This was a routine call. There is nothing very memorable about this except that its one of the very last pictures I took before I left the company. Towards the end of my service I kept a little Instamatic camera in my firecoat. The reason I even post it on this web site is that its one of the few remaining pictures I have.
I do remember that during this call, the driver wasn't really hurt, so this looked worse than it was. At the point this picture was taken, the driver had gone to the hospital just as a precautionary measure, and we were just waiting for the tow truck. Notice in the picture that my colleague does not have his boots pulled up, as was required in company policy during all calls. But of course he was one of the chief's buddies, so he could get away with it. Not me, though.
That's the funny thing about volunteer fire service. Leaders are not chosen for their ability to lead. They are chosen as the result of a popularity contest during the yearly election meeting. So, if you schmooze people and do some brown-nosing, you're sure to be elected. Shmoozing was never my style in any arena, but especially around the station. If you are not in the chief's little clique of "fanboys," you get few if any priviledges that others got. That's why close to a dozen of us eventually left the comany within a few months of each other. But in my case, it was more because I wanted to spend more time with my then fiancee (now wife).