The main meeting place will be in the forums at http://hoopieworld.com/boards.  You don’t have to register to come, however you do need to be registered and login to use the shoutbox/chat feature.  The plan is just to have some running threads and chat about current events, the site, or whatever we feel like it at the moment.  I know the Pens are on, so I’ll be sure to have that on in the background.

I hope to see everyone online there, also there may be some giveaways (Hoopie Tshirts) so spread the word.

I have secured an interview with an Allegheny County Fire Marshal this week and will be going over the do’s and dont’s of taking pictures on scene regarding interfering with arson investigations and similar concerns.

If there are any specific questions that any of the visitors have, be sure to email me at support@hoopieworld.com and I will do my best to get them included in the article.

Since FireGeezer was asking where the name Hoopie World came from, and others have asked the question as well, I want to try to clarify and explain the origin.  I am not the original owner of the site, I took over in 2006 from Mike Krysik, so Mike is the one that actually came up with the name.  Since the site already had a pretty loyal visitor base, and the site name was unique, I decided not to change the name.

In these parts of the country, the words Hoopie and Whacker are often interchangeable and used to describe a person that is too wrapped up in the fire service.  To the worst extreme, when used in derogatory terms, these are the guys that have the full-size light bar on a little Yugo where the light bar costs more than the actual car.

To the lesser extreme, Hoopies are just guys that enjoy firefighting, enjoy taking pictures on scene and reporting on incidents, and enjoy discussing the incidents both past and present.

Our HoopieWorld.com Tshirts even feature a Top 10 “You know you are a whacker when . . .”  as a funny way to kind of laugh at some of the funny things firefighters do.  Here is the back of the shirt, see how many apply to you

I’m very pleased to announce the new HoopieWorld.com. This new layout not only is a new way of displaying the news and information, it also allows for faster updating of articles and some other added perks.

The new site allows for more user interaction, so I am inviting anyone that has an interest in posting articles or editorials/blogs to email me. I also encourage everyone to post comments to the articles to help keep the site fresh. If we get enough comments on the articles we will move the discussion over to the discussion boards.

There is still a lot of content from the old layout that needs added back into the site. As you will see, the forums and image gallery have not changed. The image gallery is slated to be upgraded in the near future based on donations received (hint, hint). The forum is not slated for any major updates, however there is a new release of the forum software slated in the 4th quarter of 2008, so there may be some updates.

Please alert me of any technical issues you have with the new layout and I’ll try to address them in a timely fashion. All feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks again for your continued support and hopefully a lot of you will take me up on the offer to be news posters and contributing editors.

Stay Safe

Jeff (FF184)
Support@hoopieworld.com