joe cochran(ff786)'s Page

I Began my firefighting career in the small town of Reynoldsville,Pa (Jefferson co.) as a volunteer at the age of 18 and worked my way up to asst. chief. After several years there ,moved to York,Pa and was lucky enough to catch on with the Manchester Twp burea of fire..York co. (quite a change going from a volunteer co averaging about 200 calls a year to a career dept. averaging 1500+ a year. Manchester twp,which borders the city of York is a heavy residential & industrial area with a large commercial area typical of areas surrounding a medium sized city with a major interstate highway cutting through the middle..Plus we were first due into York city on almost all 2nd alarm assignments(about once a week).with truck 24 and 1 engine. Due to a medical condition i had to retire early and switch my career.After a divorce and a move to the oil city,Pa area i switched gears and for 4 years drove tractor trailer running all 48 states. After 4 years my medical condition  returned so i have been on temporary disability for the last few months.I have been told by the doctors that everything is looking good and if everything holds as is, i should be good to return to work in July. I have 3 daughters,1 grown graduated with a journalism degree from purdue university and living in South Bend,IN..and my 2 youngens 11 and 8 who are my entire world..At 1 time they were all going to be firefighters just like dad but....somewhere that changed (still have hope for the 8 year old)...Now i spend alot of time monitoring firecalls on the computers and enjoy posting them with audio links to the more interesting ones on twitter..Feel free to follow me at.... usfiredispatch..... stay low and be safe...Joe