OCFA Open House

Spent part of Saturday at the headquarters of the Orange County Fire Authority in Irvine. I've seen this facility on a reality show that followed one of the academy classes, but had never actually been there. Lots of other people had the same idea because for awhile there we didn't think we were going to find parking.

They had all kinds of apparatus on display, from the stuff you normally see running calls around Orange County, to some of the equipment that's used for brush fires or in support roles. We also had a chance to tour the 9/11 dispatch center, and this was especially interesting to me because I often listen to their dispatchers and crews as they run their calls.

I shot a little video of a firefighting demonstration they did (pay attention to the second part involving the grease fire):

That's what they do for practice, but way back in 1988 I shot some other video of a working industrial fire in Mission Viejo. My office was right across the freeway, and I just happened to have my new video camera in the car that day. It was pretty exciting:
Next Saturday most of the OCFA fire stations will have their own open houses.  You can check the OCFA website for more info.