Jumpline magazine Spring 2025 - Flipbook - Page 6
6
1403 Of昀椀cers
Chris Fink
Secretary
Captain Gustin:
The Man, The Myth, the Legend.
There have been many stories and tributes about Capt.
Gustin: his love of the job, his legendary commitment to
the Fire Service, his reputation as a proli昀椀c writer of Fire
Engineering articles, his iconic status as an instructor during FDIC, or at other lectures or conferences.
I would like to offer a different perspective and share
my experiences working with him at Station 2 where he
was my OIC on Squirt 2. From 2005 – 2010, I held the
CR bid between Squirt 2 and Engine 7, so I was able
to spend quite a bit of time with the Good Captain over
those 5 years.
Training
Throughout the years, there were a number of locations in the
territory of Battalion 5 that were used on a regular basis for training. Those locations became foundations of our training. There
were notable sites like “The Ruins,” the “Heart of the City,” the
Sunshine Apartments, and the Scott Housing Projects. All were
used for every drill imaginable. The territory was a smorgasbord
of training opportunities, and it was just a giant playground for the
Good Captain.
of humping a charged hose line through the old Station
2. You began outside the station and went through the
bay, into the front of昀椀ce, out the front door, 昀氀owed some
water outside and then backed the line inside the station, went down the hallway, through the dayroom and
昀椀nally into the bathroom and ultimately into the shower. Once you made it to the shower, you had reached
the “seat of the 昀椀re” and you opened the nozzle wide
open. The drill would normally last 30–35 minutes and
during my tenure at Station 2, I would guestimate that
we easily did that drill 40 plus times. A 昀椀re昀椀ghter only
had to do the drill once, but Captain Gustin did it each
and every time. He was always bunkered out, positioned himself
immediately behind the nozzleman, humped hose, shouted out instructions and provided exact guidance on how the nozzle should
be positioned and 昀氀owed.
Twice a year, every year, we did a high-rise drill in Ward Towers.
Each year, the 昀椀rst time we did the evolution, it was with a 1 ¾”
hose line and six months later, we repeated the exact same drill,
but with a 2 ½” hose line. In between those drills, we would practice many different types of lays in the building’s stairwells.
The training was relentless. Every shift we drilled. It was never
a tabletop drill, and it was never “one and done.” Each drill was
always performed 2-3 times or until the Captain felt we got it right.
Captain Gustin had a Sunday CR. There were many Sundays
when he stopped by the station to help out with a Sunday Battalion drill even though it was his day off.
If we received a piece of new equipment, we drilled.
If there was a new guy on the truck, we drilled.
If there was a new driver or chauffeur, we drilled.
If it was sunny, we drilled.
If it was raining, we drilled.
If there was 95% humidity, we drilled.
If it was a holiday, we drilled.
If it was a Holy Day, we drilled.
If there was a manufacturing rep who had a new
piece of equipment to try out, we drilled.
If Bill needed to smoke a cigar, we drilled.
If we didn’t have anything to do, we drilled.
None of us ever complained. All right maybe we rolled our eyes
once in a while if he said we needed to do another evolution. But,
all things considered, we knew what we signed up for when we bid
Squirt 2 on C-shift, and we were happy to do it.
If it was a Saturday and Eric Goodman was going to be riding with
us. We knew it was going to be a long day. When Eric was with
us, we knew there would be a drill and that we were going to be
doing it multiple times and repeating the critical portions, so that
Eric could get the “perfect shot,” which would be the photo used in
the Captain’s next Fire Engineering article.
As a testament to Captain Gustin’s reputation, one Friday night,
Bill was off, and an overtime Captain came in for the second-half
of the shift. Being Friday night, all bets were off as to what was
going to happen, the only guarantee was that we would be busy.
Once the OT Captain put his gear on the truck, he requested to
speak with the three 昀椀re昀椀ghters on the Squirt. He pulled us aside,
introduced himself and said, “I just have one question for each
of you.” He then proceeded to look at each one of us and then
asked, “Are you bid in? Are you bid in? Are you bid in?” The three
of us nodded our heads and responded with a “Yes.” At that
point, the OT Captain said with relief, “Great! I know that you guys
know what you are doing, and I will try to stay out of your way.”
Family
There were many times when we arrived on a call, if there was
nothing serious going on, the Captain would say, “Let’s make a
drill out of this,” and we would proceed to do whatever he directed.
Many a night we spent time hanging out at the station waiting for
the next call. Or if we were already on a call waiting for a BLS (basic life support) ambulance, known as a “42” to arrive. Wherever
we were, the Captain would hold court, often with a cigar in his
mouth, and we would talk about life, its challenges, perspectives
and everything else under the sun.
If you were new to truck or new to Battalion 5, you were indoctrinated with the Station 2 “Shower Drill.” If you were new and on
the truck that day, that meant you were going to be on the nozzle
for any 昀椀res that shift. But, before that, Captain Gustin wanted
to ensure that you knew what to expect, so he put you through
the crucible of the “Shower Drill.” The “Shower Drill” consisted
I remember him telling us about his grandfather being on the Chicago Fire Department (CFD) back when they had horse drawn
steamers and hose wagons. He talked about his father serving
as a helmsman on the USS YORKTOWN in the Paci昀椀c Theater
during WWII. He often told us stories about his father’s 33 year
career on the CFD. He idolized his dad and said that his dad was
Spring 2025 | JUMPLINE Magazine
