Back Then We Were Real Firecrackers
When I was a teen, I had a friend who sometimes got me into … questionable situations. Case in point: One day he, I, and another friend were walking down the railroad tracks … And […]
Tag: fire
Fire Prevention: A Light Look at a Serious Subject
Fire Prevention Week is here, a time in which we try to – wait for it – prevent fires. Of course, Fire Prevention Week should go on year round, but if it did we’d have […]
A Great Day For a Grass Fire
Sunday was a great day for a grass fire. No, not that kind of grass, although wildland fires can make your day go to pot. It’s that time of year. People get cabin fever, and […]
Surviving The Fire, But Not the Move
My wife and I, through no fault of our own, had to fill our SUV with boxes this weekend and take them to our house. (The boxes were full–otherwise, what would be the point?) Okay, […]
Shrimp Fried Rice and the Ascent of Humanity
Chinese Entree SHRIMP FRIED RICE INGREDIENTS 1 cup rice 2 medium carrots 1″ ginger root 2 stalks green onions 2 eggs ½ tablespoon sesame oil (1 more tablespoon later) 1 tablespoon sesame oil 2 tablespoons […]
Can I Ax You a Question?
I got to break things with an ax at a structure fire Wednesday afternoon. (A small outbuilding.) But then I broke the ax. Good thing they don’t take that out of a volunteer firefighter’s pay. […]
Pining Away Over Smoke
It’s not workable to wear air packs at wildland fires, but you can usually stay out of the worst of the smoke if you’re careful. I wasn’t. Sunday we responded to a fire that burned […]
Fire, History, and the Black Building
It will probably come as a surprise to no one that I’ve been thinking a lot about history lately. There’s a certain irony in the fact that I started out writing science fiction, mostly set […]
Great Fires Aren’t Good
This column did get printed in time for Fire Prevention Week—it’s just late getting online. But really, shouldn’t something like this be all year round? Meanwhile, the new publisher has allowed me to write a […]
Bleeding Fire Engine Red
The editor of the newspapers I work for asked me for a fire service related article for our Fire Prevention Week insert last week, and this is what I came up with: It’s […]