Yeah I am one of those nerds. The sound of the sirens coming from in the distance perks my ears. The fire truck has a different siren from a police car or ambulance. Before it crests the hill, rounds the corner and comes into view my heart starts racing. The sound of the air horn as they pass through intersections starts a mild sweat on my forehead. Seeing the big red truck with the flashing lights and blaring sirens reassures me that my dream job is being inside of that truck on the way to the call.
Pretty much anytime this situation presents itself I instantly become side tracked and begin to try and figure out how I can adjust my route to accommodate following the truck that is running hot. Sometimes a u-turn is in order. Other times all I have to do is pull over to the right and yield then I can catch the green lights with the truck as we speed down the street. Now I follow all traffic laws and most of the time the truck gets away from me before reaching the scene. I still feel the need to follow, in hopes that I will be able to see the big one or at least be able see something. Smoke showing, a code blue, a injury accident, something, ANYTHING. I try to explain this to others not involved in the fire service and they don't get it. I guess that makes me different. "What would you do if you got there and it was something bad?" Easy, I would stand there, stay out of the way and make the best mental notes possible. Same thing I do while riding along. It is just cool to see what I have trained for be successfully executed in real life. To watch the team work and communication take place is invaluable learning for me. Not to mention the adrenaline rush of speculating what call I am headed to helps get me through the week.
Now not only do I follow the trucks to calls. I frequently plan my route to and from work, the store or anywhere to include a trip past a fire station. I figure my chances of catching a truck running hot is the greatest while in close proximity to a station. I stare in the bay doors as I pass to see if a truck is missing. If it is I look up and down each side street hoping to catch a bright light flashing with in view. If both trucks are gone I almost get mad because if both trucks are responding to a call it could be a big one. I check the sky for smoke clouds, turn my radio off and roll my windows down both listening and smelling.
One time it did work out. Driving home I saw a huge tower of smoke on the horizon. I followed it down Metcalf and into down town Overland Park. Sure enough it was the big one.
An old art gallery had caught fire and ended up burning to the ground. Streets were already blocked off so I couldn't get as close to the action as I wanted, but still close enough to feel the excitement of the scene. The smell of smoke in the air and the look of worry on citizens faces was very real, and very exciting. This was before I started my training, and might have been a turning point in my life, turning me toward this dream career. I remember driving away from there thinking how cool it was and how good it felt to find the scene on my own just from following the smoke. I didn't think that day that I might want to do this for a living, but it put thoughts in my head about what it would be like if I did do this for a living. It was a starting point of the internal debate that took on that eventually lead me to the training grounds.
That's my son!!!!
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