Overturned vehicle. Car fire. Fully involved. Unknown injuries.
Thankfully Monday night it was only practice. An exciting scenario-based exercise that will mark the last few memories we will have of our volunteer fire department.
The training sergeant--we'll name her Cheri--paired us together. B handed me the nozzle and we approached the vehicle at a 45 degree angle with the fog stream. Although I felt comfortable with our proximity to the fiery mass of metal, I could feel him behind me, pushing me closer. At that point, I knew I needed to trust my partner, trust my training and trust our equipment to keep us safe. And so with this exercise, I equate it to our hiking adventure in which we can over-analyze and dissect each detail, but ultimately must let go and trust in our abilities, our choices and God's direction for us.
Announcing our departure to the department was difficult. In my experience, it has been rare that I have created relationships in which I am ultimately trusting another person--let alone a group of people--with my life. But for some reason this eclectic and somewhat random mix of people--sales specialist, haunted house builder, national guard recruiter, to name a few--have made a huge impact in our lives. We'll miss seeing all of you in the middle of the night for a hit and run, or just before dinnertime for a structure fire. And we'll even miss seeing you on those days when it seems like half the jurisdiction has called 9-1-1, and we haven't been home for 7 hours. May God bless you all and keep you safe. And remember, don't touch the OB kit. And don't touch the white wall either.
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