At 5:30 this afternoon, right smack in the middle of the very best Reuben sandwich I’ve ever eaten, my Rural Fire Department pager went off and I had to scramble to the scene of a chimney fire. As opposed to the fire of last Monday, this one was reported early and was close to our fire hall. Although the smoke could be seen from two miles away, we were able to get there quickly, extinguish the fire and save the home. The owners were happy to deal with the damage we had to cause to get it all out.
For those not familiar with chimney fires, they can sometimes burn hot enough to ignite the roof and surrounding flue materials, as was the case today. Had we not gotten there in time, that house would have been completely destroyed.
Take it from me, it’s a terrific feeling to get there in time to control the situation and then leave knowing that we saved a home! And that Reuben, after being warmed up a little, tasted even better at 7:00!
Montana Outdoors 
How sweet it is to win one!
Great, This is now on my Thorny Path.
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Trackback by Thorny Path of Fires — March 17, 2008 @ 11:43 pm
Whew! Thank goodness the sandwich was saved! Oh…and the house, of course.
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Comment by Pinhole — March 18, 2008 @ 5:20 am
Yup, it was touch and go there for a bit with the sandwich!
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Comment by montucky — March 18, 2008 @ 8:46 am
Congrats on saving the house! I can imagine that losing time after time to fire after fire would get pretty depressing after a while.
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Comment by wolf — March 18, 2008 @ 9:07 am
Wolf,
We do save them most of the time, but even one loss is really rough. It’s much more difficult in the rural setting, where the distances are usually longer and the roads can be a challenge, even in summer. Sadly, with more and more houses being built in forested areas, many right in the trees, there will be more losses.
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Comment by montucky — March 18, 2008 @ 9:43 am
sweet! I love a happy ending (and we rarely get that on the news – or the snooze as my hubby calls it)
Great work!
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Comment by aullori — March 18, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
I love happy endings too. When we arrived, the lady of the house was very distraught and worried. It was wonderful to see her as we eliminated the fire and she realized she wasn’t going to lose her home!
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Comment by montucky — March 18, 2008 @ 2:56 pm
How wonderful that you were able to get there in time to save the house! Congratulations!
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Comment by AK_Adventurer — March 18, 2008 @ 3:10 pm
It’s a great feeling. I’m sure that this happens many times a day across the country, but it’s interesting to participate in it!
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Comment by montucky — March 18, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
mmmm! I bet that sandwich tasted GREAT at 7!! good work!!
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Comment by silken — March 18, 2008 @ 9:34 pm
It sure did! A double satisfaction!
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Comment by montucky — March 18, 2008 @ 10:31 pm
Like Pinhole, I was concerned about saving that reuben. The house is gravy. 🙂
Malcolm
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Comment by knightofswords — March 19, 2008 @ 7:02 pm
There’s something about reubens. Tonight we had another for dinner and ten minutes later there was another Rural Fire response. Maybe burgers tomorrow night!
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Comment by montucky — March 19, 2008 @ 7:50 pm
That is great news Terry, and the Reuben sounded like a just reward 😉
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Comment by Bernie Kasper — March 20, 2008 @ 8:42 pm
I’m still feeling good about it! Today (so far) is the first day this week we haven’t been called out.
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Comment by montucky — March 20, 2008 @ 9:17 pm