This morning just as I had taken Clover out and fed her, the call came in. Vehicle fire… (hot bus).
Event: Fire-Vehicle
Comment: Old school bus fully involved – no houses in danger, there is another vehicle in danger
There goes my slow and relaxing morning. As I quickly throw on a pair of shorts and a department t-shirt, I down a big glass of water. A quick goodbye and kisses to my family, then I was off.
Responding to the scene since it’s between my house and the station. I see other members responding to the station. Our engine and tanker are rolling with additional personnel as soon as I get to the scene. Immediately as I drive by and park I see flames coming from the right side of the bus in the center (it’s facing me), the left side rear tires and inside middle and back.
I jump into my gear, do my 360° survey and radio dispatch and coming members as what they can expect. The engine pulls in and I direct it in with the tanker right behind it. Our pump operator immediately connects the two trucks (we have 3,500 gallons between the two) as I pack up with another firefighter. We then grab a line and begin down the right hand side. We connect our respirators just before hitting it with the water as a cloud of black grey smoke and steam billows out collapsing around us.
With a bit of a fog nozzle that clears it a bit so we can have some visibility. We then work towards the other side of the bus hitting the inside with water through the already broken windows. We quickly put the left back tires out then pry open the door to the bus and enter, hitting it hard with the hose line. After some time we back out and enter in the back door of the bus with more water. After the initial rush of the black grey smoke and steam we engage our thermal imaging camera. This helps find the hot spots which we methodically hit one after the other.
That didn’t take too long then back to the hall to start cleaning gear and hoses. After that, the report and our debrief, I headed back home for a long, hot shower.
Just a glimpse in my day in serving the community.
Our fire department, the Lone Oak Volunteer Fire Department covers 34 square miles with just under 20 members. We have both certified firefighters (5) and certified emergency medical responders (3) with the rest of members being pump operators and support. We respond to a variety of calls including structure and wildland fires, motor vehicle accidents, search and rescue, and medical calls.
