Before reading Part 2 of the blog please take the following quiz below. Place your answers in the comment section. You can find the answer in the hyperlink below.

1.     Why should you stay low to the ground in a fire*

2.     It’s okay to use a portable generator indoors.

a.     True

b.     False

 …“I can’t open the door any more.”

 For the second time I felt horror and my blood drain out of me.  I rushed up the walkway to the stairs.  I strode up to the door and then I felt the wall, the presence.  It was as if there was a force field that blocked my ability to move forward.  The only way to describe it is that it was an invisible throbbing wall and ball of pressure, heat, and gas. I looked in through the force field and the wavy lines of the room pulsed and rippled invisibly.  I felt like I was looking into another dimension.  I was frozen!  I couldn’t move!  I imagine it was the unconscious safety mechanisms of my body telling and holding me simultaneously to not move forward.

 The man’s voice calmed me; he understood:  “It’s hot bro.  We have to do it though.”

I shook my head and turned my body slightly to the right, and gritted my teeth to lean in and prepare to push through like a battering ram with him as he counted to three: “One, two…”

A siren sounded, and the aggravating, ear-chafing horn of the FDNY Red Engine sounded in my ear.   The truck rolled up the street in front of the house while the driver, a Firefighter, stuck his head out the window yelling at the two of us with a clear, terse command:  “Get away from the door.”

 For the first time that morning I felt not the surge of adrenaline, the horror of disrespect, the hum of death, but the surge of relief.

 I thought.  “You don’t have to tell me twice”, and walked away, got into my car, and drove off as a swarm of FDNY fire fighters descended upon the house, unravelling hoses pulling out medic beds, unpacking tools to crank up hydrants.   I made it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I introduced myself to my group.  I asked to excuse the smoky smell of my vest and clothing when my cell phone rang. 

 “This is Sargent… of the New York City Fire Department.  We want to thank you for your decisive action in calling the FDNY.”

 “Is the older lady…?” I asked.

“Yes, she suffered from smoke inhalation but she’s recuperating.” replied the Sargent.

“Thank you for your work for caring for us sir, all the time.” I responded.

“You are very welcome.”

3.      “Open up doors fast in a fire so you can get out quickly.”

a.     True

b.     False

 For the next two years as I drove to work, I always remembered that lady and I said to myself I need to visit her, but every time I passed by the house, it looked uninhabitable with wood covering the windows, the yard in shambles, the vinyl on the house black and singed and a growing mound of trash in the yard.  Year three on one sunny afternoon, I drove directly to the house.  It was refinished, the yard was neat and clean with grass, the house was shining.  I rang the doorbell and a young lady in her twenties opened the door.

 “Yes.”  she said unsurely, slightly guarded.

“Hi.”  It was awkward.  What do I say?  Hi, I saved someone’s life here.  Just umm, checking in.

 “Hi.  My name is Chris.  There was an older lady that lived here and the house was on fire a few years ago and I called the fire department.  I was just checking to make sure she is okay.”

“Oh,” she mumbled. “Yah, that was my grandmother.”

“How is she? Is she okay?” I asked.

“She died last year.” She answered bluntly.

“I’m sorry.” I answered crestfallen.

“Thanks.” She answered.

 There’s an African proverb: “The time to slap a king is the time when a fly touches on his cheek.”

 October 3-9, 2021 is Fire Prevention week.  Please educate your children and families about fire. Thank you Firefighters for you and all that you do.

* Find the answers to the questions of the quiz at the website:  https://www.ready.gov/home-fires