A Road in the Dark

It was dark.

It was early in the morning.

I couldnt see very well through sleep deprived eyes.

Four o'clock in the morning, we get a fire call for a grass fire in the south west part of the county.

The best way to get there is to go down the interstate heading west, exit a certain off ramp, then take the south service road until you get to a certain county road. Take it south.

I am driving the pumper/tanker.

I get to my exit and make it without incident.

Now, where is my turn off? I cant remember how far down it is. I know at least several blocks, but exactly how far?

There is the DPS office, ok, a little bit further.

I see a sign! That must be it!

As I am entering the turn, I read "S Allin". Allen? Where did that street come from? But I am commited to the turn and keep going.

Do I pull over and look at the map? Where does this road go? Does it connect with the one I am needing?

These questions run through my mind as I try to decide what to do.
Then I see red flashing lights moving across my road off in the distance.
Ok, I'm alright. I can see the grass fire off to the right, and that fire truck just crossed my path. I can get there from Allen road.

The Chief calls me on the radio. "Did you see any other fires on Stallings Road?"

Stallings?

"Negative, I came in on South Allen."

He replied that he understood. Was that laughter I heard in the background?

I get to the fire without incident and we use the pumper/tanker for a water supply. Soon, they have the twenty acre fire put out and we gather around pumper.

That's when it hits me. S Allen is really Stallings Road with the 't' and the 'gs' worn off!

I had taken the right road after all!

Now, to live this one down will be a challenge.

President's Day

Today is the anniversary of the Refinery Fire.

Last year, on this date, the local oil refinery blew up. It shook the earth for miles, broke out windows and shifted walls.

Many people can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing at that moment in time. There are some incredible stories out there.

What was even more incredible was that there was no loss of life. Only minor injuries.

It was President's Day, and a 'skeleton crew' was manning the plant.

It is a day not many people will forget.
I still walk out of the house and look to the west and see the column of smoke. It was huge, black and boiling. For many weeks, I was still hearing the rattling 'boom' of the explosion.
My husband, the Chief, knew exactly what it was. But my son and I had to scramble out of the house to take a look.

Through strength and courage, our Chief and his crew faced the monster in the refinery and defeated it. Using ingenuity and all the training we have had, they got it under control and out in record time.

I was in the Accountability and Staging area, trying to keep up with all the people that poured in to help. When they had heard what happened, they came in without being called. Lots of people and equipment!

As I watched the smoke column go from one large stack, to several small fingers, I knew that they had a handle on the fire and it would be out soon.

Every time there is a loud noise, or shaking, we look to the refinery and make sure its all right.

A year later, and we are still doing that.

But we know that if it happens again, we can handle it. We are prepared.

Our Department

Our fire department has over twenty active firefighters. There are ten stations, but only five of them attend the trainings and respond to the majority of fires. The other five are what we call rural stations. Those consist mostly of farmers and they only want to do grass fires. That protects their farms, their only interests. Which is okay, because they are 'way out in the boonies' and if they can get to their stations quickly, those firefighters can get a jump on the grass fire and keep it small.

There is another department in the city. They are the paid firefighters. Their response time is lower due to living in the fire stations, and their district is the city limits. But they will come out into the county and assist us when we have structure fires, or grass fires threatening structures. And we help them when they have big grass fires in the city. So it all works out.

Once upon a time, the volunteers looked up to the city boys as role models. And well they should, because they had better training, and equipment. Over the years, the Chief has trained the volunteers firefighters until we are a professional team. He has also worked very hard to get us excellent equipment. So now, the city boys look up to us!

We dont stay at the stations twenty four hours. The county issues out pagers and radios and we can stay at home, or go into town, whatever and wait for a page out. It takes a few minutes to get to the station, and Gunney, a fire fighter that lives closer to the station cant figure out how I get there faster than he does!

Sometimes, I get this 'still' feeling. I just want to sit down and do nothing. Housework waits. Laundry stays in the dryer. Dinner doesnt get cooked. Phone calls dont get made. After a little while, we get a page out. My husband, the Chief, gets those same 'still' feelings. They are strange, and sometimes, nothing comes of them. But more often than not, it happens.

There are a lot of family gatherings, parties and other social situations that have been missed because of fire calls. That is one of the negative things about being in the fire service. And it is hard for non-fire family members to understand. Hey! I've been there! I know!

I try to call my daughter in law when we are on a long fire, so that she doesnt fret about her husband. My son is a Battalion Chief in the department and is doing very well. But he often forgets to call her and let her know he is alright. What did we ever do before cell phones, I wonder?

Our fire department trains twice a month, sometimes more. We are also on a certification program of which I am the coordinator. That is a very frustrating position! Its hard to keep up with all the firefighters when we have new ones coming in all the time, and old ones leaving. Some new ones leaving. Our roster is rather fluid and is sometimes kind of tidal. Some seasons we have alot of members, some seasons we have barely any. There is a 'core group' that has been with the department for over ten years. Our Chief has over twenty years right now.

We do lots of different kinds of trainings. Water rescue, haz-mat, live burns, structural collapse, wildland, to name a few. We have classroom trainings, too. We have a scuba team, but I am not on that. I will stay on the shore and help out there, thank you. In the past few years, we have done several body recoveries from the area lakes.

As can be seen, we are an active department!

Beginnings

Beginnings

My husband spent several years trying to find a place for himself. It seemed he had a hole in his heart that needed filling. He tried several different things, but none of them satisfied. The Gun Club, the Archery Club, Bowling Leagues. Each one brought new skills, but left him empty.
Until he found the Volunteer Fire Department in our area.
He joined that and never looked back. Working his way up through the ranks, he eventually became Chief and has made the department the best it has ever been.

For many years, I was jealous of the fire service.

I used to call it 'Jezebel'.

Well, he spent all his free time with her, was at her beck and call. He bought things for her. If it was a human being, you would have called her the 'other woman'!

A long time I was jealous.

He asked me more than once to join with him.

I remember one time, he was starting up a rescue team. He talked to me for a long time about it, and I was beginning to think I might like the idea. Then he killed it. He wanted me, not because he thought I would be good at it, or that we would make a good team. No, he wanted me to fill in the numbers so it would pass the County Commissioners.

I flatly refused.

It wasnt until a few more years later did I decide to think about joining the department. My children were older, my marriage was on the rocks.

Tommy and I had nothing in common anymore. We were drifting apart.

I prayed about it, and God led me to join up. It would at least give us something to talk about!

I went through the training without incident, then responded to my first fire.

It was a grass fire way out in the boonies. The only boots they could find for me were six sizes too big, and I tripped every third step. I was hooked.

Now that I am in the fire service myself, I can understand why it took my husband away from me. I feel the pull to help when crisis comes. The sound of the pager going off gets my heart hammering and adrenaline flowing like nothing else.

Our marriage was saved. Oh, there have been bumps and cracks in the road, but we have continued to survive and flourish. Thank You, Lord!