Cowboy Frank's Galleries

My time as a Volunteer Fireman

1978-1980

First posted Mar 17, 1998
Major update Dec 02, 2013
Last update Oct 11, 2016

The Fire Department Between 1978 and 1980, I was a member of the McLean Volunteer Fire Department in McLean, Virginia. Most of these photos were shot in 1978 during 3 house burnings, while I was still in training.

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House Burning

When a house is scheduled for demolition, sometimes the owner will donate the old structure to the local fire department for training. A fire will be set and a crew will go into the burning house and put it out. Another fire is set in a different room, and it too put out. And so on for as long as the structure is reasonably safe to enter. Then the building is allowed to burn completely. This process of repeated setting and extinguishing allows as many firefighters as possible to get involved.

This gallery was originally posted way back in 1998 on one of my earliest websites. I've finally gotten around to rescanning the original 35m slides and adding many more to the galley.

Moc Airline Crash These night shots were in late 1979 at training exercise where the county staged a mock airline crash at the county training center on West Ox Road.

Extraction Class These 4 shots are of a vehicle extraction class held at station 21 where I volunteered in late 1980 for about a year.

The Fire House The old McLean Fire Station. I believe this building was constructed in the 1950's or 1960's. It has now been replaced with a new station across the street and at last check this building was a county recreation facility.

Personal The following photos are of me and my two brothers. I'm showing them around the fire equipment. Next is me in my fireman's uniform at a Christmas dinner at my Father's home. Last two images are of a map I built in my apartment which showed all the fire stations in Fairfax County. In the last imeage, I'm pointing to the McLean fire house. Each station was a light bulb which I could turn on independently from across the room using a switching device.