Good People

A quick post to break the silence on this site. A few weeks ago, firefighters in the ELAFF local area came together to raise money for a Brother fighting cancer. The benefit supper and auction involved the help and support of many individuals, groups, and businesses. I won’t go into too much detail, except to say that it was a great success and example of brotherhood, raising around $30,000. Most of the donations for the auction came from local businesses, but some of the donating companies were out-of-state fire service businesses. Despite having no real connection to the area, all of them jumped at the chance the donate and help out. I wanted to use this platform to thank them for helping.

Box Alarm Leather (website – Facebook)

Box Alarm Leather donated a custom leather radio strap. I wear a Box Alarm Leather strap and it is of exceptional quality. I doubt I will ever have the opportunity to compare it to another custom strap, though. My Box Alarm strap is so well made that I may never need another.

Fire Cam / Firevideo.net (website – Facebook)

Fire Cam donated two fire helmet cameras. (1) Fire Cam 1080 and (1) Fire Cam Mini HD. Each included a Blackjack mounting bracket and a Class 10 SD card. I have been using a Fire Cam 1080 since spring with the intent of doing a product review. I still haven’t posted a product review, but the Fire Cam crew still stepped up to help out, despite my procrastination. As a preliminary review, I would say that the cameras work exactly as advertised. They DO stand up to repeated soakings by fire hoses and pouring rain. They DO stand up to the heat of actual house fires and the extended heat of training in a concrete burn building. They DO produce excellent video footage. If you are allowed to use a helmet camera and you are looking to buy one, then this is the one to buy. They can even provide an example “Helmet Camera S.O.G.” if your department needs one. I’ll have a full post with example footage in the near future…really…I mean it.

Liberty Art Works (website – Facebook)

Liberty Art Works donated a very nice, bronze parade axe. Everyone at the auction had their eyes on it. When it came up for bid, the price shot up quickly. It ended up going for around $1000 to a group of firefighters on the same shift as the Brother for whom the benefit was for. They immediately handed the axe to him as a gift. Brotherhood.

Ride Backwards (website – Facebook)

Ride Backwards was eager to donate items for the auction. Unfortunately, I dropped the ball in the chain of communication and it was too late by the time I picked it up. I wanted to be sure to give them mention, since it was my fault alone that they were not involved. They are good people. Check them out if you aren’t familiar.

Black Helmet Apparel (website – Facebook)

Black Helmet Apparel donated some shirts. Check them out, too.

Most of the donation gathering was done locally, since most of the auction attendees were community members who weren’t as interested in fire service items. Had more out-of-state contacts been made, I’m sure more companies would have donated. There are some very generous individuals in the fire service community, especially when it comes to helping a Brother in need. Thanks again to everyone that helped out!