Tales From The Temp Folder

[TZT] (RLT) (SA) Lineside Fire

Image from:

https://amp.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/11/19/private-firefighters-california

Link taken from Safari search bar, direct link.

(4/10/22)
No, not .410 bore.
So this is an actual short project I have been working on during my minutes of downtime at school, outside of working on TZT wiki. (You can find the link to that on my website)
I actually had this done in all of two hours, in between uploading The War Ends Today, House Arrest. And I know, first day on vacation and taking on two totally diffrent projects in the same day... I have no excuse other than I'm just keeping myself busy.
Chatachism is done. My last day went really well, and just with that alone I am over three times my required service hour minimum; not including the eight or so hours I've racked up scoring. I've also helped out with mom as a TA, I might even be able to get hours for that too. I'm not worried about that requirement, the only problem is tallying all of them and seeing if I managed over 200 hours to get that award. I don't need it, I'm not going to break my back over it. I've already put myself ahead in other places, but another thing to wear on graduation doesn't hurt. Again, this is not meant as a flex, I did not intend it to be a flex, this is NOT a flex. If you took it as a flex, I apologize.
Otherwise, I am officially on vacation now. There are only a couple menial things to do over the break, but I'm mainly going to spend the rest of the weekend resting and recovering. I'll be helping out in Mom's classroom, catching up with old friends, but mainly valuing what time I earned. It's been fun, but I'm taking this break.

As for the story, it was kind-of a spur of the moment kind of thing.
A video popped across my YouTube feed, where a motorcyclist became a firefighter. The man literally went from just cruising down the street, to spotting a fire, assessing the situation, controlling the situation, taking afermative action, and halting the spread long enough for actual firefighters to get over to him. He even went so far as to clear kinks and keep all the men responding at full efficivness. It was amazing to watch.
And then I thought of R&S next. I mean, if I was running down the road and spotted a lineside fire, if I was in a position to assist, I would stop and help. That's half the reason I carry a fire extinguisher in my car, (barring the one time I had to drive by a lineside fire because I was shuffling my brother from school and it would have been technically illegal if I stopped anywhere else, but let's look aside from that). Put simply: I maintain that R&S policy dictates that if anybody is in a position to protect people and property, they have a liability to do so. And that brings us to what goes on in the story.
After the 1096 incident, Will has been promoted to work the daily commuter train: service 110. A stopping commuter train running between King City and Salinas, calling at all stations. They've left Gonzales, when they spot smoke on the horizon. They report in, checking if it's a controlled burn or something, because California, and Steam locomotives. But then they realize that it's an actual fire, and they're the only ones there. So of course they stop, Will follows Powell as they get their stuff together and prepare to tackle that fire. They get it contained on their own, until Chular FD takes over and they fully extinguish the fire. That's what I have so far.
Enjoy,
-FishyFish831

We were just heading down the line. The daily shuttle service between King City and Salinas, with stopovers in Soledad, Gonzales, and Chular, meeting the auto train inbound from Spreckles.
We hadn't left Gonzales city limits for more than a couple minutes when I spotted black smoke drifting on the horizon. I brought it up to Powell.
"Hey Powell? Are we running behind an train or something?"
He looked up from the fire hole door, shutting it.
"Don't be stupid, we had highball greens leaving the station, they wouldn't change unless-" He stopped suddenly.
"Unless what?"
Powell paused for a moment.
"Powell?"
He then looked over at me.
"Black smoke, means incomplete combustion, or petroleum based products." He got on the radio. "Gonzales dispatch, train one-ten calling in. Are there any reported controlled burns occurring between Gonzales and Chular? Over."
"Train 110, Gonzales Dispatch. Wait one."
Powell pointed at me.
"Start slowing, just in case."
I kept a close eye ahead, as more and more smoke drifted into view. Shifting to first service, we slowed to 30. But as we got closer, and I saw the only structure surrounded by dry wheat fields, I saw tounges of fire leaping up from it!
"Train one-ten. I don't have any fires reported in the area."
I stole the radio off Powell. "Then we're reporting one! One-ten, in emergency! There's a line side fire!"
"Roger 1361. Train 110 in emergency. Notifying F.D. Over."
I slammed on the brakes, dumping the brake pipe with a familiar loud whoosh of air. The brakes came on hard, beginning to squeal as our seven car train screeched to a halt. The moment we jerked to a stop, Powell got to work.
"On me Will!"
I followed him sliding down the ladder.
One of the buildings was already engulfed in flames, and there was a charred ring slowly spreading around it as the fields also burned. Powell caught me.
"Get the two inch hose from the fire emergency box. It's the big one. Bring it back to the engine, as well as the big nozzle!"
I took off at a run, clambering up the steps and stumbling with the lock to get it open. I grabbed the heavy spool of hose, laying the nozzle on top of it, before laying it on the cab floor where I retrieved it from the last step.
"What's going on?" Conductor Moore came running up to me.
"Lineside fire." Powell came trudging up the embankment. "Get on the radio and tell Jessie the line is blocked. Set up detonators forward and back, then come and help us."
"Right."
"Will."
"Yeah."
"Okay." He took the hose off of me. Affixing it to the blowdown valve, and turning it tight. "I need you to go make sure nobody is in that building, if you can. We're about to spray the building with scalding hot water and steam, so nobody better be in there."
"Okay."
I took off at a run, up the dirt road, where the fence was already beginning to catch fire. I called out.
"HELLO? IS ANYBODY THERE?"
There was no response but the crackling of the fire. Something collapsed and shattered, sending up a cloud of flame from the house.
I ran around, all the way around, where I found an entrance. The fire was so hot, I had to squint. It was like staring into an oven, I was being cooked by the flames.
"HELLO? ANYONE THERE?"
There wasn't anything else but the crackling of the fire.
Sure that nobody would have survived such an inferno anyway, I headed back to Powell. He was throwing on yellow firefighter gear, looking like he was a volunteer.
"Will! Get your gear on! Once you're done and I give you the signal, open the blowdown all the way."
"All the way?"
"All the way! Now go!"
He took off, dragging the hose towards the fire, while I ran for the locker and slid on the heavy insulating gear as fast as I could. But trying to get heavy equipment on your back, while facing down a fire, with adrenaline pumping, all the while the radio is lighting up and you're the only other person who knows what the hell is going on, is kind-of difficult. But I got the equipment on, throwing the helmet over my head.
As soon as Powell started waving his hands, I pulled hard on the blowdown and started both injectors. I ran to join him. I saw the hose stiffen, causing the handle to roll as Powell cradled it. But as soon as it was good, he unleashed a stream of steam and water onto the building. He first doused all the area around the building, before moving to the building itself.
"Powell!" He cried.
"Yeah!"
"Get your shovel and start overturning the burnt out wheat! Make a fire break!"
"Yes sir!"
I ran back and stole the shovel, running back. I started working the dirt over, clearing a small trench just before the burning. But as I started making my way around, I noticed the pressure dropping more and more from the hose.
"What's going on?" I called for Powell.
"There's a kink! There's a kink somewhere! Find it! Clear it!"
I ran along the length of the hose, trying to find what was stopping the water. I found the kink, quickly trying to grab it to turn it over, but the heat made it unbearable. I used my shoes to move the hose around, managing enough slack to unkink it. The pressure formed up again, and I saw the stream go back up to full force.
I ran back up to Powell, he was waving like crazy.
"Swap out! Swap out!"
He handed me the hose, already feeling the force trying to push me back. I planted my feet and kept hosing down the house. Powell disappeared towards the engine.
I kept throwing water onto the building, onto the fence that kept getting engulfed by the flames.
Conductor Moore came running up with the smaller squirt hose with an extension fitted, hosing down the border with cold water, while I sprayed onto the building. But then I heard a loud groan come from the building.
"Watch out!"
"What?"
"Watch the building! It's gonna collapse! It's gonna collapse!"
"It's about to collapse!"
The roof caved in, causing fire to shoot upwards. I felt the intense burst of warmth of the fire rush up towards me, and I noticed Moore was standing further back. Hopefully this gear was doing work.
Now, I noticed more people were dismounting from the train. One of them got a hose from a nearby tap, spraying from a third side. Another had managed one of the engine extinguishers, one of the dry powder ones. They sprayed the cloud upwind, wafting it towards the fire.
The four of us kept hosing it down until we heard sirens. I looked over my shoulder and saw the flashing lights. Only now did I realize the intense heat that was seeping through. It felt like I was in an oven, being baked. But thankfully, we stopped it from spreading.
One of the firefighters tapped me on my shoulder.
"We got this! We got this!"
I nodded, right as two more hoses opened up from the fire truck. With our three hoses, we beat the fire back quickly. As soon as the flames were out, I closed my nozzle, as did Conductor Moore. The firefighters kept on dumping water, Powell came up to me.
"Good work! They got it from here!" He pointed. "I got the blowdown closed! Release the pressure, and let's get out of here!"
I nodded, letting out all the remaining water and steam from the hose. As soon as it was empty, Powell, with heavily gloved hands, removed the nozzle to a cloud of steam. He unhooked and rolled the hose back up, securing it back in the locker.
I collapsed back into my chair, throwing off the helmet and overalls. The cool air wind feeling lovely.
"We still got to get to Salinas." Powell said, climbing up.
"Yeah. Damn it."
He chuckled.
"Passengers are onboard." Moore shouted from the ground. I just got word from the fire chief that we're all set to go."
"Alright." Powell nodded, before taking the radio. "Gonzales Dispatch, this is train one-ten."
"One-ten, SITREP?"
"Dispatcher, FD is onsite. They have the comm, and it looks like the fire is contained. No casualties."
"Good work Powell, and you too Will. 1361, are you still operable?"
Powell glanced at the water glass.
"Yes we are. We're at 1/3rd boiler level now, we still got 5,000 gallons left."
"Good copy. You have permission to advance onto Salinas. Afterwards, you are to return to Gonzales. Redback requested."
"Orders received. We will finish our route to Salinas then return to Gonzales."
"Read back is correct. Godspeed, Gonzales Dispatcher."
"Train One-ten."
Now Powell rested easy. I let him rest for a couple moments, then he looked over at me.
"Come on. Let's get home. Right of way."
I threw the reverser forward, opening the cylinder cocks. Our boiler pressure was drained to only 80 or so, and we had no doubt have sat there for a long enough while for water to condense in the cylinders. Powell had the blower roaring, and was slowly shoveling on small lumps of coal to get heat back quickly. Kicking off the brakes, I opened the throttle a lot wider than you usually would. A hollow chuff escaped the stack, as the whoosh of steam blanketed the waving firefighters as they stomped out the last few remnants of flames.
Powell waved for me, as we slowly accelerated away, and I closed the cylinder cocks. As the engine thudded away, Powell leaned over at me.
"I guess this was the highlight of your week eh?"
I laughed.
"Guess so Powell!"