Here is a short (nonfiction) story about a fire call I responded to the other night.
I’ve recreated it from the twitter threat that was its original format. Passing along to Silklist because (a) I think you might find the story interesting in itself & (b) it naturally causes me to reflect on the staccato, “just the facts, ma’am” style of storytelling that Twitter enforces. It’s an artificial constraint, but the discipline does really force you, I think, to learn how to be economical and direct. November 30 will be my last day as a firefighter. Comments welcome. ++++ I'm a firefighter. I'm also a novelist. Had an interesting call last night. Prompted some big (for me, anyway) thoughts. No person or animal was injured; we saved the building and most of the contents. (There was water & smoke damage.) Still, it was tragic. The call came in around 9 PM. I was home. Earlier that evening I had worked out at the firehouse, then attended a lecture on Checkov. "Structure fire at [address]. Detached home office; flame visible." I got there just after the ladder truck, where my gear is stowed. As I geared up some other firefighters were connecting a supply line to a hydrant; others were already attacking the fire. I grabbed an air pack but Chief hollered to me, "Forget the pack. Give me some lights. Light up this scene!" So I began to do that. The building on fire was downhill from the main house, across a lawn, 100 feet from the road. I dragged a power cord & light there, etc. The fire was soon knocked down & the long process of "salvage & overhaul" began. A man and a woman watched from a porch on the house. The man was the novelist Ward Just. Lost in the fire was the only manuscript of a novel he had been working on for 3 years. Gone. Ashes. I had met him & his wife before, sat next tot them at a dinner party. There's lots more to the story but that's enough for now. I wasn't going to make this public, Chief might not be happy with me, but a lost Ward Just novel is a big story, & he was a journalist. I asked myself, If our positions were reversed, if he was the firefighter & I the famous writer, would Ward Just have tweeted this out? I believe he would have. Further, this is just the kind of scenario that might appear in one of his novels. It's nearly Checkovian. I offered condolences, helped disconnect hoses, etc, went back to station, helped but truck back in order, re-packed my gear. Ward Just writes his novels on a manual typewriter. That also was ruined in the fire. It was about 1:30 AM when I went to bed. Today I'm going to find a few hours to work on my latest novel. I'll back up my work. ++++ jrs
