A Close Call
It was Christmas Eve, supposedly a joyous occasion. The snowflakes fell to the ground continuously like the last seeds of a dandelion blowing in the wind leaving the dead flower. It had been snowing for three days and I've been at the fire department for 20 hours waiting for the next call. The temperatures were continuing to drop and, the wind seemed to be blowing harder every day. The days were gray and the nights were black. In just four more hours, I would be able to go home. Then maybe I would begin to feel the holiday cheer. In my neighborhood there were Christmas lights decorating every house, Christmas carolers singing every weekend, and fires burning in every chimney. This was a sign of Christmas. But not far away there was another neighborhood where there weren't any Christmas lights, there weren't any Christmas carolers, and there weren't any fires in the chimneys. Unfortunately, however, because people were trying to stay warm, there were fires elsewhere in the houses. Most of the families in this neighborhood were single parent families with several children in the home. The families found it easier to use kerosene heaters to minimize the heating costs during the winter months. In s
As I climbed out, I was greeted by a dozen unaware firefighters standing in the street, but I was still not sure my partner got out. Thirty seconds later, he also got out- both of us, on our own. I spent two weeks in the burn unit with 16% of my body sustaining second and third-degree burns. My partner spent one week there with second and third-degree buns on 10% of his body. I never did get home that night, but I saved that family. I also prevented other families from losing their homes that night too. They're very happy in that neighborhood because they have eachother. They don't need the Christmas lights, the Christmas carolers, or the fires in their chimneys. In fact, they would rather do without any fires at all. ome cases, kerosene heaters were used to heat the home entirely because the gas had been shut off for non-payment. As I thought of this neighborhood, I received the call. The dispatch radio pulled me out of my trance: As we tried to follow the hoseline to get out, the ceiling collapsed 10 feet from the door where we had entered and we were unable to follow that line out. The collapse occurred deep enough inside as to not be obvious to exterior firefighters. We were trapped. By this time we were both also getting burned. In a last effort to get out, we tried to find the north wall, but we became separated. Finally, I was able to find my way out through a window on the side just north of the door. East, Bay 5 - fully involved, smoke showing - all trucks in service." When we tried to hold heat off of us to protect ourselves with the hoseline, we discovered that we had
Some common words found in the essay are:
East Bay, Christmas Eve, Pontia Station, christmas carolers, christmas lights, kerosene heaters, fires chimneys, weren't christmas, slow motion,
Approximate Word count = 1088
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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