Outrageous Event of the Week #497

We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.
~Helen Keller

At about 10:30 this morning, Derek was adjusting a patient (not this cute one, but another), when we heard the fire whistle blow.



Being a small town, we have a volunteer fire department. When there is a fire, the whistle (similar to a tornado siren) blows, and all of the volunteer firemen rush down to the FD to get on the truck. Well, actually, as I understand it, when there are two men there, the truck goes and the rest follow as they arrive.

Anyway, we heard the whistle - not uncommon, especially in winter when there are often small chimney fires. And then a couple of minutes later we heard the firetruck siren - also not uncommon since the fire station is about 100 yards away. But then we heard the trucks stop very NEAR. I popped my head out the door and noticed smoke rolling out of the roof of the building next door. There is literally about ten feet of empty lot between out building and theirs. So I interupted Derek and told him we should see what was going on since our building and patients may be in danger. We went out back and, sure enough, the fire truck had stopped in the alley right behind our back lot.



Over the next few minutes, the other two local firetrucks showed up, as they had assessed that the fire was already large enough to need them all. It doesn't look like much, but that's because the building has no windows and a concrete frame, so it was just a hot box inside that they couldn't get in to.



They had trouble getting in to fight the fire, and so it grew and grew, but remained contained in the building. Often we would see flames shoot up through the roof, but none out of the side. Our tiny town called in fire departments from four surrounding communities over the next few hours, until we had seven engines on site.





That's our building on the right side (red and green). The door on the left is the entrance to an apartment which is now flooded from six hours of fire hose action. You can see how close the buildings are. The water you can see covering the entire back lot is about 12 inches deep. I'm sure it will be rock solid by dawn.

I fear that ice is going to be there until April! Should we fence it off and sell tickets to enter our custom ice rink???



By nearly 2 p.m., they had decided the face of the building needed to come off to fight the fire which had been still growing, so they called in a bulldozer. They had been trying to cut into the walls and roof for hours with axes and chain saws. I understand now that there were three roofs on top of each other on this very old building, which is why they couldn't get in easily through normal methods to fight the fire. It's also why the fire stayed contained and grew so large inside of the one building. Well, that and the concrete block walls.















This was the third time the tanker came to refill the reservoir in as many hours.



Of course, Derek (right) was right in the thick of it the entire time. Running to the fire hall to grab things they needed, pulling hoses. Well, to be fair, you can see I am all up in it too by how close my pictures are. I suppose we wouldn't have it any other way.

At this point, I asked Derek how long it was going to be before he applied to be on the fire department, to which he replied, "Oh, it's time."

You should know, we have always known this was coming. His grandfather Ted was the Chief for thirty years, his father was on the volunteer FD, and his late brother as well. All of his best friends are firemen, whether for Munising or one of the surrounding townships. But since we had five departments respond by the end of this fire, they were all there in one place! It was really rather exciting once I got past the concern that our building might ignite. Actually, by this stage in the fire, we had been told it was about 70% contained and that it would not spread, barring some totally unforeseen and unlikely circumstance.



Three of our dear friends: Scotty (back turned), Ty (center) and Red (right).



One of Derek's very best friends, Jeremy, with a power line blocking his face and completely ruining an otherwise wonderful photo.



After they tore off the building face, the fire took off again, growing. But that's what needed to happen in order for them to get in there. The ladder truck was called in from Hiawatha (two hours away?) and they arrived in perfect time to spray down through the roof after the face and roof had been demolished.









In no time flat (once the ladder was on site), the fire was OUT.



Little did I know that once the fire is completely out, the firemen have much work still to be done. Here Derek is on OUR roof, watching the "I forget what they call it" procedure as it began and lasted for several more hours. The firemen had to basically rip apart the roof and walls of the entire structure and saturate everything to ensure that the building didn't ignite again overnight or the next day from a small unseen ember hidden somewhere in the structure.



Steve and Scotty slaving away on ripping the roof off in the aftermath.



The cleanup took a while as well - the winding up of the hoses and the drinking of the coffee, etc.

I wish my battery hadn't died right there at the end because there would have been some awesome pictures to show you of the community support of their hard work. The Salvation Army rolled in with a Disaster Recovery van and were feeding the firemen hot meals. The gas station attendants from blocks away were walking into the blocked-off city blocks with crates of fresh hot chocolate and bottled water.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.
~Ambrose Redmoon

This morning, Derek turned in his application to become a volunteer fireman at City Hall, along with the $5 application fee.

Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
~Confucius

How long before this gets cleaned up? Well, at least people driving by to see the spectacle will notice our new business!

Click here for this morning's news article.