I had an experience that involved Karma in regards to my the last story, But I’m going to hold off on that for now and tell another Tail…..
It was a nice summer day when I received a phone call from one of my Sr. Fire Officers asking what I was up to at the moment, Eh, Just hanging out was my reply, “Why, What’s up??” Oh not much, “Btw, You fish rite?” “Yeah, I do, Why?” That’s awesome! I’m thinking to myself, He knows I fish wth is going on? Hmmm
So I ask, “What do ya want?” Well, “What do you have for a Net by chance?” I have two, One long handled for the river and one huge one I use for Musky fishing. “Well bring the long handled one to the Station and you can come help me, No big deal.”
Now this was early on in my career, So doing all I can at the drop of a hat goes a long way towards reliability. So I grabbed my net and headed to the station. I get there and the Officer says grab your gear and throw it on the Engine. He explained we need a ladder as Chief gave the go ahead to take care of an issue, But said get over and get back and not too take all day!!
So 3 of us jump on and roll out., Net and all. Gorgeous day and we were on an older open cab Engine, Great in the Summer, Awful in the Winter as those in the back are exposed to whatever the weather may be.
So we arrive at a home, And I’m like, “So what’s the issue here?” The Officer finally gives a brief and says, “Well, The homeowners $4000 Bird has escaped and is on the roof and we have try and catch it, No Biggie, In and outta here!! Nice, A little bit of assisting the Community with something we actually don’t do, Fair enough!
So we grabbed the Ladder and after doing a walk around the Officer says “Let’s set it up rite here and we should be Ok, Which we did and up the ladder he went and yelled down, “Let me check this out before you come up. “Ok, let me know.”
So we observe him walking around and he comes back to the ladder, Says Crap and comes down. He looks at us and says,”Fellas, We have a problem.”
Now let me explain, Regardless of how basic or intense the situation may be, Any time a Fire Engine shows up at a Residence or whatever, More than likely, A small crowd will gather too see what’s up, And this was no exception.
Back to the problem, The Officer goes on by saying the Bird is on the Upper section of the roof and our 2-fly won’t reach it so we need to figure something out………
We don’t have the 3-fly extension ladder on this Engine, It’s on the Ladder Truck. So he say’s hold on let me make a call Stand by Fellas!! So the Homeowner comes by us, Pretty upset that we can’t get Ol Polly down and it’s getting dark.
So as we are standing there, All of a sudden my Pager goes off!!! Oh boy, We are gonna have to leave, Uh no, I listen to the dispatch and it says blah blah Fire dept, respond to this location with your Ladder truck for Unknown assistance. Well a few minutes later here comes the Truck and Oh, Here comes Chief……… I figured he would have called on a cell phone, Nah, Might as well let the County know we are dealing with an issue……
So much for not making a scene!!
That crowd, Yeah there’s about 15 or so folks across the street., Watching with no idea what is really going on. So Chief says get the 3-fly and put it rite there, Which the other Crew does and my Officer goes up and he has the Thermal camera with him as it’s dark. So I go up with the cage and he says stay on the Ladder and Lock in. During initial training we learn a method of “Locking” into the ladder by weaving a Leg through the rungs so that we can work off the ladder and not fall off. So I lock in, All good and I have a Cage that I brought up with me. Well this cage is one that would be used for a small dog and I’m wondering, Just how big is this Bird? As of yet, I haven’t seen it.
So as I’m in my spot on the Ladder, I hear the Officer saying, “Here Birdy-Bird while making chirping sounds. Now I starting laughing and a good thing I locked in as I was laughing so hard, Tears were streaming, I probably would have fallen off the ladder had I not done so. That would be hard explaining, Yeah, I fell off a Ladder saving a Bird!! So I manage to regain my composure and say, “Where’s the bird?” He says, “Shhh, No noise!!” And all of a sudden I hear, SOB, It Bit me, Darn near had it!! Again, I start thinking, Just what are we dealing with here?? Well, I decide to put my gloves on just in case. Well when one doesn’t know all the details, Ones imagination runs wild as I was imagining, Big Talons and maybe I should put my Mask on for protection…
At this point, The net isn’t being used and I hear the Officer scurrying around and then the words I have it!! So I open the cage and he shoves the bird inside and shuts the door and now the Birds tail feathers are getting smashed and it’s squawking up a storm! He says climb down and don’t drop it. We did it!!
So I get down and take the Bird to the Lady, Who’s in tears, Happy tears And the Bird was pretty good sized as I compared it with a Pheasant and not really happy with Human contact as it bites as well! This bird flew up there, Lord only knows why it never flew away, We kinda figured it would.
I apologized for the ruffling of the tail feathers and she simply said, Thanks!
Well Chief was pleased, As we were kinda past the point of making a scene. 1 Engine, A Ladder Truck, Yeah, It was scene!! The Crowd, Well they asked me, “What was going on?” “Eh, Nothing!!!” :) Chief always told us, Don’t talk with anyone on a scene, Regardless, One might slip by giving details that may be False, Or a bad detail may be unknowingly given to a family member by mistake, And then it can really snowball downhill from there!!
Sometimes the lighter side of being a Fireman doesn’t get told. Nothing really exciting about this one, Just a case of helping the Community.
Until next time, Good day!!