Dreams do come true

One of the absolute greatest things happened to me the other night. I was sitting in my cabin talking with Jeff over the internet when my ERT (Emergency Response Team) pager went off saying that there was a fire in the military camp and that all members of the ERT were to muster at the ERT building where all of our gear is. This was the beginning of one of the greatest nights of my life (a little exaggerated, but not much).

I've been a member of the ERT here for the last 2 years. I'm probably not the best choice as I really don't really understand the safety risks of an industrial site, but I'm on the team nonetheless. In the two years, the most intense action I've seen is a fire alarm caused by a malfunctioning smoke detector. My luck changed.


After getting the call, I went to the ERT centre where we frantically geared up in our fire kit. In my case, the gear was sort of pointless as the pants I chose were quite short, exposing my sockless ankles and feet. No matter, we boarded our brand spanking new fire truck and headed for the action. At first, I had this incredible nervous energy that comes with the prospect of having to deal with a fire. This was followed by a feeling of childish elation when I realized what I was experiencing. You cannot imagine a goofier grin than I had as we barrelled down the gravel road with the siren blaring and the lights flashing. To say we were a bit of a hopeless fire fighting crew on that night is pretty accurate. First, we headed to the wrong place. Next, we had to stop enroute and backtrack as one of the equipment compartments on the truck bounced open and we had to go pick up some hoses that escaped. In fact we never even made it to the fire. We got word on the radio that the fire was successfully put out by fire extinguisher.

Still, it was an experience that I will remember the rest of my life.