Dispatch & Communications

I always worried that what she had to hear me say and do would affect her. That it would affect how she handled the incident and that, in turn; would affect the other companies / members. It never did. Like Cindy, Sarah was a good dispatcher.

Dean Russell, the Captain from #4 C-shift; did a GREAT job of "controlling the door" until we could make the connection and get the attack line in position. His efforts held the fire to a single apartment.

Shortly after his size up, Captain Perdue transmitted that he had multiple victims hanging out of windows (of the upper floors) and the hallway / stairwell heavily involved with fire.

Today's incident would not have ran so smoothly without the well trained and disciplined Officers and members we have on shift. We could have very easily made Fire Geezer's headlines today with another big "Ka Boom".

So many of these questions/factors could have fatal consequences if not answered / addressed. Do they have the "it will never happen here" mentality? I hope not.... the results can be devastating.

My "black cloud" followed me the entire cycle, Friday was no better than Monday or Wednesday.

I was first in with the Chief's buggy to find smoke showing from the attic (sides Delta and Bravo) of a single story, wood framed, family dwelling. I gave the size up, marked it a working fire and established Command.

Unlike when the Derecho hit, we were not caught off guard. We were kept informed, given up to date projections / information and provided the necessary resources.

Crews were able to locate one person dead inside the home. Further details of the fire, the name, age etc of the victim can not be released at this time. Notification of family members of the deceased are still pending and the investigation into the cause of the fire continues.

When our eyes met, he had a calm look on his face. He smiled at me and winked as if to say he was secure in knowing that I was in command. I don't think he had a clue how lost I was at the time or how bad our situation was but just that simple nod and wink brought me back to reality.