July 13 – “The Rookie”

There is nothing like watching a rookie at his first fire.  There is a fascinating combination of bravado and sheer awe, with just a tiny taste of healthy fear thrown in for safety’s sake.  As he straps his helmet on, his eyes dart from truck to captain to fellow fire fighters, finally stopping for a long second on the plumes of smoke and, yes, there it is, the first evidences of flames trickling, then exploding from the structure.  Racing through his mind are the rules of encounter, the checklist of safety precautions, the equipment checks … all the little things that he was trained to do in the academy that have suddenly become more than a question on a quiz.  And then the order from command comes.  The team makes its move.  To the hoses.  To the hydrant.  To the structure itself.  The first step.  The adrenaline kicks in.  And he is a first fire rookie no more. 

I know that makes it sound like I’m some sort of grizzled veteran myself, and I certainly do not consider myself that.  I have too much respect for the guys that actually have run onto burning buildings for years to make any such claim.  I do consider myself a student of human nature, though.  And as such I really enjoyed watching all of those elements come into play at a relatively small apartment fire yesterday.  Of course no fire is small, especially when it is raging and consuming property and putting people’s lives at risk.  There is no group of guys I would rather have racing to my rescue, however, than the crews of Galveston Fire and Rescue. 

I arrived after the area was locked down by Galveston PD.  One of the officers recognized me from other fires, however, and let me through the line with no questions asked.  I understand it was an off-duty police officer who called in the fire to the dispatcher.  Once again, I was impressed at the calm demeanor of the incident commander as he called out orders placing the arriving trucks and teams and coordinating with the police department through the dispatcher.  His cool approach to handling the fire carried through even to his follow-up and release orders .  Thorough and professional.  Nice job, Richie.

Oh, and back to the rookie.  Our new guy did really well.  One of the guys from his station pointed him out to me and asked me to try and get a picture of him.  He was wielding an ax while standing on a ladder.  Actually he had one leg hooked around a rung to give him stability.  He was hacking through the outer eaves to search for hot spots.  Pretty impressive stuff, Justin.  Of course as I moved around to get the picture a spray of water exploded from the upstairs widow and cascaded down on me.  I’m not sure how you set that one up, Kevin.  You’ll be hard pressed to convince me it was a coincidence.  I did get a few pictures and sent them on to Justin.  Start your scrapbook, my friend. 

Once everything was pretty much under control, the apartment manager approached me and asked if it was safe for her to get to the other side of the facility.  She was fuming mad and had apparently been doing her own investigation as to the cause of the blaze.  It was quite the rant, and all pure speculation, but she seemed convinced that some kids may have started the fire.  Something about them smoking “something,” and another kid was going to tell on them, so they beat him up, started the fire to cover their tracks, and ran off.  Phew.  I think I’ll leave that up to the fire marshall and police department to sort out.

I stuck around long enough to watch some of the post-fire work.  It is really eye-opening to see just how much work there is still left to do after the fire is out.  Unhooking the hoses from the hydrants.  Stowing all the gear back onto the trucks.  Using the roller to flatten out the hoses.  That’s the first time I have seen that particular piece of equipment in action.  Slowly backing up the truck to load the hose back onto it.  All in all, just some great teamwork even at putting away the tools of the trade.

The brand-new Engine One came within mere inches of its first scratch after they were released from the scene.  They were trying to pass between another still-active truck and a building when it became evident that it just wasn’t going to fit.  They stopped in plenty of time, though.  Wise choices, Guys, and masterful driving, Nathan.

Proverbs 30:15-16 says, “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, 'Enough!’: the grave,  the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, 'Enough!'”

Father, once again I pray for the guys in the fire service.  Hover about them you’re your protection wherever they go, on duty and off.  Grant young Justin health and safety as he continues forward in his career.  Amen.