Life On The Squad (Part 7)

 “Aw. So cute. I wish we could have a pet.” I sighed, thinking about how nice it would be to have a dog to come home to play with on off days, or a kitten to cuddle with. But, I guess I’m just not lucky enough. Maybe some day Johnny will break and we could upgrade something else. Find a landlord that likes pets, maybe a condo or small house. Well, I can dream, can’t I?

            Just as I was finishing my cereal, we heard a report come in through the intercom. “L.A., Engine 69. Returning from run by La Puma canyon. Brush fire spotted. Fully involved. We need a full brush response out here and evacuations need to be made.”

            “Engine 69, 10-4. Brush fire out in La Puma Canyon. Full brush response needed.”

            By now, we were all by the map out in the garage, looking at La Puma Canyon. It was a mixed area; with expensive and cheap homes. But it was surrounded by thousands of acres of dry brush. Bad area, and a bad day. Rock bottom humidity, and high winds. Most everyone will be out today, I thought.

            “Uh-oh.” Mike said.

            ‘How much do you want to bet some kids stole their parents’ matches?” Cap asked.

            “My next 3 paychecks.” Marco said.

            “I would second that...” I let my voice trail off. The men nodded their heads. They knew. I didn’t have a paycheck.

            The magical notes came through the intercom. “Station 23, 10, 88, 110, 51, 20, and 76. Battalions 9, 3, 1, and 10. Report to Engine 69’s brush fire. La Pumas Canyon. La Pumas Canyon. Time out 12:15”

            Roy was in the squad. I didn’t move. A brush fire, and it sounded bad. Johnny probably wouldn’t want me to go. The last fire, well, it didn’t go well.

“Station 51, 10-4. KMG 365.” I reported to L.A.

“Well?” Johnny was standing outside by his door. “Coming?” I grinned, and I dove in through his door. This fire was going to be good.

Halfway to La Puma Canyon Road, we got the base camp location. “Battalion Chief 1, La Puma Canyon base camp at La Puma Canyon school parking lot.”

“10-4, 69.”

“Got that Johnny?”

“Yeah. That should be coming up soon.”

“Yeah.” I looked up the ridge. The sky was blackened, with a red horizon. The fire burned brightly, burning everything in sight. No doubt we wouldn’t be sitting around much this time around.

It was now that I remembered the last brush fire. I was condemned to the base camp. Cleaning out eyes with saline solution wasn’t my idea of seeing the action.

After begging and begging, I was finally able to talk them into letting me come with them to rescue a fallen fireman. Engine 51 was barely able to fight back the flames. There was a fire drop just as the fire was literally on top of us under the dirt. After that ordeal, I was surprised that Johnny was so willing to let me even come to base. Guess I should start counting my lucky stars, huh?

The school came up after the next bend. Even though we were part of the first alarm, there were a lot of emergency vehicles in the parking lot. Some I couldn’t even identify. Yeah, I’m a real sharp ace.

“Squad 51, checking in.” Roy told a man sitting in a fire-red van. The man nodded, and did something on a piece of paper. Officially on brush duty. The feeling never changes. That feeling of being important, of knowing that you were a valuable part of an important operation. It was this feeling that made me come here day after day after day. Do you know how popular I’d become if I had a party every time Johnny went to work? As long as nothing important broke, then he would never notice. And then I wouldn’t have a secret anymore.