Woman At the Races

Our fire department was not the first to allow women in its ranks.

And there were a couple of women in our department before I joined up.

So, as far as being progressive in that area, we are about average. HCVFD is progressive in many other areas, to be sure. Especially in putting out hydrocarbon fires.

Not long after I joined up, we went to a fire convention. They called it "pumper races". Being green, I had visions of fire trucks racing around a track. Far from it!

The "pumper races" are events that firefighters compete pulling hose, making connections and racing the water. They are very fun to participate in and watch.

Before the races, there is a meeting of the State Firefighters Fire Marshalls convention. It was interesting to see how this type of organization was ran.

After the meeting, there are door prizes. I won a large bag of peanuts.

Jerry said "You got some goobers!"

My reply? "What are goobers?"

You guessed it! My first nickname became "Goober"!

Then came time for the races. Chief had me watch what went on and gave me the easiest place on the team. After the starting gun goes off, I was to jump out of the cab of the fire truck, grab the hydrant wrench, run to the fire plug and when they had the hose hooked up, turn on the water. I was a little nervous and paced a little. What if I messed up?

Suddenly, they called a meeting of the race captains. My chief went over to see what was going on. They didnt want me to race. I was a woman. This was the men's race. I should be on the Ladies Auxillary races. The race captain and our chief quickly informed them that I was a firefighter, and we didnt have a Ladies Auxillary! After several long minutes, the others finally agreed to let me run.

We didnt win anything, but it was a lot of fun!

I have been to the races many times after that, and usually dont have any problems. Once in a while, the men at the door of the business meeting wont give me a door prize ticket. Because the ladies have their own door prizes in their meetings. I have to argue a little, but not too much.

Just last March, the races were held at the same town I went to the first time. The one that had such a hard time with women racing on the men's teams. I had to argue more than a little to be allowed in the meeting, let alone get a door prize ticket!

I suppose they didnt learn anything from the last time.

How Time Does Fly

It was almost a year ago, when we had another big one.
My, how time does fly! Actually, last year was a year of big ones.

Last March, we were in a county north of us, helping with a big grass fire there. It was so big, they were evacuating a town that the head was racing toward. The wind was fierce, created by the fire itself.

Louie and I were following a resident down a cow trail, trying to get to a spot ahead of the fire to help push it back, when we were recalled to go back home. Our city fire department was fighting a grass fire and was needing help, fast. I tried to catch the attention of the resident that we were following, by using the siren, flashing my lights, honking the horn, but he kept right on going.
With a shrug, I turned around and made my way back to the main road. I found another fire truck about to enter the gate and asked them to express our apologies and explain for us.

All the way back, we could see the column of smoke. As we got closer, we could hear the radio traffic. It sounded bad. My foot got heavier and heavier on the gas pedal.

The fire had started in one residential section and had progressed through an undeveloped area and was threatening another residential area. Two houses were already lost. Another had caught fire and was being worked on.

When we got there, Louie jumped onto the pumper truck, and I raced around the other side of the street to try to get into an alley way. The heat and smoke was too intense. Chief called me to the other end and he jumped on and we made our way through the alley, putting out wooden fences and piles of logs.

It took all day to fight this fire. At one point, the Chief decided to make a stand at a clearing at the edge of the houses, but before we could get started, a fire storm blew up and raged through it. We jumped around, putting out hot spots in the grass in front of a community building. The radiant heat was igniting the dry grass. We pushed the fire around the community building and chased it down the alleyway until it reached an area of wildland.

By then, the Forest Service was out there and helping with air tankers and bulldozers. I was assigned to shadow a bulldozer while he cut fire breaks. Then to follow a Forest Serviceman as he used a torch to do a back burn.

I looked up at one point to see fire climbing up the side of the mountain. We call it a mountain because it is the highest point in our county, but it is actually a tall hill. It was an amazing sight to see the fire roar up the hillside. Our firefighters were up there, making a stand, trying to keep it from going any further. They had started back burns to take away any fuel that would feed this fire. I prayed hard for their safety. After reaching the top, the fire slowed down some and the firefighters were able to get a handle on it.

We finally got it under control, and sent most of the city firefighters home, and the Forest Service went back to their posts. Our fire crews, and a crew from the city, stayed on the scene and did patrols all through the night making sure there were no flare ups or hot spots.

A resident sent a letter to the editor saying how safe they felt, hearing our engines going up and down the alleyway.

For a long time, you could see the charred areas from the farm to market road that circled the city. It still doesnt look green, even in the spring.

Which is probably a good thing. The city was paged out for a grass fire in the same area last night. Almost a year later. The wind was blowing about 40 mph and our Chief got up to get ready to help if they needed it.

But this time, they got it put out in record time and we got to go back to bed.