We had
just finished eating some supper and I was sitting down at my desk to finish up
some work I had started, when the alarm on my phone went off indicating a fire
department call. I casually glanced at
it as I usually do, just to gratify the inevitable curiosity that accompanies
the beeping. And to my surprise the
address listed was the corner of Sycamore and Cypress. That’s right at the corner of my street, and
we are only two houses away. Needless to
say, I switched over to the detail page right away to see if my house was on
fire or not. The call was for a strong
smell of natural gas.
Well, we
have had an ongoing problem with a slight odor of gas for some time now. One neighbor in particular has called the gas
company numerous times and has been assured that there is no leak. Nevertheless, the smell is there, and this
time the call came from a different neighbor who smelled it from her car as she
turned the corner. Engine four
responded, so I went outside to greet the guys when they arrived.
They
definitely agreed that the smell was there.
At least we were “officially” vindicated. We weren’t crazy. At least not on that count. They called for the gas company to come out,
and the wait began. This call was one of
those examples of the sacrifices that the fire fighters make every day. They had just sat down to eat some supper
when the call came through, so they left it on the table and headed out. And after their initial inspections of nearby
homes, they joined the neighbors in the waiting game. The only difference was, we had all
eaten. I offered to make them a corn dog
or two, but they politely refused. My
cooking does not sound nearly as appetizing as what was no doubt waiting for
them back at the station. I did enjoy
getting to know a few of the guys a little better. Got to meet Sean, one of the newest of the rookies,
too. He sounded really excited to be on
the job. I imagine this call was a
little more boring than the ones he dreamed of back in the academy. Hang in there, Sean. The
life of a fire fighter is not always non-stop excitement and adrenaline rush. Your day will come.
The wait
dragged on and on. The battalion chief
came out to see what the holdup was. Finally
Ladder Four was dispatched to relieve the guys on the engine so they could get
something to eat. They pulled up and
parked right in front of our house. The
new guys did their walk-through so they would be personally familiar with the
situation. And finally the gas company
representative did shop up. He grabbed
his hole puncher and his gas detector and got to work. And after punching only three holes in the
street, that machine of his went crazy, like one of those radioactivity
detectors. Found a leak. And just about that time the neighbors who
had been calling the gas company for weeks arrived home. Let’s just say, they had a few things to say
about the situation. The gas guy was
kind of intimidated, but he was already on the phone with his supervisor to order
a crew out for the next day. Problem
came when he hung up and told us that he had just been told “It wasn’t really a
leak. There is just residual smell left
on the pipe itself.” Uh. What?
The verbal neighbor responded, just loud enough for me to hear, “Aaand,
that sounds like a crock answer to me.” By
the look on his face, the rep inwardly agreed, but of course could say
nothing. I just commented, “At least
they are sending out a crew tomorrow.”
That kind of defused the situation.
The fire crew was dismissed, and I for one came on home. It was getting cold.
Psalms
32:8 says, “I will instruct you and teach
you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.”
Father,
thank you for the assurance that you are there watching over those guys who are
trained to watch over us. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment