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“Yeah, she told Mike to stop being a whiny little bitch when he was complaining about Anna being grumpy and too tired for sex since she got pregnant. Then, Maxi cut him off and told him to take his ass home to his wife and rub her feet.”
Graham bursts out laughing.
“I did it too. If I hadn’t, I was afraid she’d find out and whoop my ass,” Mike confirms.
“I like her already,” Graham tells me.
“Does Susanna know you’re seeing someone else?” Chris asks.
“Not yet, but we ended things before she left town, so I can do what I want.”
“I bet she won’t see it that way,” Chris mutters.
She won’t.
All of a sudden, a loud alarm sounds, and the station lights start flashing. We stand, and I grab the radio at my hip. The dispatcher gives me the location of a house fire just outside of town while the boys run to their gear lockers and suit up.
Graham quietly cleans the table, and I tell him I’ll call him later.
Within five minutes, the guys are on the engine, pulling out of the station with the lights and sirens at full blast, and I follow in the fire command truck.
We make it to the home in under ten minutes, and the guys immediately go to work. Jay and Chris pull the hoses from the truck while Mike and Nick enter the side door to access the first floor. The owner of the home, an elderly woman, is standing in the street with a county police officer. She’s screaming about her dogs that are in the house. I go to her and assure her that our team will do everything they can to save her home and her animals. The officer informs me that the owner was in the kitchen at the back of the house when she heard an explosion in the living room, and by the time she made it down the hallway, the room was in flames and blocking her entrance. She darted out of the side door and ran to the neighbor’s house, who called 911.
I radio to Mike to look for the dogs and that the fire started in the front living room.
Jay uses an ax to break the window and runs the hose in to Nick while Chris soaks the front porch.
It takes thirty-six minutes to extinguish the fire. One of the lady’s dogs is rescued, but the other was too close to the blast. After cleanup and a short investigation, it is concluded that the source of the fire was a small kerosene heater that the lady used in the living room. Jay believes that the deceased dog knocked over the portable heater and caused the explosion.
Thankfully, the homeowner escaped and most of the damage is contained to the living room. Her daughter arrives on the scene, and she and the EMS employees talk her into going to the hospital to be checked out. The neighbor takes in the surviving dog.
All in all, it is a successful call.
By the time we make it back to the station, it’s close to five in the evening, and we are all sweaty, tired, and covered in soot.
The guys hit the showers while I start the paperwork.
“Why in the world was that woman using a kerosene heater in July?” Jay asks as he enters my office and plops down in a chair across from me.
“Because she’s old and eighty-three degrees is nippy for older people,” I guess.
“I wish they’d outlaw those damn things. I hate kerosene,” he says.
“They grew up using those heaters, and they have no clue how dangerous they actually are,” I state.
“Mike and I are going back tomorrow to bury the dog for her. I got his remains out of the house and wrapped it in plastic and put it in her utility building before we left. Her daughter said she wanted to bury him under the magnolia tree in the backyard, so we volunteered. I hope that’s okay.”
I look up from the report to him. “I’m good with that.”
We are more than firemen. We are civil servants who serve the people in our community in many ways. I expect nothing less from my guys.
My radio goes off, and I snatch it from the desk. Dispatch is asking for our assistance at an accident, where a car collided with a motorcycle near the lake. There is no fire, but there are multiple injuries.
I look at Jay, who is on his feet and moving.
“Looks like it’s going to be a busy night, guys,” he calls up the stairs.
Mike and Nick come down the pole.
