Last night while on duty I had my first fire call (about time). Despite the rainy night, around midnight I was woken up from a sound sleep by one of my compañeros who told me we had a fire. Looking up, I saw the red light lit on the signal tree in our quarters signaling that there was indeed a fire. Keeping my boots and turnouts at the foot of my bed I hopped in them and grabbed a helmet. I slid down the pole (which I love to do every time) and headed for the truck. The driver was already inside and myself and two other aspiring firefighters hopped on the back of the truck, holding on to the railing while we sped off. I have always wanted to do this though it was against the rules when I worked at the US Forest Service and I believe the same goes for other fire agencies in the States as well. But, as I have come to see, their aren't many rules in Guatemala. After a bit of a drive outside of town we got to the fire which turned out to be a small cantina or bar. It didn't take long to get the main body of the fire knocked down and then we started to dig up things to find additional hot spots. Soon after we realized a small portable vender's stand next to the fire had some how caught on fire as well. My team grabbed the bolt cutters, but when the other guys couldn't get through the lock on the door, the task was turned over to me. (I have a reputation at the firehouse for having big feet and for being strong...go figure). I got through the lock fast and we wrapped up the rest of the fire quickly and headed back to go to sleep...again. Saving the country one cantina at a time... Bomberos Voluntarios.
PS: This picture was NOT the fire. Hopefully you figured that out alright beacuase I said the fire was at midnight. Good mind test eh Charlie?!?!
1 comment:
Good post and this enter helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you seeking your information.
Post a Comment