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Over the course of the next two hours, we get the fire tamped down into smolders of ash. We needed every hand available to ensure the blaze stayed manageable. Now that it’s out, we’ll be able to clean up and head back to the house.
“David, sorry you got dragged out of bed for this,” Chief says to the director of the rec center.
“It’s all right. I can’t believe this has happened. It’s going to be a nightmare trying to get this place cleaned up.”
“At least it’s not the middle of summer,” I say. That would’ve been a nightmare.
“Very true,” David replies.
“We’ll have a report in the next week or two with details on what happened and our response,” Chief says.
“Thanks, we’ll need everything you can send me. The red tape and hoops to jump through on things like this are insane.”
“We put it out before it got past the west side, so hopefully it won’t be too ugly in there.” I see Aaron talking to Charlie, so I shake hands with David and say my goodbyes.
“Everybody okay?” I ask, walking up to the two of them.
“Yeah, we’re all good, Cap,” Charlie says, nodding her head.
“This was a big one. I think every on-call guy is here,” Aaron says, looking around the busy parking lot.
“It’s a huge relief knowing we have you guys as back-up.”
Kyle comes jogging up to us, grinning in hello.
“Glad you could be here, man.” I shake his hand.
“I wouldn’t have missed it. Gotta get my hours in so when a spot opens up, I'll have the experience.”
I nod my head at him because as a captain, I can’t say anything about when spots open or who’s going to get them. Chief James is the one who decides when we need more guys, but I do help go through candidates. Even for such a small town, we usually get twenty or so applications, and they can take a while to go through.
“I think we’re good to pack up and head out,” I say.
“Sounds good, I’m going to head home then,” Aaron responds with a wave and heads to his car.
Charlie and I walk back to the trucks and start getting the equipment back into place. It's tedious and slow, but every check has to be done to make sure we don’t forget anything at a scene. Once we’re packed, we load up and head out.
Pulling into the engine bay feels like coming home, and we’re all able to take a collective deep breath. I’m always grateful when my team makes it out safely. Taylor told me the guy we pulled out just had some minor lung damage from the smoke inhalation.
The guys jump out and resupply the truck, making sure things are ready for the next call. It’s late now, and most guys will get ready for bed. Others will work out to help burn off any residual adrenaline. I usually sit in my office for a while to decompress.
It can be exhausting on your body when you have that much stress and adrenaline pumping for such a long period of time. Taking a quiet moment helps the stress drain from my body. I’m usually ready to pass out after an intense call.
I sit down at my desk and write up tonight's report. When I’m done, my brain immediately switches from work to Natalie. I wonder if she’s up right now. It’s a Saturday, so it’s possible. I know the sound of her voice would be the perfect balm to my wired body.
Me: Hey, you still awake?
Natalie: I am. What’s going on?
Instead of continuing to text, I click on her name to call.
“Hey, everything okay?” she answers quickly.
“Yeah, we just had a big call, and I needed to hear your voice.”
“Everybody okay?”
“Thankfully, yes, I had to extract an unconscious guy, but he’ll be fine.
