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Visit to NYFD Ten House in New York City.

 

NYFD Ten House
NYFD Ten House

After what was such a surreal experience at Ground Zero, we crossed the street to NYFD Ten House.  From the news coverage on 9/11, I knew that it was close, but I didn't realize it was that close.

Engine 10 Ladder 10 is 1 of just 2 fire halls in all of New York that both trucks have the same number.  The other is Engine 52 - ladder 52 in the Bronx.  This is different than what we are used to in British Columbia. And Nathan found this quite fascinating.

Shortly after we rang the bell, Fire Fighter Pickering greeted us and showed us around the fire hall.  One thing that we decided to do when we went to New York is give the fire hall a trophy to thank them for their service.  Engraved on the trophy is "Our Super Heroes, We Thank You.  Santa and His Super Hero".

NYFD Ten House has a lot of cool stuff to see.

After Nathan showed Firefighter Pickering his book, he let us walk around the hire hall, which they call houses.  Nathan was mesmerized by the trucks there.  Most o the trucks were adorned with amazing graphics.  The engine in House 10 had a huge mural of an American Flag on the side of it.  Most of the trucks also have the names of the fallen firefighters who worked on that truck.

Another thing that every firehall has is a shrine to the fallen firefighters.  (above left)  At Ten house they have their "Tenhouse Bravest" wall.  Around the images are plaques about the firefighters.

On the wall where they have their protective gear was a really cool flag.  What you don't see in the photo is the row of about 100 helmets from firefighters around the world who visited their station.

Santa and His Super Hero visits Ground Zero.

Ground Zero
Ground Zero

In April 2016, we went of a trip to New York City.  One of the main things that we wanted to do was visit Ground Zero and the surrounding firehalls.  Most of the posts in this blog are about Firehall visits but this was an experience that we will never forget.

Santa and His Super Hero is about Santa getting ...continue reading "Ground Zero"

There are squirrels everywhere!

By squirrels, I mean distractions.  A lot has happened in the last year.  I can't believe that I haven't blogged here in so long.  That being said, we have done a lot over the last year to not only promote the book but to get it ready for publication.  This blog post will be a short update on what has happened in the last year.  I will be following it up with a number of blog posts about some of the exciting new developments.  I may even add in a few squirrels along the way. ...continue reading "Squirrels"

Unveiling of the photo concrete wall at the BC Burn Fund Centre
Unveiling of the photo concrete wall at the BC Burn Fund Centre

 

BC Burn Fund Centre unvails its Photo Concrete Wall

On June 21, 2015 the BC Burn Fund Centre unveiled it's feature Photo Concrete wall.  The photo taken by Allan de la Plante depicts a firefighter holding a child with another beside him at a fire scene.  The technique used on this wall is Photo Concrete.  This is a new process of embedding a photo into the concrete.

I took Nathan down to see the festivities.  When we got there, we went to the BC Burn Fund Centre table at the front of the building to get his book signed by some more fire fighters.  After we got a few fire fighters to sign the book, Nathan was taken to the podium where they were getting ready to do the unveiling and we were introduced to Michael Hurley, the president of the BC Professional Fire Fighters' Burn Fund. ...continue reading "BC Burn Fund Centre"

The very beginning of Santa and His Super Hero at FoodBank Friday

It all started at FoodBank Friday

Throughout this blog I have been writing mainly about our Firehall visits.  Today I thought I would like to tell you how it all began.

Ever since Nathan was born, we would go to the CityTV Breakfast Television FoodBank Friday in Vancouver.  The first time we went, we were interviewed by host Dawn Chubai.  Shortly after Nathan was born I started a company called Anything on a Clock.   After that, whenever we went to FoodBank Friday, we would donate part proceeds of our November sales to the Food Bank.

On December 4th 2009, we went to the FoodBank Friday broadcast as we always had.  But this time was different.  Shortly after we arrived, a firetruck rolled in. Generally Nathan is a bit groggy when we go to these events.  They start at 6:00 am and because we like to be there near the beginning, and then hang out for a bit, we usually leave the house around 5:00 am.  But when the fire truck arrived, Nathan got really excited.  Off camera, before our interview, Dawn Chubai asked Nathan why he was so excited.  Nathan being 3 1/2 years old at the time pointed to the firetruck and said "Super Heroes".

During our interview Dawn asked Nathan again about the firefighters and he told Dawn that they were Super Heroes.  After our spot, they cut to Riaz Meghji who did an interview about the upcoming Santa Clause Parade.  Then it was the firefighter's turn.  While Riaz was doling his thing, host Greg Harper asked if Nathan would like to join him at the firetruck for his segment.

That was the first time that Nathan connected his Super Heroes (firefighters) to Santa.  That evening when I tucked him into bed, I asked him for ideas for his bedtime story.  He asked me "What would happen if Santa got stuck in a chimney?  Do you think firefighters would help them?"  So I made up a story about how a firefighter helped Santa when he got stuck in a Chimney.  Each evening he would ask more about our story until I put it on paper.

This fall our story that we made up 6 years ago will be made into a book for other kids to enjoy.

 

Copyright © 2015 by Keven McTaggart.  All Rights Reserved

On May 15th Nathan had a professional development day so we visited Burnaby Firehall #1.  When we got there we met with fire captain Erik Vogel.  He took us down and showed us the dispatch room.  He then took us into the engine bay where he showed us through his Command Unit.

After showing the Command Unit Captain Vogel went in where the firefighter were having their morning briefing and send out firefighters Darren Jung and Tyler Codron.  Darren is the driver of Rescue 1 and Tyler is number 77 on the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League.  As Nathan is a big fan of lacrosse and plays novice lacrosse in Coquitlam, he was excited to meet Tyler.

The guys thought it would be better to show us the firetruck outside the fire bay so he decided to pull it out into the parking lot. Of course it's more fun to have a passenger so Nathan jumped up into the passenger seat and put on the headset so that he could talk to the drive and to dispatch.  As they left the driveway and pulled down the street to another entrance onto the property, Darren had Nathan turn on the lights, then the siren.

After they got back to the yard, the firefighters opened the doors around the truck and showed Nathan the safety equipment.  Then they took a fire hose and a pylon out and let Nathan shoot the hose at the pylon.

When we were finished, Captain Erik Vogel brought the Santa and His Super Hero book back to us where he had all of the crews sign it.

Thanks to everyone at the Burnaby Firehall #1 for such a great experience.  Especially Erik Vogel, Darren Jung and Tyler Codron.

You can see the photos from the visit on our Gallery page.

Copyright © 2015 by Keven McTaggart.  All Rights Reserved

 

Our Visit to the BC Professional Fire Fighters' Burn Fund offices
April 17th 2015
BC Burn Fund Meeting

Proceeds of our book, Santa and His Super Hero are going to be donated to the BC Professional Fire Fighters' Burn Fund.  On April 17th 2015, Nathan had a professional development day from school so I arranged to take him to meet the people at the offices at the BC Professional Fire Fighters' Burn Fund.  When we got there, we were met by the ladies who run the office, Lisa, Nola, and Shelly and BC Burn Fund director, Brent Morgan.  Brent has been a firefighter for 16 years in Fort St. John, BC. ...continue reading "BC Burn Fund Office Visit"

On January 4th 2015, Santa came to our house....

.....and so did so many others.


It was kind of like an open house, but with special guests.  We set up our basement with a Christmas scene so Santa and some Super Heroes could feel right at home.

On the internet, video is very popular, and since we are trying to raise money for the BC Professional Fire Fighters' Burn Fund, I thought it would be a good time to call in a favor to my good friend from the North Pole and have Santa come to the house and read Santa and His Super Hero on film.

Then we got thinking, ...continue reading "Santa’s in the House"

Our First Firehall Visit

December 30,2014 - Coquitlam Fire/Rescue Firehall #1

Nathan sitting in the Fire Engine - Gallery - First Firehall Visit
Nathan sitting in the Fire Engine

The purpose of this visit was to see if we could get an off duty firefighter to help us with the filming of Santa and His Super Hero.  What we got was so unexpected.

When we walked into the firehall, we first met with Fire Captain Jason Miller.  Nathan and I explained the book to him and how we are planning on giving the proceeds of the book to the BC Processional Fire Fighters Association Burn Fund.   ...continue reading "First Firehall Visit"

And so it begins....

Santa and His Super Hero Book. Begin
Santa and His Super Hero Book

In 2009, when my son, Nathan, was 3 years old, instead of reading books to him at night, I would lay in bed with him and make up stories based around his suggestions.  We would begin by Nathan giving me a topic and we would go from there.

 

As Christmas grew closer, he would give suggestions about how Santa got stuck in a chimney and how a firefighter came to his rescue.  Each night he would begin by giving a different scenario.  After a few nights I saw a pattern in our story telling so after he fell asleep each night, I would go to my computer and write down the story that we just made up. ...continue reading "We Begin Santa and His Super Hero"