SAFD and NFD Divers

Saint Albans and Nitro Fire Department divers trained together this week. The training was held in the Kanawha and Coal Rivers. The training was conducted by SAFD Dive Master Matt Poff.

Kanawha State Forest

I made a trip out to Kanawha State Forest last week to do some wild flower photography. Things weren't out like I thought they would be, but I did find a whole patch of Jack-in-the Pulpits. The wild Geraniums were just starting to come out. Trilliums were all over the place, but no Lady Slippers yet. I'll try again for them in a few days.

Four Saint Albans Firefighters Retire

On Saturday the 26th of April Saint Albans Fire Dept. retired 4 of it's bravest. The four retirees are Captain Rick Fulmer (30 years service), Lieutenant Mark Beane (32 years service), Firefighter Charlie Smith (26 years service) and Firefighter David Fulks (17 years service). These old fa..., I mean brave firefighters, represent 105 years of combined service to the citizens and city of Saint Albans. The event was hosted by the Saint Albans Firefighters Local 1155 and was held at the Ayash Sports Complex. There were about 75 people at the bash including family, friends and members of other local fire and police depts. The master of ceremonies was SAFD Captain John Philpott. Special thanks go to Captain Philpott and his girlfriend Shelly for the awesome slide show they produced for the retirees. The event was also attended by two of the four recruit firefighters that were hired to fill the positions left vacant by these veteran firefighters. You guys will be missed and we hope you have a great and blessed retirement.

WV Power Game

We got to go to the WV Power baseball game tonight. A friend of ours won 6 box seat tickets in a photo contest so they were nice enough to invite us to go with them. We like going to the park and the box seats made it that much nicer. The Power played the Delmarva Shore Birds and beat them 5 to 2.

Space Camp

We went to Space Camp in Huntsville, AL in mid march. It was a great time and a great learning experience. The size of some of the rockets and the Space Shuttle is incredible. The Space Shuttle that's on display is the "Pathfinder". It was the very first Shuttle in the program. The only bad part of the trip was the drive up and back (8 hrs. one way).

Smiley's Lounge

I got some good photos of the Smiley's fire last week. Fire was just starting to show through the roof when we got there. Once we got our ladder truck set up and squirtin' water I had time to take some shots. Smiley's had been an area restaurant for around 50 years.