"I began taking Fire Science classes in the fall of 99 and within a few
months was hired on as a volunteer probationary Firefighter with the
Burbank-Paradise Fire Department. Two years later I became a volunteer
Captain. In Aug of 02’ I was hired by American Medical Response (Modesto)
which is fun but by March of 03’ I was blessed with a paid Engineer position
with the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Dept. It’s great and it is everything
I expected and more. My Fire Dept protects the Beard Industrial Tract which
includes Gallo Winery and Signature Foods (Tri Valley Foods was once the largest
cannery in the world.) About 3 years ago I began a collection of antique fire
fighting equipment and after a few months I found out that I loved
collecting hydrants more than anything, because they involved a lot of work
and I get a great deal of satisfaction in completing one."
"When I take photos of Hydrants I find that using my fire department uniform
works best because people think I'm on some kind of "official Business":
hahaha, if they only knew! Well thank you for taking time to view some of my
work, I have twice as many hydrants now but haven’t had time to get pictures
of them in but I will soon."