**DEEEEE duuuuh BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP ** [pause] [other tones] DEEEEE duuuuh BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP… my pager was going off. “*Station 20 (mine, Mayberry), Station 30 (Hooterville), Station 50 (Pixley), Station 80 (rescue). Check in for traffic. Report of a structure fire on Rooks Road…” *
I grabbed my glasses and the alarm clock. It was 0230 Friday night/Saturday morning, and we had a fire in Cracktown West, within rock throwing distance from the “Let It Burn” house from last November. Part of me always wants to get there and put the wet stuff on the red stuff, but this is a case where I could also go for some urban renewal a la Nero. The problem with that is the county doesn’t have money to buy us any violins. Obviously, I’ve gotten over my problems with letting that other crack house burn.
Anyways, enough editorializing and on to the tales. Yup, this is a twofer.
We rolled out of the station and were passing by the back way to my house, about 3 miles from the fire, and there was a bright glow on the horizon. This Is Not Good. About that time, the first engine from Pixley got there, and reported the structure was on the ground.
My engine was directed to go past the intersection that was the direct route, and come in from behind. The back part of the house was still standing, and the roof was venting a lot of smoke. We pulled an inch and a half from our engine, and went up front to help with dousing the main fire. That took about 15 minutes to beat down, and the attic on the back part also quit smoking so bad.
Everyone sort of slowed down a bit. Just when our collective guard was down came a double whammy. The first one were those dreaded words, “We think there may be someone inside.” Oh Shit!
I was wearing my glasses, so I couldn’t put on an air pack; I couldn’t go inside. I could, however, provide coverage for the team that did search. And I did save their lives that night. While they were searching, I noticed the attic was on fire and told them; they were oblivious because they were looking down. In went a couple of pike poles and my line. They made quick work of the ceiling and shot the attic. Out they came, and the search went up front where everything burned to the ground.
I went, too, and was detailed to assist in moving tin roofing for the victim search. Yeah, there was a BAD smell all right, but it wasn’t what I expected. I’ve burned hair and had warts cauterized, so I know what that smell is like. This wasn’t it.
The tin was finally cleared, and the team went in. No bodies, thank Og. Then they found the source of the smell. It seems our ever resourceful crackheads had cut a hole in the living room floor, and were using it as a latrine. They also found clear evidence of arson, which was suspected anyway because the utilities were cut off to the house.
We were there about 2 hours, and I got home around 5 AM.
Saturday night I had rescue duty. My partner was Sherrie, who I’ve worked with once before. The nice part is she’s also my country neighbor, so I took my ambulance home.
Right at midnight came a page for a chest pain call. Sherrie got there faster than I expected, and off we went, with my dogs going nuts in the background. The call was on the east side of the county, so we had a ways to go. Fortunately, buddies Sue and Eddie live nearby, and they got on scene ahead of us.
We were bopping along the highway south of Mayberry with lights but no siren. Sherrie saw the deer first, but I also saw it. The idiot critter started to cross in front of us from the driver’s side, turned parallel, then as I was passing, it swerved right and hit the side of the ambulance right behind the driver on the oxygen compartment door. The thud was extremely loud, and I expected the worst.
I stopped, called the dispatcher and reported the collision, then got out to look. There was a blood streak on the door where it hit, but no obvious denting and the compartment door still worked just fine. I called back, said we were drivable, and continued to the call.
Our patient had extremely high blood pressure. Sherrie and Eddie tried 4 times to get an IV going on her, but could not find a good vein. She went to Betsytown without incident.
Sherrie, being the caregiver, had to deal with the nurses, so I had to clean and restock the unit. While I did that, I gave it a better look, and I still could not find damage. We left, and I called the dispatcher on my cell phone for a private conversation. I told her that I could find nothing requiring body work, and asked her if there was no apparent damage, did I have to do a police report? The county magistrate was there, and both of them thought that $500 damage was the point where the report was necessary.
I ended up taking a couple of phone cam shots, wrote and e-mail to the Assistant Chief formally reporting the incident, and cleaned the stain off with a rag. The aluminum body panels on the ambulance can take a beating better than the steel foil of my van, apparently.
Only five weeks away now.