The First Fire

Let's see, were did I leave off? I had survived the brush cutting exercise. We returned to the station and I dragged my beaten body into the barracks. All I could think about was to get into a shower and wash off all the dirt and grime. I peeled off my grimy clothes and just stood under the shower nozzles for what seemed like an hour. When I was finally revived, I dressed and collapsed on my bunk. I could hear the rest of the guys laughing and joking and getting ready to head for the mess. There was no way I could even think of getting up, let alone walking my tired butt down to the mess hall. I just laid there on my bunk and fell asleep.


I woke up early the next morning. When I started to move, I realized that every muscle in my body hurt. Muscles I didn't even know I had ached like hell. While I was lying there it hit me, this had been my initiation. I guess I had passed. A bit later I heard Paul's voice saying, "Fire, fire, let's get going." "It's a new day and life is beautiful!"


For the next several weeks I listened and learned how to become a firefighter. But I had not really been tested. I didn't know how I would hold up in a real life situation. Then one day the alarm sounded. It was three long blasts. This was it! "Fire!" Demanding immediate response. We all came running from different directions and loaded onto the truck. All our equipment was kept stowed on the truck. Gordon jumped into the driver's seat. The red light was flipped on and the siren started wailing. That's when I knew this was for real . We were going to fight a fire. For a moment my mind  jumped back to when I was five years old, looking up at the burning hills in San Bernardino. I realized then, I'm a firefighter!


It all went good that day. We were able to get below the fire, which had been caused by a lightning strike. We'd cut a fire line and stopped the fire from progressing. We mopped up the area and returned to the station. On the way back, we began to realize we were all looking at each other. We were just sitting there, bouncing up and down in the back of the truck, all of us dirty with soot on our clothes and faces. Then somebody said, "I think we did a damn good job." That's when a cheer went up and everyone started recounting what we'd just done. I knew then that I was a part of the Dalton Hotshot Crew and we were badass firefighters!