You know me. I come into your favorite dining establishment, and I disturb your meal. Why do I have to be so dirty and stinky? How can I be out in public like that? Don't I have any shame? Why do I have to be so noisy and crude?
I stink because I just spent 18 hours on a fire line. I got a sandwich, what, ten hours ago, twelve? Pardon me for smelling like smoke and fear. At dawn, the wind picked up and the fire jumped the line. Three of us got caught in a hollow and the coat was burned off my back. Protective gear? Get real. I'm a college student. I work for the Forest Service in emergencies for seven bucks an hour. I have to eat in a hurry. I have a biology test in an hour that I did not study for, because I was trying to save some people's houses on the west ridge. Don't know why. They all live in Florida and we'll never see them. Last year, we saved three houses over in Swannanoa. We got sued for our trouble. We kept the fire from climbing the hill, but we got cut off from the trucks. We used some rich lady from Florida's garden hose to refill out canteens. We saved her house, and she sued the Forest Service because we took water from her hose without permission.
Heck, I got it easy. See that guy on the end of the buffet? He's got problems. He's with the fire department. He's got a wife and two kids he supports. Oh, no not with the fire department. This town keeps voting against paid fire fighters. He's a volunteer. He works at the paper mill. Every time the siren goes off, he loses a day's paid work. Don't know how he's going to pay the light bill this month. He has rolled out five times. That's a week of unpaid vacation for him. Despite the fact that you spent more tax money last year on keeping up the community swimming pool and rec center than you did on fire protection, his gear is pretty good. It should be. His life depends on it, so he bought much of it himself. His big problem is your grandmother. You know. Granny of the vastly diminished perceptions? Can't see worth a damn, but you keep going to court to make sure she can keep her license. Wouldn't want her Self Esteem to get dinged. Sure, in normal circumstances, she can do OK. But when the ambulance or fire truck rolls up behind her, the lights confuse her and she freaks out and comes to a dead stop in the middle of the road. He has to deal with her and ten more like her every time he rolls. Not like he has anywhere to be. Those children hiding under the bed in their burning house have all the time in the world. They have the rest of their lives to wait for the fire truck. Take your time Granny.
Now, you want to stay away from that guy down there. He smells like shit. Literally. He just pulled a couple of people out of a bad car wreck. Bowels are one of the first things to let go upon impact. Usually, he would try to grab a bite at the hospital, but he was called back out. The call was a prank, and he stopped at the first place he saw that had food. Usually, he gets a little more lunch time, but not right now. Another EMS guy working his shift was shot last week when he was trying to save the life of a gang kid during a shoot out. They are a bit short handed right now. He's lucky he's working in the Mountains. In large cities, some ambulance drivers are involved in more gunfights during their careers than the average Army medic is during his career. Guess which one can't call in an airstrike when the situation gets too bad.
Who are we?
We stand between you and the fire.
We're your local emergency response crews.
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