Tuesday, March 24, 2009

He Was A Volunteer Fireman With A Rookie Crew




My children's father and I lived in a small town in South Dakota. He was a volunteer fireman and would respond to the Whistle when it rang with other volunteers to keep our community safe.
One night, the whistle blew when we were sleeping. Our bedroom was upstairs and he quickly put on his clothes and shoes and flew down the stairs.
I was slower to respond and was just nearing the head of the stairs when I heard the most awful noise. I looked down to the bottom of the stairs and my husband’s rubber soled shoes had stuck on one of the stairs and propelled him to the hardwood dining room floor. After he reached the floor he slid on a freshly polished floor and ended up under my sewing machine. It was the most comical thing I had ever seen. I started laughing and said, “ Are you hurt?” and continued to laugh. I will never forget the look on his face and the contortions he had to go through to get untangled from the sewing machine.
The Volunteer Fire Department was not a thing to laugh at, but it just seemed that something funny was always happening. One summer day Melanie, who was about three was outside on our front porch playing. I heard the Fire Whistle and went to the porch to see if I could see where the trucks were heading. When I saw Wally driving the fire truck I started to laugh uncontrollably. Even Melanie said, “Mama, what Daddy do?” Wally had an inexperienced fireman on his crew that day. They had been called out several times for grass fires. The rookie had not replaced the fire hose correctly. As Wally drove the truck as fast as he could down the streets the fire hose uncurled from the reel. It got longer and longer and started to sway from one side of the street to the other. When they got to the railroad tracks, the nozzle got caught. The hose completely uncurled, then it was the nozzle’s turn to stretch. It got longer and longer and finally snapped. It flew high into the air and over the cab of the truck and back again. The used car dealership was furious because the hose knocked out all the headlights and windshields of cars that were parked close to the street. Needless to say the grass fire out in the field had to be fought by another fire department.
Wally saw no humor in this story. The reason; it could have been a family’s house that was on fire.
This last June my son, Mike and I went to visit Wally’s brother and his wife that live in Tennessee. We started talking about the good ol’ days and of course, that fateful day came up about the fire hose. Wally’s brother was also a volunteer fireman and was on the truck that day. Wally’s brother just laughed and shook his head. Memories are wonderful things that keep our loved ones alive in our minds.
A Note of Interest: Wally was a very talented artist; he painted the sign in this picture

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