DESCRIPTION:
Johannesburg South Africa has one of the best fire fighting and emergency management service training academies in Africa, if not the in the world.On Friday night, 31 January 2014, it held its annual "Burn Out" after a demonstration of what it's like to go into an inferno and get blinded and suffocated by black smoke and the heat - that had me dash backwards from my vantage spot because I lacked protective gear. Can a camera lense and rubber hood melt in intense heat?
This video (all hand-held shots with an old, battered,10X Panasonic Luminix) starts with the spectacular "Burnout" and simulates afterwards what it's like to go through a "microwave oven". Please note, it's over 120MB! and needs sound adjustments that I can't do with my old video editing program..
This is my first shot at a music compilation for my family and friends, including old time rock afficionades Hylton Rieckardt and Chris Prior, the Professor of Rock! Music by Jose Feliciano (Light my Fire), Eric Burdon & The Animals (Ring of Fire) and Bon Jovi (It's my Life).
This copyrighted video is dedicated to fire fighters around the world, but in particular to those heroes in Southern Africa, where fast-spreading veld fires are common and a single candle falling over can burn down native tin shacks by the score in one go!
My appreciation and thanks also go to my Fireman's Tavern hosts, my biker friend Pat Flanagan who "dragged" me to the event at the last minute, and most of all to -my two sons - DJ Pete and David "Rossi" Rypstra - who have helped me get through a very difficult time.
What a night! - Udo Rypstra, well-seasoned SA-based photojournalist. Website: www.tntnews.co.za