L.A . 51?
By E51Writer
7/7/02
“No way, Cap, it’s a mistake.”
“I thought so too, Chet, but I’ve checked it out. HQ has checked it out. We’re going.”
“Well, alright!” Johnny jumped up from the table, grinning from ear to ear.
“For God’s sake, Gage, stop smiling. It’s a mistake. We’re not going.”
Before Johnny could say anything, Captain Stanley corrected the fireman again. “Oh yes we are, Pally, yes we are.”
Turning to the rest of the men, Cap began handing out sheets of paper. “The things marked with an ‘X’ will be supplied by the county. The rest are up to you guys. Any questions?”
“Yeah, Cap, are you absolutely sure…”
“YES!” Cap shook his head at the curly-haired fireman.
“I’ve got a couple questions, Cap.” Gage made of a point of pausing until Chet looked up from the shopping list – a huge smile crossed the paramedic’s face. “Can we stay longer than a week? And, can we leave now?”
Chet balled up the piece of paper and threw it at Johnny.
“Yeah, that’s the technique, Chet. You’ll have to pack the snow a little tighter
than you crunched that paper though.
Otherwise, all you’ll end up with is a face full of…”
“Shut up, Gage!” Chet pushed back from the table and stomped out of the dayroom.
“This is gonna be soooo much fun!” Johnny was bouncing around the room like a kid.
Roy rolled his eyes as he looked from Johnny to his shift mates then back at the list in his hands.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The 6 members of Station 51’s A-Shift gathered at the gate at LAX. Chet sat in one of the hard plastic chairs shaking his head. Looking at the departure sign, his bad mood worsened.
“Toronto. What – the – hell?” Chet still couldn’t believe it.
Cutting off any more of the smart aleck replies that Chet had been receiving over the past week, Cap moved next to the depressed fireman. “Chet, listen to me. Chet?”
Chet finally turned his gaze towards his superior.
“Chet, I don’t quite understand it either. But here we are. And I know that we’ll get…we’ll get…something…out of this. You just never know…”
“Yeah, Cap.” Chet interrupted. “You never know when a freak snowstorm will hit southern California and we’ll have to rescue people from the ice out around Catalina…”
Cap didn’t appreciate the laughs from the men around him but he kept his focus on Chet. “Chet, like it or not…” Cap put his hands up to stop Chet – he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the man did NOT like it – he didn’t need to be told again. “Like it or not, we have been chosen for the Can-Am Winter Rescue Training Exchange. Now, we ARE going to look at this as the opportunity it is. We ARE going to appreciate the chance to learn something new. And, we ARE – I repeat – we ARE going to stop all complaining and enjoy this experience. Right, Chester B. Kelly?”
A downcast Chet looked at the floor before responding in a quiet voice. “Yes, sir.”
Cap turned to looked at his junior paramedic. Standing up to face the man, he tried to control the smile that wanted to cross his face. “And, we ARE going to stop humming, whistling, and/or singing ‘Let It Snow’. Right, John Roderick Gage?”
Johnny smiled. “Sure, Cap, it that’s what you want. Not a problem.” Gage walked away whistling ‘Walking In A Winter Wonderland’.
“Gage!”
“Sure, Cap.” Johnny bit his lip to keep from laughing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chet watched out the plane window as the landscape changed from green to brown to white.
The rest of the men laughed and joked while Chet sat in silence.
As the plane was approaching the
Exiting the plane, the men were met by a man holding a sign reading “L.A. 51”.
“See, Chet, no mistake.”
Johnny was eager to get out into the cold. It had been a few years since he had visited
“Big mistake. I know it’s a big mistake.” Chet said it to no one but himself. But, resigned to the fact that he was in
“Welcome, men. I’ll
be taking you to a station on the north side of
Bags were gathered and the crews headed out the doors.
“Shit!” Chet felt anything but alive when the cold air hit him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Welcome, men!” Captain Harbough greeted his guests with a warm welcome. “Come on in and meet the team. Grab some coffee while you’re at it.”
The crew of L.A. 51 sat and chatted with the crew of
fighting, Captain Harbough stood to address the group.
“Men, we are going to head about 2 hours north of here for the first 3 days. The first part of the week will focus on winter survival and rescue. Then we’ll head back to the city for winter fire fighting exercises. I’m sure we’ll learn a lot from each other.”
Chet laughed. Everyone in the room turned to look at him.
“What?” Chet turned 10 shades of red.
“Chester B., we talked about this.” Cap turned back to his fellow captain. “Sorry about that Jerry. Chet here was somewhat less than thrilled with this opportunity.” Turning back to his fireman, Cap kept talking to Jerry. “But, I know that he can’t wait to get outside and learn something new.” Cap’s eyes told Chet to shut up.
Unfortunately, Chet didn’t heed the warning. “I KNOW that I’m going to learn a lot, Cap. I just think it’s funny that these guys think we can teach them anything. I mean, anything about winter anyway.”
Confusion immediately crossed the faces of the men of NT 12.
“It’s not THAT much worse here than what you’re used to. I’m sure you’ll teach us a lot.” Phil Eastland, engineer of NT 12’s Shift 1, spoke up.
“Uh – oh.” It was then that Cap realized that there had been a huge mistake.
“Uh – oh? It’s not that
much different in
Johnny laughed. The
rest of 51 sat in stunned silence as Cap turned to look at Captain Harbough. “
“Yeah,
“
“
“Aw, shit!
“
“I guess that would explain the tans.” Charlie – NT 12’s equivalent to Chet – lead the laughter that soon permeated the room.
Finally regaining his composure, Jerry Harbough addressed the group. “Well…I still think…well…”
“Jerry, why don’t we go make a call and see what our headquarters’ want to do?” Cap was just as much at a loss as his peer.
Leaving the room, Captain Stanley heard it. “Told you.” Without saying a word or acknowledging the quiet comment when it was made, Cap made a point to walk past Chet and give him a playful whack on the head as he passed.
“Hey!”
“I get that all the time too…Brother.” Charlie and Chet’s friendship was cemented.
The room broke into laughter again.
The friendly conversation was interrupted by the appearance of the 2 captains. It was Captain Stanley who spoke. “Well, the CanAm Exchange office acknowledges the mistake. But, they think this is an even greater opportunity for learning. They think it’s a good thing. And so do we, right Jerry?”
“Right, Hank. Well, men, let’s head out.”
Gathering their gear, Johnny noticed that Chet was still sitting at the table. “C’mon, Chester B., don’t sit there frozen to your chair.” Johnny was beaming.
“Shut up, Gage! Oh, sorry, Cap, I forgot.”
“Brother!” Charlie was beside himself with glee. Someone who’s even more trouble than me!
The captains looked at each other and spoke at the same time. “Guess every station has one.” They laughed as they escorted the men out the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Now this is heaven!”
John Gage closed his eyes and breathed in the cold, crisp air. Memories of
“Chet!” Turning, he was surprised to see the smiling
face of Charlie. “Oh
great. Two of ‘em. Two of ‘em,
Surprising everyone,
After a few minutes passed, the captains decided it was time to get to work. “C’mon, boys.” Jerry smiled at Hank. “Let’s get inside and make plans for the next few days.”
“Boys. He called us boys, Marco. Did you hear that?” Chet looked like a little pouting child. One with a frozen mustache, but a little pouting child nonetheless.
A few yards away, Charlie was talking to one of his shift mates. “Cap Harbough called us boys again, Phil. Boys! Can you believe that?”
Standing between the 2 sets of firemen and hearing both conversations, Johnny, Roy, and NT 12’s paramedic team looked at each other in amazement. Another brotherhood was confirmed in the smiles that passed between them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The rest of the first two days had been a learning experience for everyone. And, it had been fun. The third, and last, day at the wilderness station was just beginning. This was going to be the hardest one by far. The men had already learned about frostbite, snow cave-ins, minor avalanche type slides, winter climbing, and nighttime survival through various exercises and drills. They had come together as one team. They had come together as friends. Friends who knew they could count on each other.
So, on this final day, the men paired off with each other feeling confident in their new partner’s skills. They first dressed in the Canadian issued snowmobile rescue snowsuits. Looking around, jokes were made about all rescuers looking alike. The laughter soon faded as the men finished preparing for the day ahead. As the men adjusted their helmets and communication headsets, a sense of anticipation could be felt. They’d been on short trips on the snowmobiles but this was going to be a longer trip, a longer day. At the time, no one knew just how long.
Chet and Charlie jumped on the first snowmobile. Mike and Phil were followed by teams of Johnny and Bill, Roy and Ted, and Marco and Joe. Jerry and Hank were the last ones onto a snowmobile. Making sure that NT 12’s men were the ones ‘behind the wheel’ of the vehicles, Jerry drove to the front of the pack. With a wave of his arm, the crews headed out for their day’s training.
Having some fun on the way to their destination, the guys raced from time to time. They fanned out and then returned to a single-line formation. Jerry and Cap had about a two hundred foot lead on the line. Charlie was picking up a bit of speed in order to be a bit closer to his commander. Without warning, a snow-laden tree limb came crashing down onto the front of Charlie’s and Chet’s snowmobile. Stunned, Charlie swerved to the right, then to the left, then he spun. It all happened so fast that Charlie didn’t even realize that he’d turned around and was headed directly at Phil and Mike.
Phil had started to pick up speed when he saw Charlie do the same. Unlike Charlie or Chet though, Phil and Mike saw the limb fall. Phil backed off the throttle and was trying to bring the snowmobile to a stop when he was surprised to see his old friend along with one of his new friends heading directly at them.
The rest of the snowmobiles behind Phil and Mike saw the snow flying and immediately fanned out and slowed their speed. What happened next played out in front of the 3 snowmobiles in slow motion.
First, a body – someone – from the turned snowmobile flew off to the right. The crumpled form came to rest in a snow bank next to a bush. Another body from the second snowmobile flew in the same direction as the first. That person was not so lucky. There was no snow bank to break the motion as he went directly into the trunk of a pine tree.
The frantic noise behind the captains caused them to slow and look back. Bringing the snowmobile around, they watched in horror.
“Sweet Jesus, no.” Captain Stanley’s words spoke for both men.
The captains wanted to close their eyes but they couldn’t. Try as they might to avoid what they knew was coming, they had to see it to believe it.
Charlie’s snowmobile went into a skid as he tried to avoid the snowmobile behind…in front…of him. Phil’s snowmobile came to a stop. Not knowing which direction to move in, the driver brought his knees up to the seat and braced for an impact.
Within seconds, two more bodies flew through the air. Four bodies, all lay unmoving in the snow. Eight friends watched in horror.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The brief stunned silence was broken by the sound of Captain Harbough shouting through the headsets.
“We’ve got the first victim up here. Joe and Marco, take the victim against the pine tree. Ted and Roy, you’ve got the left. Bill and Johnny, take the right.” He then clicked the button on the mic that would put him in touch with Canadian dispatch. Everyone breathed a tenuous sigh of relief knowing that medical choppers would be on the way.
Just before anyone reached their assigned victim,
Jerry turned to Hank. “Good man you’ve got there, Hank.”
Hank
What happened next was a blur of communications. Jerry relayed what he could to the approaching helicopters.
“I’m okay, Cap. Just a little sore.”
“You sure, Chet? I don’t think you should move.”
“Keep him still, we’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“10-4, Gage.”
“We’ve got a broken leg.”
“Who, Joe?”
“Mike.”
“Is it bleeding?”
“Doesn’t appear to be,
“Reach in his boot – don’t take it off. Can you feel a pulse?”
Marco tried to calm 51’s engineer while Joe followed
“Shit. We’ve got at least a concussion here. Helmet’s cracked. How long on the choppers, Cap Harbough?”
“Five minutes, Ted.”
“I’ve got a pulse on Mike,
“Keep him still, Joe. He’s conscious, right?”
“10-4.”
“We’ve got broken ribs over here. Difficulty breathing. Unconscious. C’mon, Charlie, hang on.” Bill gave Johnny a desperate look.
Johnny spoke. “Quick assessment, Charlie and Phil – critical. First chopper. Mike and Chet – second chopper. Wrap and run on the first 2?”
“Agreed, John. Let’s get them out of here first. Roy and I will go. You and Bill take Mike and Chet.” Ted looked up at the sound of the helicopters.
Seeing that the first chopper was going to have to land 100 yards away, Bill stepped in. “Cap H. and Marco – can you take the snowmobiles and get the boards and stokes? We’ll prep.”
“10-4” came through the headphones in unison.
In a matter of minutes, Charlie and Phil were loaded first
onto backboards then into the stokes and up into the
helicopter. Ted was up and in just as
quickly.
Attention turned to the remaining injured firemen.
“I’m fine. Just take care of Mike.” Chet was not happy.
“You are going in, Pally.” Captain Stanley put his foot down.
“But…”
“Chet, if you check out, the docs at the hospital will release you. Just go in. Humor me.” Captain Harbough held a stare that made the point perfectly clear to Chet.
“Okay, but…”
“Sheesh, Hank. This is the man who wanted nothing to do with the snow and now I can’t get him to leave in a nice warm helicopter. I don’t know how you do it.” Jerry made sure Chet saw his quick wink before helping the man into the chopper.
Bill turned to the group before getting into the helicopter. “I think John should stay with you guys. I’ve got this covered. Nothing really serious. If something else happens…well, just in case…I’d feel better is you guys had a paramedic with you.”
“Your call, Bill.” Jerry nodded to his paramedic.
Jerry gave the thumbs up as he jumped into his place on the chopper.
“Good man you’ve got there, Jerry.” Hank smiled at his new friend.
Acknowledging Hank’s statement with a nod, Jerry turned to the remaining men. “Alright. Joe, hook up the extra snowmobile to yours. Everyone okay driving one back?”
Everyone nodded in agreement. “Let’s move.
I, for one, want to get to the hospital in
It was a quiet trip back to the wilderness station. There wasn’t much more noise on the drive
back to
“Chester B. Kelly is fine.
Nothing more than multiple bruises and of course, some
stiffness. He’s waiting for you –
he can return to service. Michael Stoker
has a broken left tib and fib. Simple fracture. It’s being set right now. I’ve already contacted a Dr. Brackett at
Johnny blushed not only at the message but at the laughter from within the truck and over the radio.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The rest of the week passed quickly. After ensuring that everyone really was going to be okay and taking a day to regroup, the team decided to take advantage of the rest of the time and continue with their training. Chet and Mike sat on the sidelines and watched the antics of their friends – old and new. They both agreed that they were just as happy to observe than be the ones covered with ice while putting out the test fires. Chet took delight in watching Johnny slip and slide on the ice a time or two.
The crew from
“Man, I don’t think Mike and I can thank you two enough for being ‘pushy’!” Gratitude showed on Chet’s face as he shook the hands of Charlie and Phil.
Approaching on crutches, Mike made his way to the 2 men and shook their hands as well. “Thanks just doesn’t seem to be enough.”
Everyone paused, thinking to what could have been if the 2 men from NT 12 hadn’t pushed their passengers off the snowmobiles before the collision.
Catching Bill’s eye, Johnny smiled. “Yeah, thanks for everything, guys.” Aside from the injuries to his friends, Johnny had had the time of his life. Snow, rescues, friendship, and dates with nurses.
“Thanks to you guys, too.
This was a great idea…even if you are from
“It was a great idea, wasn’t it?” Captain Harbough looked around the room. “Do you want to tell them, Hank, or should I?”
“Go ahead, Pal, be my guest.” A knowing smile passed between the two men.
“As you know, Hank and I have had to file daily reports with
not only our headquarters but with the CanAm Exchange
office as well. It seems that everyone
agrees that this, ummm…mistake, turned out to be a
really good thing. And, we will be
visiting
“Yes! Beats the hell out of another trip to
Laughter filled the room as everyone discussed their delight at what the summer would bring. It was finally time to say their farewells.
As Johnny walked toward the door, Bill grabbed him by the shoulder. In a ‘whisper’ just loud enough for everyone to hear, Bill spoke to Johnny. “Gage, you owe me a nurse, you know.”
“Trust me, Bill, that won’t be a problem. That won’t be a problem.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The End
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