Abu Ghraib: Day 131
Five months down, seven to go.
I am sorry it has taken me so long to give an update. I have been really busy since returning from R&R. New responsibilities and new projects to work on have been occupying a lot of my time.
We had another fire last Wednesday. We were in the middle of the final day of our annual hose testing when we were notified of a fire in one of the kitchens. I was on Engine 901, which happened to be hooked up to hose in several different places at the time. As we were disconnecting all the hose, the other Engine, the Rescue, and the Command Car responded. Once my Engine arrived, we were given the order to break the locks off of two doors in the front of the building and then advance a back-up hose line to the rear of the building. After a determination was made by the other Engine that access to the fire was not as easily accessible in the location originally reported, my partner and I took our hose line through the doors which just had the locks broken off. Once inside we encountered the fire which was being fueled by a diesel fuel tank that was leaking from the roof. After using a fog pattern to extinguish the fire we continued to cool the ovens in an effort to prevent any sort of reigniting. It's funny... this department went 14 months before getting a major fire, and in the past two months we've had two. I guess it just goes to show that this type of thing can never be predicted.
The next seven days may be interesting, or they may not. The Constitution ratification happens this Saturday, and Saddam's trial starts next Wednesday. There are some people who are more edgy than others, but it is impossible to tell if anything will happen until we actually hear the fireworks start.
We will be loosing some more firefighters towards the end of the month due to EOC (End of Contract). Some new firefighters will be arriving in the coming weeks to make up for the ones who have left in the past month and the ones who are about to leave. Not sure when or how many, but it'll be nice to get some new faces in.
I will be getting the chance to take an ARFF (Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting) class around two months from now. We may also be getting a certifiable Driver/Operator class here towards the end of November. The ability to earn certifications while I was in Iraq was something that really interested me when we were told about it while in Houston, and I am excited that it is about to happen.
The crew of Engine 901, FF Hascek and I, prepare to go inside.
The crew of Rescue 902 reports to Command for further instructions.
The fire contained itself to the top of the large ovens.
After the fire.