Great looking shot with the old Kodak, Tick. I remember you had a shot of a fire a few years ago that made the perm galleries, I think. Super entry for the water contest, too. Good luck.

We have also volunteer fire brigade in smaller towns/villages Tick. They certainly need to be praised for what they do. Good action shot - more smoke than water but it still fits the theme.

Good action pic...I've warned you before about flicking your butts away...R.

Wow! That smoke is very dense...you can't see through it. Very dramatic image of firefighters in action!

The closest I ever got to a fire was when my husband and I went for a walk after dark and noticed that our neighbor's roof was on fire. We knocked on the door and the whole family was sitting on the couch watching TV and had no idea what was going on over their heads!

Good contender for the contest.

That first camera did a good job, but then so did person holding that camera. Very good contest contender Tick. tigz =^..^=

A dramatic scene well captured Tic, it was an opportunity nicely exploited. Perhaps you can't understand but as a European I find it difficult to understand why anyone must volunteer for this essential but dangerous service!

Good luck in the competition.

Yes, we can be thankful for all these men and women who come to the rescue. This is a fine capture.

Too many 'Volunteers' organisations that don't get the funding for what they do!....such a shame!....Just like our 'Air Ambulances'..which work non-stop to save lives...this is 'Charity' funded!....Governments should be shamed!

That's my rant.........The image fits perfectly for the contest...you captured the subject very well, and that Kodak still works a treat too!

Very nice shot very well captured.

Saving small town America is so very important and your photo journalistic entry into the water contest is fantastic, Tick. Whenever I'm back in the U.S. for a good ol' Fourth Of July Parade, I always applaud the passing emergency service vehicles with their sirens blaring. Good luck in the contest!

An excellent entry Tick and a nice piece of photojournalism.
NZ too relies strongly on Volunteer Fire Brigades. A fine dedicated bunch of people.
Good luck for the contest

I had a Kodak model DX 6320 at the same time Tick and they had a great German lens on them - did a fine job for a smaller resolution size too - as this is a fine example of what they could do - a good contender Tick.

First you are right my friend the volunteers that we have around the would like these fire persons and life guards hospital helps and many more do a great job and do it with caring and with out thanks a lot of the time ,so I take my hat if to this amazing people .Know for the photo this is a great action photo with great sharp detail stunning colours and lots for the eyes to see with perfect presentation too..Your Kodak served you well on this day my good friend.

im beginning to think the first generation dig. camera's were better then what we have now! my old Kodak sure took some nice ones, like this one here! great shot for the contest..in fact this shot fits for many of the past catagories come to think about. ya know whats interesting about fires? the arsonist always returns to the site to watch the fire & take pictures...humm. just saying,

Wonderful action shot, Ron !
Also a very good contender for a photojournalism gallery, cq contest.
Wish you good luck, good friend !
John

I am grateful for our firemen/firewomen every day Tick. You are so right about them risking their lives. Wonderful shot of the pumper truck and the smoke.

A unique entry for the contest and good on-the-spot action and reporting...well done SOT and best of luck

SAW

Having been a volunteer fireman in my earlier days, when I was young and strong enough to run a half block with a 75-pound canvas hose over my shoulder, in big rubber boots no less, I can vouch for the massive effort these individuals have to put out to do this job, the camaraderie they have, the adrenaline that drives them, and even the fun they can sometimes have. You don't get the training the big-city pros do, instead getting a truncated version once a week in some parking lot, learning to mount a hose to a hydrant, run the engine's compressor, and wash down the side of a building with a three-man nozzle. Woken by your personal alarm, in the middle of the night, to put out a house fire in -36 degree weather, so cold you regularly take a break to go to the back of the running engine and hold onto the exhaust pipe for a minute, to warm your hands in your frozen gloves. Fighting a grass fire on a windy day, using flapper sticks (18" square rubber mats on long poles to knock down burning grass), and experiencing a single flame blown by the wind, 10 feet wide and about 20 feet high, curl up and over you and three other guys, enclosing you for a few moments in an actual "tube" of solid flame. Straddling the writhing hose at the back end of a 5-man nozzle, a 2-1/2-incher used to punch holes in the side of mobile homes so you can get water in there. Getting skin burns on your ankles when you respond to a chlorine gas leak at the swimming pool, on a warm summer's day, your lungs protected by the oxygen mask you're wearing but the gas interacting with the sweat on your unprotected ankles. Shooting thousands of gallons of water into the rear opening of a garbage truck, on a winter's day, on fire from too-fresh fireplace coals, while other firemen use saws to cut into the sides to get more water inside. Using the grass fire pickup's 250-gallon water tank to douse boys shooting fireworks over the top of the grain elevator--an elevator whose rafters have 4" of explosive grain dust on them--boys whom the police have failed to stop three previous times that same night. Beating the police department in a friendly game of donkey softball, sitting comfortably and quiet on your donkey until the end of the game, when he decides he's had enough and runs and bucks you off, right on top of the pitchers mound. Some towns are able to provide payment to volunteer firemen, a set small amount for each call the firemen answer, but others cannot. Whether they get a moderate yearly cash amount or not, volunteer firemen do this as a way to serve their communities, protecting people's lives and property, and enjoying the sort of camaraderie and trust that soldiers in combat do (I'm also a vet). I haven't been a fireman for a long time, now aged 61, but my blood still sirs when I hear a siren and I can still tell the difference between a police unit, an ambulance, and a fire truck without even seeing them.

Your photograph does this group true justice, Ron, and I hope you were able to provide their fire house with a print copy.

-Nik

I think the drama created by the smoke really makes your image.
The guy on the ladder is pretty cool as well.

What an outstanding capture! Good luck in the contest!

What a great service these guy/gals provide their community's!

A great capture of this dramatic scene, TicK. The local volunteer fire hall is just down the road from where I live and I hear them going all hours of the day.

Excellent image for the current contest. Wow that was some fire, showing us the different colours of smoke and the disaster what can happen. Good Luck

My uncle (RIP) was a volunteer fireman in the town in which he lived...He also was head of the water department until he retired, so he was able to get to just about every fire that his particular company was dispatched to... Just before he retired, he was one of the firemen that were instrumental in establishing a paid system of full time fire companies which the town he lived in benefits from today...

Saw this on the homepage... I see a ladder unit on an old Ford C-Series cabover chassis in the foreground...I grew up during a time when just about every town had at least one of those (That, or a Ford powered pumper unit)...Many fire districts had two or more... The Fords were pretty dependable, reasonably priced, and took a whole lot of punishment...

Good action shot...Faved...