at Seattle Center. It was a great time.
Elton John looked like he had a very precise approach to the piano. He appeared very serious about what he was doing but appeared to have a good time at the same time. Billy Joel also sounded great and had a more energetic and laid back approach to his work with the piano.
Bald Eagle on the Skagit River
January 3rd, 2010
Alexis booked us on a river rafting trip on the Skagit River. At this time, many Eagles are visiting the river in search of food. The trip took place on 2 January 2010. The weather was about 44ºF, overcast, and raining. The overcast actually helped with the eagle sightings. Had it been a sunny day, the eagles would have been flying high overhead.
The trip was good. We spent two hours on the water. I took the 70-200mm lens. Overall, I took 329 pictures. The picture posted here is the best of the bunch.