My pager sounds its shieking alarm, it snaps me awake, its 0300hrs. I run out of bed, to my desk chair with my CFA (Country Fire Authority) overalls draped over its spine,quickly get changed then walk out to the garage. Halfway to the garage I poke my head in my parents room and say "Wake up dad, im in my superhero uniform gotta go put out them hot criminals, i love you guys i'll see you later ".
I open the garage door, then jump in the car, turn the key and speed away down the road heading for West Wodonga Fire Station. I get there to see one of the fire tankers out on the forecourt ready to race off. I pull up on the grass and walk towards the tanker where several of my volunteer colleagues are either sitting in the cab or standing around the cab. I walk up and as "Whats the job guys?"
"House fire"
as they were waiting for me I said "right then lets go".
Off we went lights and sirens blaring, I was driving under instruction, speeding up in the straights, going over the speed limit its what a majority of advanced drivers live for. We arrive at the house 5 minutes after leaving the station, I turn the siren off but leave all the lights on, I jump out of the cab and run to set up a hose because the fire is huge and engulfing both floors on the two storey house. The commander tells me to get my breathing appartus on because there is still a familly inside, The breathing kit is heavy and hard to breath normally in but you dont notice that when your walking through a house with a hose spraying and threatening to force itself from your grip.
I suit up in my breathing kit and grap a hose which is spraying at the house and after two other firemen come up behind me we venture in. Walking in the front door slowly we gradually get our bearings, I notice the heat i think "Its fucking hot in here, how anyone can survive being here in this heat is gods business".
We make our way up stairs im surprised that the stairwell isnt on fire, its still immenesly hot though at the top of the stairs the fireman behind me taps my shoulder, I turn to him and he beckons for control of the hose. I give him the hose and with another fireman breath the first room on the right, to find its got two little kids who seem like their in huge distress and possibly dying of smoke inhalation. We pick them up and rush them downstairs towards the now waiting ambulances, we rush back up with the hose man in front of us we proceed to the next room to find its a master bedroom. with an adult couple inside, they're either dead or dying or still asleep and dying in places the fire is breaking through the floor so we call the hose man in to deal with the holes. As we carry the couple out and the three of us rush down to give them first aid.
We stay outside using numerous hoses to quell the flames and an hour after we exited the house it collapses in flames and so we ask for assistance from the full time fire brigade further away in Wodonga. We evacuate the neighbouring houses and we then send a hose team around to the back so we can kind of pincer the fire out on the now rubblised house, the backyard hose team discovered that the main fire source was in the kitchen, which was in the back. They radioed this info to us so we could speculate why and as to what appliance started the fire. The full time CFA from Wdonga Fire Station arrive and add several more hoses to our assault on the fire, for most of the time im on a hose team controlling a hose thus stopping it from spiralling out of control. After five exhausting houses the fire goes out, its 8am but im not tired I'm just happy the fires out, We jump back into the fire truck where the radio informs us that the familly has survived so we go to the hospital to see them. The reaction we get is heroic they are all ecstatic and thankful, we feel like heroes.
