Amie Denman - The Firefighter's Vow

“Ollie,” the other man said.

“I’m Laura.” As she shook hands with both men and they started walking together toward the station, Laura relaxed. They were both in their twenties like her, and maybe they were also nervous about what they were about to do.

“Have you ever done anything like this before?” Ollie asked.

“Not exactly,” Laura said. “I did some coaching so I know CPR and basic first aid. I’m not a great cook, so I did have to put out a kitchen fire once.”

“Really?” Richard asked.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Laura said, laughing. “It was mostly a boil-over that I knocked down by putting the lid on. I have a habit of reading while I’m cooking, and it doesn’t always turn out well.”

As they approached the open doors of the station, Laura saw others already gathering. How many people were here for the class? She nodded politely at them, wondering if they were trainees or perhaps just visiting friends or relatives at the station.

“Hey, Laura,” Diane said. Her short brown hair with a few grays sprinkled in curled over her ears and the rims of her glasses, and she wore a pink T-shirt, jeans and an unzipped Cape Pursuit sweatshirt. “I may be the oldest person in the class,” she said, lowering her voice and looking around at the people standing nervously in the station. “But I’m hoping wisdom will make up for it.”

Laura was about to assure her that wisdom trumped a lot of things, youth included, but a door opened along a side wall and Tony stepped out. “In here,” he said. “Welcome to the first night of firefighter training.”

He held open the door and nodded at each of the new recruits. “Sign-in sheet on the table and name tags,” Tony said. “You only have to wear name tags the first night, and then I’m sure we’ll all get to know each other without them.”

Laura was the last one through the door. She glanced at the line ahead of her. There were a total of eight people in the class. Not too many names to remember, but also a small group, making it impossible to blend in.

“Sit anywhere,” Tony said. He moved to a table set up at the front of the room. Laura guessed the department used the room for regular meetings and training, because there were three rows of eight chairs each. As the last person to move toward the seats, she found her options were limited. In typical fashion, the six men in the class had spread out in rows two and three, leaving seats in between them. Laura couldn’t take any of the buffer seats without looking incredibly awkward.

Diane had taken a seat at the end of the first row farthest from Tony, but Laura parked herself squarely in the front row in front of him.

The seats creaked and Laura crossed and uncrossed her legs, trying to settle into the wooden folding chair. She heard whispered conversations behind her and she caught Diane’s eye and smiled at her. Tony shuffled papers next to a set of spiral-bound books on the table in front of her. She knew they weren’t waiting for any more class members because hers had been the last name unchecked on the sheet by the door and she’d taken the last name tag and written LAURA in neat capital letters.

Tony cleared his throat. “I think we can get started. I’m Chief Tony Ruggles, and I’ll be your instructor for the next six weeks. A little bit about me—I’ve been on the department for twelve years, since I was eighteen and could officially join, but I’ve been hanging around since I was old enough to walk. My dad was the chief, and I have several cousins and other relatives on this department or in the fire service. I got my instructor’s certificate two years ago, and you are my third class of volunteers.”

He paused and turned down the volume on his radio, which he placed on the desk.

“We’ll be together quite a lot in the next six weeks and beyond, so I’d like to get a sense of what brought you here tonight and what you hope to get out of this class. We appreciate your willingness to serve, and I’m not going to sugarcoat anything. Our volunteers get in the thick of it right alongside the full-time guys. I can’t promise you’ll never be in danger, but I can promise I’ll do everything I can to prepare you to handle it.”

He let his words soak in for a few seconds. “Let’s go around the room, have you tell us your names and a little about yourselves and why you’ve decided to join the department. We can start in the back,” he said, vaguely gesturing toward the brothers two rows behind Laura.

“I’m Richard,” one of the men Laura had met before class said. “I work at the surfboard factory outside town, and they need some of us to get some fire training because we work with a lot of flammable materials. Insurance company dictating it, you know. So I figured I’d learn something about putting out fires to help me get ahead at work, and I wouldn’t mind volunteering and helping out my hometown, too.”

“Oliver,” the next man said. “My brother talked me into coming,” he said, jerking a thumb at Richard, “but I like the idea of doing something more interesting than teaching welding at the vocational school. I guess you could say I play with fire at work, and this is the opposite.”

Laura liked both brothers, and they had solid reasons for being there. She focused on listening to her new classmates while also thinking of what she was going to say. She couldn’t say, I’m Laura and I’m here because my brother was killed fighting fires and I think this is the best way for me to heal my own soul while helping others .

Tony pointed to the next man in the back row.

“Skip,” he said. “My uncle is a firefighter over in Virginia Beach, and he let me hang out with them and even ride along on a few calls. I just graduated from high school, and I want to be a firefighter like my uncle. I’m getting my feet wet as a volunteer, but I’m hoping I don’t stop there.”

Tony smiled at the guy. “Always room in the fire service for another good man. Or woman,” he added, nodding at Laura and Diane. Laura felt heat radiate up her neck at being singled out and Diane was frowning when Laura glanced over at her.

“Sorry,” Tony said. “I didn’t say that to be a jerk. I really mean it. There are some amazing women in the fire service.”

“Thank you,” Diane said with a congenial smile, and Laura admired her instantly for being nonplussed in an embarrassing situation. Maybe she was right about wisdom.

“I’m Brock,” a man in the second row said, cutting through the tension. “I officially retired from the city last year, and I’m driving for the senior center, delivering meals now. I think I’d be more useful if I learned how to handle an emergency, and I was glad to see there wasn’t a maximum age for volunteers when I filled out the application.”

“Me, too,” Diane said. Brock had to be in his fifties, and Diane had already told Laura she was forty-eight, so Laura could understand Diane’s relief at not being the oldest person in the class.

“I might as well go next since I opened my big mouth. I’m Diane, my house is a quiet empty nest and I’ve always wanted to drive a fire truck.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Tony said, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he pointed out the last two men in the middle row.

“Allen,” a dark-haired, broad-shouldered man with a thin smile said. “I can drive a truck and I’ve never backed off from a challenge. I’m not afraid of anything, so I think I’m the kind of guy you can use.”

Tony kept a polite expression, but Laura noticed the smile had disappeared from his eyes. “I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been afraid a few times. Justifiably afraid. But knowing what to do in those situations is the best way to keep yourself and your partners alive, and that’s what you’re going to learn in this class.”