February 20 – “What? Again?”

The fire department calls app on my phone was going crazy yesterday.  Calls were coming through almost constantly all day.  Vehicle accidents between motorcycles and cars, cars and a backhoe, and even a car versus the seawall (guess who won that one?).  But perhaps the most frustrating calls of all were to the same apartment complex. 

That’s right three different fire calls throughout the day, all to the same apartment complex - the same building within the complex, in fact.  The first one was a kitchen fire.  The other two were apparently electrical and unfortunately were burning inside the attic.  After extinguishing the visible blaze, the firefighters began the arduous task of seeking out and drowning out hot spots that could lie smoldering and spring back to life later.  Several layers of hard and soft insulation made it extremely difficult for the fire fighters in the attic to bust a vent hole to the outside.  The crew managed it, though, after a long fifteen or twenty minutes of concentrated pounding.  More spray followed, as did the difficult task of tearing through that insulation to get the space fully saturated.  All work that was standard procedure, designed to get the fire out once and for all. 

From crusty veterans to the three brand new hires that I finally got to meet, the fire department team was operating as one force.  The crews working that had been working inside were exhilarated from the adrenaline of fighting the fire, but they were also bone tired after what had already been what you might call “a full day at the office.”  They were, in the words of the fire chief, “really doing a heck of a job,” and “still giving it 110 percent.”  From what I saw, though, I think your percentages might be a little low there, Chief.  Those guys gave everything they had and then some.  In fact when I left after about an hour and a half, a crew was headed back up into the attic, determined to finish tearing out that pesky insulation and expose the underlying dry wood to a good strong blast of foamy water. 

A fire like this one really brought out the big guns.  Along with the fire chief and assistant chief, the fire marshal and one of his team were there as well.  The chief of the Jamaica Beach Volunteer Fire Department arrived to monitor the situation.  They, along with crews from Hitchcock and Texas City, were all standing by to ensure that the City of Galveston had quality first responders ready to arrive at any other calls during the fire. 

As things finally started to wind down, residents began hesitantly making their way closer and closer to the firefighters to ask those questions that they knew before asking couldn’t be answered just yet.  Like the one I heard, “Could this last fire have been prevented if the electricity had been turned off to the whole building earlier?”  Not the question you want to ask a really tired fire fighter right after he exits the structure for a break.  I told her that her question was one that the fire marshal’s office would have to deal with later.  And then there was the question of the evening – my all-time favorite.  Posed to a certain battalion chief wearing department issued shorts, the question was … “Did I get any mail today?”  Hmm.  No further comment on that one.

Well, that part of the fire fighter day lasted well into the night.  I finally got home around 10:30 or so and a crew was still in the attic when I left.  The rest of the night wasn’t quite as hectic as the day had been, so my prayer was – and is – that the guys got at least a little bit of sleep last night.  I couldn’t be prouder of those guys. 

1 John 5:11 says, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”

Father, grant the crews that worked yesterday a few days of rest and non-stress.  They have earned it.  Amen.