Old Firefighters Never Die: They Just Smolder
So, I’m retiring. Not from my full time job of dispatching to become a Gentleman Author, as I wanted. (It’s like a Gentleman Farmer, a rich person who just farms as a hobby. No real […]
Tag: Smoky Days And Sleepless Nights
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 […]
Bobbing For Fire
SLIGHTLY OFF THE MARK After three decades as a volunteer firefighter, I … hurt. A lot, especially when it’s cold. Recently I’ve been seen wearing a sling, to let my arm heal after I […]
A Night At The Opera House
SLIGHTLY OFF THE MARK Years ago I shopped at a place called Excel Home Furnishings on the north side of the Noble County Courthouse square. (I didn’t actually buy anything; I was still young […]