WEBVTT

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- So it all started with my Dad,

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he was up here for 33
years as a State full-time.

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And he was up here for 20
years as a Guard Member,

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as a Firefighter, so I
always remember coming up

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as a young 2, 3, 4 years old,

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and coming and playing on the fire truck.

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So it always stuck with me from then on.

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So, it kind of started when I was 18,

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when I could actually make my commitment

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to the United States Air Force

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and I've been here ever since.

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So ten years I've been in
the Air Force Firefighting.

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I've also been a State
full-time member for six years,

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and on the volunteer side
I've been in for eight years.

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So I'm quite diverse with my firefighting.

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I love it, and I wouldn't
choose anything else to do.

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So right behind me you'll see the P34 RIV,

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Rapid Intervention Vehicle.

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What this kind of took
place, is the old P19's.

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The difference is, it doesn't
have a thousand gallons,

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it has 400 gallons, and it
doesn't have a large turret

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in the front you'll see this
one has a smaller turret,

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and what it does, is it
takes droplets of water

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and makes it really small

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and makes it like a pressure washer.

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So what the difference is
between that and the P19,

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is that we use less water, we
can stay on the scene longer,

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and it's a lot lighter than the old P19,

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so you can get into less paved areas,

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so it won't sink into those grounds.

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So, it's kind of like a kid
getting a brand new toy,

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you play with it all the time,

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and say it's mine, mine, mine,

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so really you kind of
just jump all over it

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and you start playing with it

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and you start seeing it's capabilities

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and what you can use it
for in large emergencies.

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So what this is a little
different, for this tender,

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is it's 4000 gallons instead of 2000.

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Which is a huge difference.

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It's the biggest in the area.

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So, you can see us
getting called a lot more

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to bigger emergencies, with this vehicle.

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So you have this vehicle
for almost a year now,

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and training is a little
different, a little tough,

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because you have two different
entities with the State

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and The Guard coming together

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and really trying to make
the best of any situation

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that comes our way.

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So with that we need to train hard,

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and we need to train fast on it,

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because we need to get
this out in the community

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as quickly as possible.

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So as soon as we hit Guard
drill, we spent a good day on it.

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Making sure we knew the
inside's and out's of it,

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and how it works.

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And what the best way to use it.

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'cause each of these are
specialized equipment

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and you need to understand
the different ways

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you can use each truck

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and the pros and cons of each way.

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Now coming together with State and Guard.

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The easier of it, is
some of us are in both,

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so we really have the
opportunity to mesh that way.

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We can relay questions and
concerns to both Stateside

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and Guard side, so we can
figure out the best way

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to use this, really fast.

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So it comes from The Guard Bureau,

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they look at the age of the trucks.

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And how much the mechanics
need to put their hands on it.

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That's kind of how you get selected.

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But each truck we take very high pride in.

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We have to because we have

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to keep these things
running as long as possible.

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So we clean it constantly,

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we make sure everything runs, everyday.

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So we have high pride in
everything that we have,

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because we know that once we lose it,

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we lose a big asset, to
not only this airfield,

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but the community as well.

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So it just, it's kind of
an easement on everyone.

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Having this big tool here of
4000 gallons of water kind

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of gives a little more
at east to pilots whether

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it be from the Duluth
International Airport,

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the partners with AAR, Sirius Aircraft,

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so all those people who are just buying

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their own personal aircraft
that are coming in.

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As well as Monaco, people that
are flying through Monaco.

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There's a lot of different aircraft

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that come here that aren't
necessarily military,

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like 140th, 133rd, and 934th.

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So it makes it a lot
more of an ease knowing

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that you have people on
the ground ready for you

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that have the right equipment
and new equipment that works.

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Yeah, we'll absolutely we'll
see this in other countries

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as well as they get new equipment as well.

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We'll already have a kind
of one up of we're ready

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for new equipment as we come along.

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Whenever you do deploy
those, there's always

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that grace period of learning it,

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the equipment that is on scene.

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What they have, what we can use it for,

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what it's pros and cons are?

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What drives the department?

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What the big needs are,
here we have a F16's,

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we have personal aircraft, we have C130's,

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and C17's, and C5's that fly in.

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Where we might be at a
place with more re-fuelers,

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which is a little different than here.

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So we really learn the
different techniques

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of each truck to service
what we have on the airfield.

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So for us, our primary
mission is the airfield.

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Anything that's on the airfield,

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whether it be military or non,
we are here for the airfield.

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Now, what we are capable of doing,

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that not all Guard Fire
Departments are able to do,

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is go off base and support our community.

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And that is a huge asset to people

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that are living around us.

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We are able to help when they
are in their greatest need.

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And we can now supply them
with bigger better equipment.

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And it kind of puts it at all
more at ease for us as well,

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because we know that we have
equipment that will work,

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and that can save us when we are in need.

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So annually, we like to get together

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with the local volunteers,
and Duluth Fire Department

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to kind of come together

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and show each other what we each have.

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We can bring our newest
equipment or oldest equipment

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and see what the pros and cons,

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and what we can use each thing for,

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and we kind of get each other's
hands on other's equipment

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so we understand exactly
what we're working with.

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Whenever we're on a fire,
than we have no concerns

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of what we're getting.

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We always know exactly
what we have on scene.

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What the capabilities
are, which makes it safer,

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and hopefully quicker to extinguish fires.

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- [Interviewer] Have you done it so far,

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because you've had it for a year?

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- Yes.

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- [Interviewer] How did that go?

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- It works great, it does work great.

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It also helps that we
have a lot of Dual Rollers

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that are apart of the
community firefighters as well.

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A lot of our Dual Rollers are
actually volunteers as well.

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So we have a very good rapport
with everyone around us.

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A Dual Roller, is somebody
who is in The Guard

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and also a State Firefighter.

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They are in blue for most of
the time, but on weekends,

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Guard weekends, they put
on the green uniform.

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So with the P34 here, the RIV,
Rapid Intervention Vehicle

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only holds 400 gallons which
is about the size of a hot tub.

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Not a whole lot of water
that we have to use.

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The nice thing is they use
very little droplets of water,

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that can blast a long time.

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Now with the big rig behind
there, the T, I'm sorry the P26,

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has 4000 gallons, which is
about a small swimming pool.

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So you see the difference
that we can make.

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And that small swimming
pool is able to provide all

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that water to each of the other vehicles

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that are directly fighting the fire.