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When Todd and Luke showed up with the brush truck from station #2, I used the radio to direct them to my makeshift gate.
With the extra hands, the ground fire was contained quickly. “Captain, I think we’re good out here.”
“Roger that. Shed is out. I’ve got MRPD reaching out to the owner. How are your tanks?”
I checked the gauge. “I’ve got about a hundred gallons left. Luke, what do you have?”
“We’ve got about two.”
“Copy. Luke, give the middle and the edge one last good soak on your way out. Jake, go fill ‘er up and head back to the station.”
Luke and I affirmed the orders. I watched as Todd rode on the deck of the other truck and ran the turret while Luke drove them out of the field.
I rolled down my window as I passed them. “Need a hand with that?” I said it with a grin. Running the hose from a moving truck felt a bit like being a kid with a super soaker in the back of a truck bed in the summer.
Todd laughed. “No way, man. You get on back. Probably time for your nap, isn’t it?”
I chuckled and waved. Good-natured ribbing was always a part of the station life. And volunteers always jibbed us about the downtime.
I stopped at the supply station just outside of town and topped off the gas tank and water tanks in the brush truck. While the water was transferring, I checked my watch. It was way past lunchtime, so I grabbed a couple of pizzas and some drinks for us from the QuikStop.
My eyes fell on the display of Oreos near the register. I grabbed a bag of those too and stepped up to the counter.
“Anything else for you today?”
“I’ll get his,” came a voice behind me. I turned to find Mark Dawson behind me.
I shook my head. “You don’t need to do that,” I protested.
“I don’t mind at all. You look like you’ve been working hard,” he said with a glance downward.
I followed his gaze and chuckled at the dirty turnout gear I was wearing. “Nothing like a fire on a summer day.”
It took some getting used to, but I’d come to recognize that people enjoyed being able to give back to the fire department. We had kids bring us cookies and old ladies bring us soup or fried chicken. We never expected it but always appreciated it.
“Thanks, man. Appreciate it.”
“My pleasure,” Mark said.
“School out yet?”
Mark was a middle-school teacher. I had a lot of respect for him because I couldn’t imagine dealing with one pre-teen on a regular basis, let alone twenty-five at a time. All day.
“Yep. Last week. I’m enjoying a bit of freedom before I start for Luke again this summer.”
I nodded. “He was just out with me at this afternoon’s call.” Luke was one of our volunteer firefighters, but he also owned Brand New Landscaping and had several seasonal employees. “Everything good with you and Danielle?”
Mark nodded, his smile broadening easily. “Yeah. It’s all good, man. We’re headed out to California this summer to see some of her friends. They haven’t even met little Ender yet, and he’s almost two years old.”
“Wow. Two? Already? That’s crazy.”
I grabbed my pizzas and the bag with Oreos and drinks. “I hope you have a great trip.”
“Thanks. Have a good day. Stay safe,” he added as he waved.
I called Bryce on the radio and let him know lunch was taken care of. Then, I drove the truck back to the station and put the pizzas in the kitchen. As much as I wanted to sit down and eat right then, I needed to go run the post-use inspection on the truck and my turnout gear. The pizza would be waiting for me when I was done. As long as we didn’t get another call.
As I was finishing up my inspections, Bryce and Matteo pulled in with the engine.
