For some reason, this old person began thinking about the olden days. It may have had something to do with the fact that I always back my pickup truck into the drive way. The neighbor across the street parks his pickup in their garage and he always backs in.
I started backing in years ago, shortly after becoming a member of the Hewitt Volunteer Fire Department. The neighbor was also a member, and I believe he began backing in when he joined the department. When we received the call we needed to get to the fire department quickly, so driving out the drive instead of backing out, saved a few seconds.
A few other things that changed when I became a volunteer. First I kept my pants next to the bed so I could get into them quickly. Beside the pants were socks and shoes. I learned that when the alarm sounded I did not have time to go to the Potty. Potty time was after the fire or medical emergency was over, and we were back at the station.
I remember going on a fire call when I was sick. It was winter and the call came that we had a fire. I dressed and headed to the station. I was one of three people on the back of the fire truck and I tried to duck down out of the cold wind as we responded. Fire calls needed as many people as possible.
Thinking of winter responses, we had a call at a house in the middle of the night, the wood fence was on fire next to the house. They had a heat lamp in a wooden box that was there to keep the swimming pool pump from freezing. We had sleet that night so the roads and walks were slick due to the ice.
The box began to burn, it caught the fence on fire, and the house was next. While we were putting the fire out, I almost fell into the swimming pool. With all that bunker gear on and the freezing weather, It would not have ended well to fall into a swimming pool.
My first response to a vehicle fire was a learning experience. A high school student had went through an intersection which had yellow flashing light. Another vehicle hit the boy’s pickup and after the crash, the pickup caught fire. The boy did not survive the wreck and fire. I saw things that day that I did not want to see again!
Many memories of my 12 years in the department, some were good and some were not.
May you never need first responders!
Senior memory narrator; Don Ford
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