In 1998, with some suggestions from family and friends, I decided to create this webpage to share fire related photos and information. At first, the page mostly consisted of apparatus photos and news, hence the original title, FireNews and Apparatus Photos. However, after a short time, I added the department profile and article pages. Today, the page has grown from the one page site that I started with to many pages that are constantly changing and I'm always looking for ways to improve. I then opened Patch Central, which not only gave pictures of patches, but other photographs and information to compliment them. In October of 2000, I secured the domain name www.firenews.org and merged the 2 sites into this current one. I also run several other sites, including the official Stoneham Fire Dept site and the official METROFIRE Homepage. I am a Firefighter/EMT with the Stoneham, Mass Fire Department (L-2116) and have had an interest in the fire service for as long as I can remember. I am a former member of the U.S. Coast Guard and served aboard the USCGC Spencer. I am married to Marlene and have two great children, Jennifer and Michael. This page would not be what it is today if it were not for the contributions of all those who send in information and photos.