Home Captain

Today I’m writing about the day I spent with my father at work last Wednesday. My dad’s name is Hank Stanley and he’s a fire captain with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. He’s been a captain for eight years now, since I was six years old. He spent the first seven years as a captain with the same station, Station #122 in Lakewood. It was a nice station and I still have fond childhood memories of the building. It’s two stories containing every little kid’s fantasy of a fire station, a pole. When I was real young, one of my dad’s crew would have to lift me up and sort of place me onto the pole because my arms and legs were too short in order for me to latch onto it without my falling through the hole to the bottom floor. Anyway, last year my dad was transferred to Station #51 in Carson. I remember him being real nervous on his first day, and if you know my dad, you know he can work himself into a fine state when he’s nervous. In that regard, it’s always been a little hard for me to imagine him as a fire fighter, let alone a captain. I’ve always envisioned fire fighters with a real steady and calm demeanour and my dad is anything but really. Last Wednesday opened my eyes to a very different side of my father though.

That morning started out like any other morning when my dad’s working. My mom has always insisted that we (and by that I mean my parents, my younger sister Shelly, and myself) sit down at the table and eat breakfast as a family, since my dad works twenty-four hour shifts and isn’t home for dinner in the evening. So we all sat down to ham, eggs, hash browns, toast, and orange juice. My parents drank coffee as well. Afterwards, my mom cleaned the dishes and my father, Shelly, and myself, left for the day. First my dad dropped my sister off at school and then headed to the firehouse, his somewhat new Station 51. It’s not really new since he’s been there for just over a year now. I’d met his crew a number of times and they’ve always been very polite and friendly.

When we first arrived, at seven thirty in the morning, another shift was currently on duty and my dad’s shift was slowly entering the building. Speaking of the building, Station #51 is a one-story building without a pole. I’m sure many of the kids who get a chance to tour it come away from the tour a little disappointed in that fact. It’s an okay place though. It has a kitchen, living area, bathroom, sleeping quarters, a bay area where the engine and the paramedic squad get parked and an office my dad shares with the other fire captains working out of the building. My favorite spot is the living room area because there’s a TV in there, plus a telephone, but it’s a payphone so I didn’t use it while I was there.

Once my dad’s shift was on duty, my dad held what he calls a roll call. That’s where his men, as he calls them, line up in front of him and he tells them stuff. Sort of like our school’s daily announcements, only my dad’s crew also gets assigned chores. When I asked him why he said it was just an easy way to make sure all the things that need getting done during the shift get done. The County insists that the firemen keep their own house without any outside help. I guess it would be like the teachers at school cleaning the bathrooms instead of the janitors.

My dad did a great thing that morning; he gave one of his paramedics, John Gage, the chore of fixing me up with a turn out coat and helmet. Johnny’s real cute and he’s kind of young I think. I always get kind of giddy when I’m around him. Johnny made sure I knew how to properly strap on my helmet and put on the coat, which was a mile too big for me. By the way, a turn out coat is the one that you always see firemen wearing in the movies. Let me tell you, those things weigh a ton and they’re hot. I have no idea how they wear those things around fires?

The first call that came into the station was for a woman down. I had no idea what that was but both the paramedic squad and the engine responded to the call. Mike, that’s the engineer who drives the fire truck, let the squad lead the way to the call. I think it’s because a woman down it turns out is an injury of unknown origin, and the paramedics are usually the most vital to the call. Anyway, I sat in the back of the rig with my dad’s two linemen, Chet and Marco. They’re real nice guys and explained the whole woman down reference to me on the way to the scene. They had to yell though because the truck's siren is much louder when you hear it inside of the engine.

When we arrived, Johnny and his partner, Roy, immediately jumped out of their vehicle and started grabbing some of their equipment. My dad, Chet, Marco and myself all followed behind the paramedics. Mike stayed in the engine. When we reached the woman, who was lying on the ground moaning in pain, Johnny and Roy went right to her. Chet placed a hand on my shoulder when we were about three feet away, gently bringing me to a halt. Marco stopped on the other side of me while my dad approached a man who was kneeling down beside the woman. My dad gently began asking the man questions about what happened while helping him to his feet. The man told my dad the woman, who it turned out was his sister, had fallen off a ladder while they had been trying to climb onto the roof to see where a leak was coming from. My dad was pretty awesome with the man. I didn’t even know the woman but my dad’s reassurances helped me feel better so I can just imagine how much it helped the man.

While we were on route back to the fire station another call came in for a structure fire. Both vehicles were once again dispatched and Mike and Roy (who was driving the squad) turned on the flashing lights and sirens and away we went. This time when the truck came to a stop, my dad turned to me and told me to stay in the truck. I didn’t want to but I knew by his tone of voice that he meant business. So I stayed while he and the other guys all climbed out of the engine. My dad immediately told Chet and Marco to grab an inch and a half. At the time I had no idea what he meant, but later I learned it meant the size of nozzle on the end of the hose. He told Johnny and Roy to do the same, it seems they also fight the blaze when they aren’t needed as paramedics. It was interesting watching my dad. When another fire truck came along he climbed into the rig and started giving those firemen orders by means of a hand held microphone as well. Later on he explained to me that the first captain on the scene takes control of it. It was kind of cool. Later I noticed my dad spending a lot of time with some guy in a white hard hat. Turns out he’s the Chief. Once the fire was put out my dad and his team stayed for about another forty-five minutes or so doing clean up. When they got back into the rig Marco and Chet seemed real tired, I felt bad for them. They were also very sweaty and smelled of smoke.

At this point Mike drove us back to the station and Roy made us lunch. Chet and Marco took showers and the other guys did some chores. I followed my dad into his office. Once there, he took out a black book and began writing in it, he explained to me that it’s the daily log and he has to fill out a report for each call the engine goes on. He apparently looks over the squad’s logbook, too. Then he joined the crew in the kitchen and we all played a couple games of cards. It was fun and at this point my dad reminded me more of the guy I live with and have grown up with. He was funny; joking around and asking questions about Roy’s kids. Roy is married and I’ve met his kids a few times, at two firemen’s picnics and at last year’s family Christmas day. They’re cute and look a lot like Roy’s wife, Joanne. She’s real nice and makes fantastic brownies. She made them for the Station house’s Christmas party. She puts bright colored green and red candies on top of the icing. That was neat, she gave my mom the recipe even. My mom has promised we’ll make them this year for Christmas.

While playing cards the klaxons (that’s the speaker thing on the wall that lets the station know they have a call) sounded and once again we all climbed into the vehicles to go to a structure fire. Again, my dad made me stay in the engine while they worked. This time Johnny and Roy first put on these scuba diving type tanks and actually went into the building, that was scary and made my stomach ache. They came back out, both carrying someone with them. They placed the people on the ground and began working on them. That’s when I noticed my dad, Chet, and Marco going into the building. I must have made a noise because the next thing I knew Mike was at the door telling me everything would be okay. That my dad knew what he was doing and Chet and Marco would look after him. I don’t know how long they were in the building but it seemed like forever. I felt real scared and started to sweat, just like Chet and Marco had after they fought the first fire. A little while after my dad came out, Johnny and Roy placed each of their victims in separate ambulances and both climbed into an ambulance with the patients. My dad told Chet to drive the paramedic squad behind them. Not much later, my dad, Mike, Marco and myself all went back to the station.

When Johnny, Roy and Chet returned after us they seemed real quiet. Too quiet; especially for Johnny and Chet as those two always seem to be play fighting. After sitting at the table for about half an hour, Johnny got up and left. I think he went into the bedroom area. I noticed my dad and his men all exchange looks but they didn’t say anything about Johnny. About ten minutes later, my dad got up and left as well. I think he went after Johnny. I can’t explain to you how I felt. I just know I was uncomfortable but couldn’t tell you why. I had the feeling that something bad happened but nobody was talking about it. The guys just all went about their chores or reading the newspaper. It was weird. A little while later my dad came back into the room, clapped his hands, rubbed them together and suggested we play another game of cards. Johnny came back about half way through the game. He remained quieter than usual but he made a couple of comments about Chet’s hand. Then my mom showed up to pick me up and take me back home. All in all it was an interesting day, it went by very fast and to be honest I was disappointed when it came time for me to leave. I wanted to stay and hang out with my dad some more.

A couple days later my dad was cleaning his car when I came home from my friend, Mary Anne’s house. He asked if I wanted to help him, I didn’t but I did anyway. That’s when I asked him what had happened to Johnny that day that was making everyone act so weird. He sighed and explained that Johnny’s victim had died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital and Johnny had been feeling badly about it. I wanted to cry, and not just because someone had died, but because Johnny had to deal with it. I think my dad knew what I was thinking because he came to me and put his arm around my shoulder. He told me it was okay, that Johnny had done his best but unfortunately, his best wasn’t good enough on that day. That so many other days both Johnny and Roy save people’s lives and it makes for a very good day at the station. However, every once in a while someone dies because of a fire, or heart attack, or an accident and there’s nothing they can do but try. At that moment I understood why my father had followed Johnny. He had been giving Johnny what he was now giving me. Comfort and reassurance, that’s when I actually let the tears come. At that moment my dad became a hero to me. I know a lot of people think firemen are heroes anyway, but to me my dad has always just been my dad. Until that point, he’d always just been a guy who fought fires, but he’s not. He and his crew are genuine heroes. Their work is far harder than I ever imagined. I knew that it was physical and all, but I never really thought about the mental side of their work. I can promise you that from now on when my dad comes home from work and my mom tells my sister and I to just let our father have some time to himself I won’t question it. My dad as a fire captain may look after his men and make sure they’re all doing fine and be there for them when they need someone, but here at home, my mom does that job for him. She’s our family captain. Well, not entirely, because my dad does that for my sister and I as well. Anytime we need him, my dad’s there for us, whether physically or emotionally, it doesn’t matter, he’s there, just like for his men. It’s nice to know my dad has someone he can count on, too.

When we were first told about the whole Take Your Kids To Work thing, I wasn’t looking forward to it and tried to figure out a way to get out of it. I mean, honestly, who wants to spend a day at work with one of their parents? Ever since last Wednesday, I’m happy I was forced into this assignment. I learned not just about my dad, but anyone who does the job he does. Up until now I’ve only ever seen him as my dad, but now he’s better than that, he’s a man of courage and from now on I’m joining my mom’s efforts at being a home captain. My dad deserves nothing less.

The End.