The station was full of life that morning, as Edd walked through. Uniform cleaned and pressed, always the neat freak of the crowd. It was his first day on the job, and well earned after 8 weeks at the fire academy. His "loving" Instructor Parson was tough.
It almost made him want to go back to being a full time student. But on a medical school grant, he couldn't afford it.
"I'm not here to make friends or bitches. I'm here to make firefighters", that was his favorite thing to say.
"That air bottle better not be empty or you'll run laps till midnight in that suit".
Edd reminisced on old quotations from the instructors, as he hunted for the captains office.
"So help me god, if I have to come in there and drag your ass out".
He found the office situated between the bunk room and the canteen. Sitting at the desk was an older woman, maybe in her forties, uniform wreaking of cheap cigarettes and medical bleach. It appeared she was reading from a mythology book.
"Ma'am, firefighter Edd Vincent reporting for assignment". Edd stood at attention, the woman barely looked up from the book before speaking.
"You ever heard of a Norse god called Hálogi? Says here he is a giant, and God of fire. Not necessarily evil, but indifferent. It's fitting, because fire doesn't care".
Edd stood back, absorbing the words like a sponge. She stood up, lit another cigarette, took a long drag, and continued.
"Captain Faye Caulley, A shift Station commander for station four. Let's get you introduced and settled in". She hurried to the door like she was suddenly excited to be showing off her station.
The bunk rooms could hold beds for 12 people, with showers. The canteen was, well, a canteen. Nothing special with grease stains on every surface. The bays and gear cage were the real show.
"We've got 4 units here at four. That's Engine 4, a 2014 Seagrave replaced our LaFrance just last year. It's got all the hoses, one and a half inch attack-lines for interior, and 4 inch hydrant lines. We also have 50 feet of hard-line for a dump tank, If we can't draft a hydrant. It's also got all of our rescue tools; jacks, cutters, jaws, saws, ropes, and 2 backboards." She beamed with pride at the red and black truck.
Next was the ladder truck. Also a Seagrave, but older. "That's tower 2, it has a 105 foot reach for rescue and aerial firefighting. Also, it's got extrication tools."
Now on to the small trucks. A Dodge 3500 utility bed. It had a star of life emblazoned on the rear gate.
"This is our primary medical, 'Rescue 4'. It rolls on medical calls for the area, and carries spare bottles for bigger fires. This is exclusively for our paramedics to use, so unless you're taking two more years of school, off limits".
Lastly, a large Mack truck, with a 3000 gallon tank.
"I said we had a tanker, and here it is. Tender 1 is the last tanker still in use by the city, but the county has about 12 of these."
The truck was red with a gold trim, and a large, almost rectangle box covering the water carriage
"They're mostly useless in the city, but they do wonders for getting out in the woods near the old residential neighborhoods. I can't say how many times this bucket stopped brush fires before they could make the nightly news, but when they stop just one wildfire from moving into town, they pay for themselves. And that's pretty well all I've got to-".
The bell for the station rang out, and the almost electronic voice clicked over the speakers.
"Engine 4, Tower 2, Battalion 1, county EMS. Structure fire, industrial. 213 Sentrez st. Time out, 0703".
"That's us, college boy. You got engine assignment, on the truck and dress out en route."
The station was like a swarm on an ant hill as the men pulled on bunker pants, grabbed their Helmets and coats, and mounted up.
Edd rushed to get his bunkers on, and climbed aboard the engine.
No sooner than he closed the door, the truck rolled forward through the bay door, the lights all came on, and the electric scream of the siren filled the morning air, accompanied by the earsplitting blast of the air horns. One siren became 2, then 3, and the convoy rolled down the road.
Faye pulled her coat over, and lit another cigarette. It was her fourth one since they first met. Edd didn't know what was more amazing, his first call, or how this woman was still breathing.
"Jackson, we roll up, you put us on the closest hydrant and get ready to pump". Jackson, a very heavy-set, Brooklyn accented engineer, gave a thumbs up with one hand while driving, then reached for the radio.
"Dixon, you grab a man from the tower and give me a 360, if theirs a rat turd or propane tank, I wanna know about it"
The older man next to Edd popped up a quick 'yes ma'am', before going back to what looked like a mid ride nap.
Jackson was on the radio with FIRE-COM, the dispatch center. "Engine 4, FIRE-COM, what are we rolling in on?" The radio fired back with a feminine voice. "Caller identified as a pedestrian, saw smoke protruding through broken windows at the front of Stoker's Industrial. No answer on callback. County records show they have stored explosive and toxic materials used in maintenance welding and construction".
"College boy, you're on me. We roll up, get a bottle and mask, grab the Pre-Connect, and get to it. Lucky kid, first time out, it looks like you got the sauna".
"Engine 4, on scene, looks completely like a welder's shop, smoke protruding from the roof vents, no visible flame. Setting up for primary attack". Jackson hung the mic back on the dash and whipped the truck in next to a hydrant right next to the building.
"Roll it out boys! And we'll be back in time for ham and eggs." Caulley had the door open and jumping off before Jackson even got the rig stopped.
Edd had just gotten the pre-connect attack line to the door, when Caulley smashed the lock with the Halligan bar. He didn't even remember her stopping at the tool compartment before running to the door. She was apparently lightning fast with her work. No wonder she's the Captain.
The steel door swung open, and metallic flavored smoke rolled out into their faces. Now was the baptism of fire, literally and figuratively.
"Let's hit this thing". They both went in.