Fire!!!


 Fire!!

More specifically Fire Drills

Where I currently live, we do a fire drill every week.

As soon as the alarm sounds, there is a rush of activity. Chairs scrape as they move back, feet pound down the hall,  cutlery clatters on the table, doors open and slam shut, water drips from people exiting the pool.

More than half of us have a job to do in case of an emergency. We half run and half walk to our stations, as people respectfully stand to the side to let us pass. The firemen slip on their boots and uniforms. Trying to dress speedily in their bulky outfits. I quickly get my clip board and write the names of all who are present. "Fire Team 1, " I say on the phone to the muster control, "All is accounted for." Then quickly I type out the code for the lock to the master key and hand it to the leader of the team. One by one the dressed firemen pass me saying, "Johnny, 300" or "Tom, 290". I write their air pressure on my clipboard. The Hose and Gear team bustle around me gathering hoses and foam and other necessary items. "Hurry, hurry." The leader yells. We run. The firemen's boots pounding loudly on the floor. We pass stairway guides, and cabin checkers who are all waiting for the next alarm. We squeeze down narrow stair cases. Finally reaching the place we are told to muster.


The On Scene Commander tells the firemen the situation. The lead fireman looks at me and says, "We are going on air." I give him a thumbs up. I record the time, do a few calculations, then I wait. I wait with the hose and Gear, the One Scene Commander, and other fire teams that are on stand bye. We wait to hear word from the firefighters who are right next to the fire. Broken communication comes through. A victim is found. Two men bring out a person loaded with ketchup and tissues on their arms. They are "unconscious" with their eyes closed, though are having a hard time keeping a smile off their face. The victim is taken to the EMTs. The On Scene Commander reports this to the Captain. We continue to wait. "We have found the source of the fire. We are fighting the fire." Finally, we hear the news: "The fire is out." The One Scene Commander tells them to stand by in case of a re-flash. An overhead announcement comes on from the Captain: "The fire is out of control, all emergency teams must evacuate."

 


Who knows more about the fire: the Captain, who is far from the fire, or the firefighters who are fighting the fire?

To us

The fire was gone

It was finished

Our lives were saved

But who were we suppose to follow?

The firefighters or the Captain?

We followed the Captain. After all with our own signatures we had promised to obey him when we agreed to work here.

Perhaps there was more to the drill that none of us knew.

Perhaps the Captain wanted us to do more than just practice putting out the fire.

I suppose we will never know. But I do know one thing: In life it is better to follow the one who is the Captain of our lives rather than what we know. Often he has more planned for us than what we can see with our lives.

Disclaimer: These photos are not from the drill that I have described above. They are from when I did fire training.



I like to find stories in unlikely places and connect them with unlikely subjects. Here are stories and analogies that I see as I travel around the world.

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